Online learning boosts providers' wealth
Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, releases the Hurun China Rich List 2020.
Online education service providers added to their wealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic while other sectors, including real estate, suffered.
In the Hurun China Rich List 2020, Chen Xiangdong, 49, founder of home tutoring platform Genshuixue, saw his wealth rise eight-fold to US$11.8 billion to put him in the Top 50. He is listed at No. 47, 323 places higher than last year.
Zhang Bangxin, founder of TAL Education, saw his wealth increased by 116 percent to US$14 billion. He is ranked 42 this year, 17 places higher than last year.
Online education platforms proved popular during the pandemic with students and teachers stuck at home.
California-based video sharing platform Zoom also become a popular tool for both online teaching and conferences. It gained over US$10 billion for its founder Yuan Zheng, 50, and took him to 30th place with total wealth of US$16.2 billion. Last year, he was ranked 78th.
E-commerce also had a good year. Jack Ma, 56, for the third year running retained top spot with US$ 58.8 billion, up 45 percent on the back of the impending IPO of fintech platform Ant and a strong performance by e-commerce platform Alibaba.
Express delivery king Wang Wei, 50, of SF Express, also had an outstanding year, more than doubling his wealth to US$35.3 billion and breaking into the Top 10 to sit at No. 4.
Another star performer was the food delivery giant Meituan’s Wang Xing, 41, up 52 places to 13th with his wealth quadrupled to US$25 billion.
