Pony Ma's wealth rises by US$14.7b as Tencent surges

Melody Chen

Tencent (0700) chairman Pony Ma Huateng saw the largest wealth increase over the past year, rising by US$14.7 billion (HK$114.66 billion) to US$46.8 billion, moving him from fourth to second on Forbes' Mainland China Rich List as Tencent's stock surged 49 percent, driven by gains in online gaming, media, and advertising revenues.

The total wealth of the top 100 richest individuals in the mainland has exceeded US$1 trillion again, up about 15 percent from last year, largely driven by a rebound in Chinese stocks, reversing the decline seen in the past two years.

The largest wealth drop among China's richest was for Nongfu Spring (9633) founder Zhong Shanshan, whose net worth declined by US$9.3 billion due to intense competition and price wars in the mainland bottled water market. Nonetheless, he remains at the top of the list for the fourth consecutive year with a fortune of US$50.8 billion.

In third place is ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, whose wealth rose by 5 percent to US$45.6 billion. However, his ranking dropped by one spot from last year, and his short video platform TikTok continues to face regulatory challenges overseas.

Forbes said that China's stimulus measures to stabilize the property market and spur economic growth have supported the stock market, with the CSI 300 Index rising by 12 percent over the past year. It raised the entry threshold for China's top 100 richest by 14.7 percent, to US$3.9 billion.