The identities of the world's top three richest people were revealed in the latest Peng Billionaires Index, with Tesla CEO Musk ranking as the world's richest man with a net worth of $256 billion.
Ranked second is Zuckerberg with a net worth of US$206.2 billion, and ranked third is Bezos with a net worth of US$205.1 billion. Surprisingly, there are no Chinese in the top ten list of the world's richest people.
Who is the richest man in China? What does the recent changes in the ranking of the richest people mean?
Zuckerberg surpasses Bezos
According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg, 40, had a net worth of $206.2 billion on the 3rd, $1.1 billion higher than Bezos, making him the second richest person in the world.
Zuckerberg's wealth is growing much faster than that of other technology giants. In the past year, he has continued to increase his investment in cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, and launched a number of disruptive products and services, all of which have brought him rich returns.
As a representative figure of Internet companies, Zuckerberg's wealth growth has also caused the net worth of founders of other Internet companies to soar, such as Chinese entrepreneur Ma Huateng.
China's billionaires' net worth surges by $130 billion in one week
As of September 30, the wealth of 54 Chinese on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index increased by about 19%, which is also the largest single-week wealth increase since the list began tracking the world's 500 richest people in 2016.
Before October 1, China's stock market rose by about 25%. The total wealth of China's wealthy people increased by nearly US$130 billion during this period. The biggest beneficiary of the stock market surge was Tencent founder Ma Huateng.
Ma Huateng's wealth has increased by nearly 50% this year to US$51 billion. On October 2 alone, his wealth increased by US$2.66 billion, and the cumulative increase this year is US$19 billion.
His surge in net worth is related to the rise in Tencent's stock. The company has a strong performance in the gaming business, especially the popular Black Myth: Wukong, which has brought Tencent considerable profits.
Today, Ma Huateng has become the richest man in China. Tencent's current success did not happen overnight. They can always accurately grasp user needs, especially in the gaming field. From (Honor of Kings) to (Game for Peace), Tencent can always satisfy user preferences.
Today, Tencent has established a complete ecosystem. Through investment, cooperation and mergers and acquisitions, Tencent has gradually formed a multiple ecosystem covering social, gaming, finance and entertainment. Under the leadership of Ma Huateng, Tencent has now become one of the largest Internet companies in the world.
Tencent's gross profit and operating profit have now exceeded growth for seven consecutive quarters, which also demonstrates the company's solid operating capabilities and good development prospects.
Following Ma Huateng is Nongfu Spring's boss Zhong Shanshan. Since 2021, Zhong Shanshan has been ranked China's richest man for three consecutive times. Unlike other entrepreneurs, Zhong Shanshan rarely appears in the public eye.
In 1996, after watching his idol Zong Qinghou enter the beverage industry, Zhong Shanshan followed suit and entered the drinking water industry. With his marketing success, Zhong Shanshan's net worth soared to become the richest man in China. However, 2024 was a relatively bumpy year for Zhong Shanshan.
This year, due to various reasons, Zhong Shanshan was caught up in a storm of public opinion, which also led to a sharp drop in Nongfu Spring's sales. Now Nongfu Spring has seized the opportunity in the high-end water market and is using health and naturalness to impress more consumers.
For Zhong Shanshan, being the richest man may not be comfortable. In an interview with CCTV, Zhong Shanshan said that he was a lucky man of the times. "Becoming the richest man has deprived me of my freedom. I hope to have private space. I am very confident about my ending. I started from scratch and every penny is clean. I am very satisfied with the current level of treatment of upstream and downstream and employees."
It is indeed as he said, the title of the richest man means more exposure, and his every move will be magnified under the spotlight, which will have an impact on business operations and himself.
Following Ma Huateng and Zhong Shanshan is Pinduoduo's founder Huang Zheng. With the rapid development of Pinduoduo in recent years, Huang Zheng's net worth has experienced a substantial increase in the past few years. In 2018, his wealth was only 6.7 billion yuan, and now it has exceeded 300 billion yuan.
It is worth noting that in 2020, Huang Zheng resigned as the CEO of Pinduoduo and donated part of his equity. The act of donating equity also caused the shares held by Huang Zheng to decline. If Huang Zheng’s donated shares are not considered, then Huang Zheng The wealth growth will be more significant.
Thanks to the growth of the stock market, Huang Zheng's wealth has increased by US$2.26 billion this year, making him the third richest person in China.
Why are the wealth of China's rich rising collectively?
The growth of the wealth of the rich can be seen from the growth of related industries. For example, Huang Zheng's wealth growth is due to Pinduoduo's continuous innovation and expansion in the e-commerce field, and the government's vigorous promotion of the development prospects of rural e-commerce. Pinduoduo's "social + e-commerce" model has quickly occupied the market.
Huang Zheng's personal wealth growth also shows the huge potential of the Chinese consumer market. In addition to Internet giants, the real estate industry has also ushered in an upward trend. Wang Jianlin and his son Wang Sicong have returned to the top ten of the rich list.
The growth of wealth of the wealthy faces many difficulties, such as pressure from the market, policies and public opinion, which have brought considerable challenges. Behind the surge in wealth of domestic wealthy people in the past week is a microcosm of the strong rebound of the Chinese economy.
