China top billionaires’ wealth grows for first time in 4 years

Their combined fortune has grown by 16% since January to US$809.6 billion after declining in the last few years, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals.

Among the top gainers are Pony Ma, chairman of tech giant Tencent, whose net worth rose by more than a third to $47.9 billion, and Lei Jun, founder of smartphone brand Xiaomi, whose fortune grew by $12.8 billion.

Pony Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings. Photo by Reuters

Chen Tianshi, chairman of AI processor maker Cambricon Technologies, and Wang Ning, founder of designer toy producer Pop Mart, both saw their fortunes triple this year.

This year has been turbulent for billionaires in China, with the title of the country’s richest individual changing hands multiple times, according to Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute’s Hurun China Rich List 2024.

Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, took the crown from bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan earlier this year but quickly lost it to Zhang Yiming, the billionaire behind TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.

Huang occupied the top spot for just a few weeks in August before his firm lost $50 billion in market value, according to Fortune magazine.