Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba,
held onto his status as China’s richest tycoon this
year as surging demand for online shopping and
other services during the coronavirus pandemic
swelled the fortunes of internet entrepreneurs,
according to a survey released this week.
Ma’s fortune rose 45% percent over 2019 to
$58.8 billion, according to Hurun Research
Institute, which follows the country’s wealthy.
Ma Huateng, founder of Tencent, which operates
the popular WeChat messaging service, was
No. 2 at $57.4 billion, up 50%. Debuting at No.
3 was Zhong Shanshan, chairman of bottled
water brand Nongfu Spring, with $53.7 billion