IT Wealth

The booming Internet economy is playing an increasingly important role in supporting wealth growth in China’s IT industry, according to the annual Hurun IT Rich List released on October 18. According to the list, the average wealth of the top 50 Chinese IT tycoons hit a record high, surging 13 percent year on year to 26.9 billion yuan ($4 billion). Jack Ma, founder and Executive Chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., topped the ranking of China’s richest IT people for the third consecutive year, defending his position against rivals including Tencent Holdings Ltd. founder Pony Ma. Jack Ma and his family’s total wealth in IT industry was 195 billion yuan ($29 billion), followed by Pony Ma, whose wealth increased by 30 percent year on year to 134 billion yuan ($19.8 billion), according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute. Hurun Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said that considering IT entrepreneurs’ contribution to China’s society and economy, they should be called “super wealth creators” instead of simply “rich people.”