China’s Wealth Titans Reclaim Momentum after 4 Years with Striking Gains

For the first time since 2020, the collective fortune of China’s 55 wealthiest individuals has surged, marking a significant 16% increase since January. Their total wealth now stands at a staggering $809.6 billion, reversing a multi-year downward trend observed among the world’s 500 richest people.

Notable among the biggest beneficiaries of this resurgence are Pony Ma, the chairman of tech giant Tencent, and Lei Jun, the mastermind behind smartphone brand Xiaomi. Reports indicate that Ma’s wealth expanded by over a third to reach $47.9 billion, while Lei Jun’s fortune swelled by $12.8 billion. Other remarkable stories of growth include Chen Tianshi of AI processor powerhouse Cambricon Technologies and Wang Ning, the entrepreneur behind designer toy company Pop Mart, both of whom tripled their fortunes this year.

The landscape of Chinese billionaires has been particularly volatile, with the coveted title of the nation’s richest individual changing hands several times, according to the Hurun China Rich List 2024, published by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute.

Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce platform PDD Holdings, briefly ascended to the top spot earlier this year, overtaking bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan. However, Huang’s reign was short-lived as Zhang Yiming, the driving force behind TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, soon claimed the title. Huang’s tenure as China’s wealthiest was fleeting, lasting only a few weeks in August, as his company’s market valuation plunged by $50 billion.

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