Who is the richest man in China? Alibaba founder Jack Ma tops Forbes list

Alibaba founder and chief executive Jack Ma has been named the richest man in China, after his etail giant raised $21.8bn through its record-breaking IPO last month. 

 

Ma had already been named the richest man in the People's Republic by the Hurun Report, but the 50-year old former teacher has made it to the top of Forbes' list with a smaller estimated fortune. Last month, Hurun valued his worth to be $25bn, but Forbes believes it to be closer to $19.5bn. 

 

Still, he is comfortably richer than China's second wealthiest person by Forbes' estimates. Robin Li, founder of Chinese search engine Baidu, is valued at $14.7bn. By Hurun's reckoning, Li is ranked sixth. 

 

Ma Huateng makes it a tech top three for the Forbes list. Nicknamed Pony Ma ("Ma" means "horse" in Mandarin) the Tencent founder is valued at $14.4bn. 

 

Here's the list of Forbes top 10 richest people in China – and how it compares with the Hurun Report: