Updated 2015-08-08
By Russell Flannery丨Forbes
China, with 20 members, is second only to the U.S. as home to the world’s wealthiest tech entrepreneurs, according to a new ranking of the top 100 richest in the field by Forbes this week. What’s behind China’s growing clout?
At least in part, it’s a willingness among business leaders to seek rapid growth as an “exponential organization,” according to Edward Tse, CEO of Gao Feng Advisory and author of a new book, “China’s Disruptors: How Alibaba, Xiaomi, Tencent and Other Companies Are Changing the Rules of Business.” Not surprisingly, the leaders of all three of those companies – Jack Ma (Alibaba), Lei Jun (Xiaomi) and Pony Ma (Tencent) – are all members of the new tech list.
The ascension of China’s technology entrepreneurs into the global elite is an extension of a wave of entrepreneurism that was first unleashed after Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power in the 1980s. Several of the country’s most powerful Internet firms today –- Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com –- were founded in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and took advantage of a big domestic market, brisk China’s GDP growth and the new conveniences the web bought to daily life in order to grow exponentially. Tencent’s WeChat text messaging service has amassed several hundred million users in a short time; Xiaomi has in five years shot up from a startup to become one of the world’s largest mobile phone vendors.
What characterizes an exponential organization? Among other things, Tse says, it’s a willingness to engage in “fearless experimentation,” move in and out of industry boundaries, set up ecosystems of related businesses, and “triple jump” into new areas if the organization has competency gaps today that require a bit of a leap to surmount. Hence, Alibaba, for instance, has pushed from its core in business-to-business e-commerce into the entertainment business and logistics. In addition, according to Tse, entrepreneurs that lead exponential organizations have a tendency to think, “Why not me?”
To be sure, stock investors don’t always applaud business leaders that move too far from their core. Shares in China search leader Baidu has been hurt of late by concerns that its investments in new businesses are hurting profits. On the other hand, having been reporting about China for nearly three decades, it’s rare that I’ve heard anyone say you can find great success in business in the country by thinking small.
Here are the China-based members of the new Forbes tech rich list:
7. Jack Ma, Alibaba Group, $23.2 billion
11. Ma Huateng, Tencent, $17.9 billion
16. Lei Jun, Xiaomi, $13.4 billion
18. Robin Li, Baidu, 46, $12.5 billion
24. Liu Qiangdong, JD.com , $9 billion
26. William Ding, Netease, $8.1 billion
33. Zhang Zhidong, Tencent, $6.4 billion
41. Jia Yueting, Leshi Internet Information and Technology, $4.5 billion
48. Qi Shi & family, East Money Information, $4 billion
54. Frank Wang, DJI, $3.6 billion
55. Jiang Bin, GoerTek , $3.5 billion
55. Li Zhongchu, Beijing Shiji Information Technology, $3.5 billion
55. Lin Xiucheng & family, Sanan Optoelectronics, $3.5 billion
60. Fu Liquan & family, Zhejiang Dahua Technology, $3.4 billion
62. Wang Wenjing, Yonyou Network Technology, $3.3 billion
68. Pan Zhengmin & family, AAC Technologies, $3.2 billion
73. Xue Xiangdong & family, DHC Software, $2.8 billion
80. Zhou Yahui & family, Beijing Kunlun Tech, $2.6 billion
88. Tian Ming, Hefei Meiya Optoelectronic Technology, $2.4 billion
92. Yi Zheng, Hithink Royal Flush Information Network, $2.2 billion–with Maggie Chen and Cherish Xiong