Alibaba founder Jack Ma is once again number 1 in 2018 Forbes China Rich List, reclaiming the spot for the first time since 2014. His net worth is currently at $34.5 billion.
Ma replaced Hui Ka Yan of Evergrande who is at number 3 this year with his net worth of $30.8 billion. At number 2 this year is Tencent's Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, with his net worth of $32.8 billion.
Ma's number 1 ranking took place just a month after he announced his decision to step down as chairman of Alibaba effective September 2019. He also shared plans of focusing on philanthropy and education.
In China, Ma was revered like no other, according to Rupert Hoogework who founded the Hurun Report which also publishes an annual list of China's richest. He told Reuters at the time that Ma has always had the spotlight despite being in the company of friends who are famous movie stars or other popular billionaires.
In his speech at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund held early this month, Ma said his secret to success lies in consistently asking himself three questions: "What do you have? What do you want? What will you give up?"
Ma also advised young aspirants to think of success as something that is easily attainable. He stressed that Alibaba took many years before it gets to where it is today.
During challenging times, Ma shared he only kept on asking these three questions to refocus on more important things and for him to clearly define what he wanted.
The richest man in China is a former English teacher. He founded Alibaba in 1999 with 17 other people. At the time, China's business sphere was dominated by state-owned firms. Elsewhere, entrepreneurship was perceived by the majority as a highly risky career choice.
To date, Alibaba is now popular worldwide. It employs more than 66,000 people and has a market value of about $420 billion.
Meanwhile, the 2018 Forbes China Rich List has also seen 12 newcomers from the tech and e-commerce sectors.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun rose to number 11 with a net worth of $11.9 billion with his company attaining a market capitalization of $35 billion.
Meituan's Wang Xing is at number 37 with a net worth of $5.1 billion.
Colin Huang, the founder of e-commerce site Pinduoduo, is at number 12.
Zhang Yong, the founder of hot pot chain Haidilao, is at number 19 with a net worth of $7.7 billion. Shi Yondong, who co-founded Haidilao, is at number 66 with a net worth of $3.65 billion. Haidilao currently has more than 300 restaurants in China and has just gone public in Hong Kong in September.
