China’s wealthiest people have seen their fortunes soar in 2020, despite or in some cases because of the global pandemic.
The country’s elite collectively earned $1.5 trillion this year, more than the last five years combined. Since January 257 in China have become billionaires, bringing the total number to 878 according to the New Straights Times. Meanwhile there are a further 2000 people with a net worth of over $300 million dollars, or 2 billion Yuan.
Analysts saw this surge in wealth is partly due to the boom in e-commerce and gaming during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a similar shift in wealth to the 1% seen in the United States. Jack Ma, the founder of CEO of online marketplace Alibaba, is still China’s richest man at $58.8 billion, a fortune that surged by 45% this year as customers flocked to the web for shopping.
Pony Ma, the gaming tycoon and owner of the WeChat social network, saw his fortune rise by 50% to $57.4 billion despite his companies experiencing difficulty with American authorities.
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