(Bloomberg) – Pony Ma became $ 6.9 billion richer on Monday after one of the companies supporting Tencent Holdings Ltd. revealed its IPO plans, while Jack Ma’s public reappearance on Wednesday added $ 1 , 6 billion to its net worth.
Although the Hong Kong market has been particularly volatile lately – the Hang Seng benchmark gave up more than half of its Monday’s gain on Tuesday – it was one of the world’s highlights this month.
Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., along with food delivery giant Meituan and automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., were among the actions that helped boost the rise. Its top executives earned $ 32 billion this month and are not the only ones benefiting, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The ten wealthiest tycoons with companies that have a primary listing in Hong Kong added more than $ 60 billion in wealth in January – or $ 3.8 billion for each trading day. This does not include Jack Ma, whose Alibaba is traded in Hong Kong, but has its main listing in New York. His net worth increased $ 3.5 billion this month to $ 54.1 billion as he reappeared in a video after weeks of speculation about his whereabouts after a crackdown by the Chinese government that left his business empire in crisis.
Read more: Jack Ma’s video chat generates a sigh of relief of $ 58 billion
Even Hui Ka Yan of China Evergrande Group, whose net worth sank more than anyone else in Asia last year, recovered $ 2.6 billion in 2021. His electric vehicle startup said on Sunday that it is selling HK $ 26 billion (US $ 3.35 billion) in shares, generating a 52% increase in stock.
While Hong Kong’s economy was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis and political repression, money continued to flow into the city. Continents taking advantage of bargain prices after international investors were forced to part with some recently banned Chinese stocks helped to boost the market, as well as eased concerns about stricter regulatory rules that govern China’s Internet giants. At the same time, companies linked to Chinese consumers – like Meituan – have benefited, as the country was one of the few able to control the Covid-19 pandemic and the government has pledged to increase consumption.
The Hang Seng Index shot up 11% from January to Monday, when it reached its highest level since June 2018. It fell to 1.8% on Tuesday.
Pony Ma’s $ 18.6 billion increase this month is the biggest after that of Elon Musk, while Tencent co-founder Zhang Zhidong earned $ 8.5 billion. Zhong Shanshan of bottled water maker Nongfu Spring Co., who became the richest person in Asia in late 2020 and started the year by taking the post of Warren Buffett as the sixth richest in the world, added $ 16.2 billion in 2021. Wang Xing of Meituan accumulated $ 7.8 billion.
Lei Jun, of Xiaomi Corp., is the only major tycoon whose net worth fell in January. The US blacklisted the smartphone maker in an unexpected move that sank its shares at a record 10% on January 15.
(Updates to market movement in the second, seventh paragraphs)
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