Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Tops China's Richest List, Again

Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), is the wealthiest person in China, the Forbes “China’s Richest 2019” list published on Wednesday shows.

What Happened

According to Forbes, Jack Ma’s net worth is $38.2 billion, putting him ahead of Ma Huateng, the Chairman of Tencent Holdings Limited (HKG: 0700)(OTC: TCEHY), who is worth $36 billion.

The other top five richest people on the list are a real estate moguls Hui Ka Yan of China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333) and Sun Piaoyang, chairman of pharmaceuticals company Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co Ltd (SHA: 600276) as the third and fourth richest with net worths of $27.7 billion and $25.8 billion, respectively.

Yang Huiyan of Country Garden Holdings (HKG: 2007) is the fifth richest person on the list, with $23.9 billion and is the wealthiest woman of China.

Ma’s primary source of income is Alibaba, a conglomerate he founded in 1999 that is now worth $471.4 billion.

Jack Ma Steps Away

The 55-year-old businessman stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2013 but remained chairman. He left the position in September this year.

“I plan on continuing my role as the founding partner in the Alibaba Partnership and contribute to the work of the partnership,” Ma said in a letter addressed to Alibaba employees, customers and shareholders.

“I also want to return to education, which excites me with so much blessing because this is what I love to do. The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things – because what if new dreams can be realized?”