Jack Ma overtakes Wanda's Wang Jianlin as Asia's richest person

The title of Asia's richest man has once again changed hands, after Alibaba chairman Jack Ma recently overtook Dalian Wanda's Wang Jianlin to the top spot.

According to Bloomberg's billionaires index, Ma increased his net worth by US$4.3 billion (S$5.8 billion) to US$33.3 billion, after the e-commerce giant's financial affiliate Ant Financial raised a record amount in funding.

That was enough to make Ma the 16th wealthiest person in the world and top in Asia, ahead of Wang, who is 19th in the world with a net worth totalling US$32.7 billion.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, who has a net worth of US$29.5 billion, remains third richest in Asia.

Bloomberg noted, however, that Ma's lead could be short lived as Wang is reportedly reorganising his entertainment business and seeks to relocate his property unit's listing in search of higher valuations in China.

Ma is a self-made billionaire, having amassed his wealth after founding Alibaba, which is the world's largest collection of e-commerce websites.

Last year, the Alibaba-organised "Singles Day", the world's biggest online shopping event, on November 11 saw shoppers spend about 91.2 billion yuan (S$20.3 billion) in 24 hours.

seanyap@sph.com.sg