Jack Ma no longer China's richest man after coming under Beijing's scrutiny

[BEIJING] Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma has lost the title of China's richest man, a list published on Tuesday showed, as his peers prospered while his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators.

Mr Ma and his family had held the top spot for China's richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019 but now trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding's Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo's Collin Huang, the latest list showed.

Mr Ma's recent woes were triggered by an Oct 24 speech in which he blasted China's regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Group's US$37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giant's public listing.

Regulators have since tightened anti-trust scrutiny on the country's tech sector, with Alibaba taking much of the heat; the market regulator launched an official anti-trust probe into Alibaba in December.

Chinese regulators also began to tighten their grip on the fintech sector and have asked Ant to fold some of its businesses into a financial holding company to be regulated like traditional financial firms.

Mr Ma, who is not known for shying away from the limelight, then disappeared from the public eye for about three months, triggering frenzied speculation about his whereabouts. He re-emerged in January with a 50-second video appearance.

China's current richest man, Mr Zhong, made his first appearance at the top spot largely thanks to the share price performances of Nongfu Spring and vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which he also controls.

Tencent's Mr Ma saw his wealth swell 70 per cent over the year to 480 billion yuan (S$98.8 billion) while Pinduoduo's Huang's fortune grew 283 per cent to 450 billion yuan, the list said. In comparison, the wealth of Mr Ma and his family grew 22 per cent, to 360 billion yuan.

Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, broke into the top five rankings among Chinese billionaires in Hurun's Global Rich List for the first time, with an estimated personal wealth of US$54 billion.

REUTERS