Sorry, Jack: Alibaba founder no longer tops Forbes’ China billionaires list

Last October Forbes revealed a list of China’s wealthiest men and women, which for the first time placed Alibaba founder Jack Ma at the top. Following that company’s completion of the world’s biggest IPO, the Hangzhou native’s personal wealth nearly tripled from US$7.1 billion to to US$19.5 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates.

But Forbes is now reporting that Wang Jianlin, best known as the owner of Dalian Wanda Group, has reclaimed the title of China’s richest man. The real estate mogul’s wealth spiked to US$24.2 billion thanks to share price increases on the Shenzhen-listed Wanda Cinema Line and the New York-listed AMC movie theater chain.

Overall, Wang Jianlin ranks as the world’s 29th wealthiest billionaire, while Ma sits at number 33. Tencent’s “Pony” Ma Huateng is ranked at 56, Baidu’s Robin Li at 62, and Xiaomi’s Lei Jun at 87.

Forbes adds that this marks a record year for the number of mainland Chinese on the list, with a total of 213 billionaires hailing from the Middle Kingdom.

We expect Jack Ma is wiping away his tears with a crisp RMB 100 note.

See more: What is Jack Ma’s net worth?

(Source: Forbes)

Editing by Steven Millward, CC image from World Economic Forum