![Jack Ma, founder and chief operating officer of Alibaba Group., smiles during an interview, in New York Alibaba CEO Jack Ma during an interview, in New York City on March 12, 2009.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/jack-ma-02.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Jack Ma is Asia’s wealthiest billionaire.
Ma, the founder of China’s e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, as well as a runner-up for TIME’s Person of the Year, is worth $28.6 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 50-year-old is worth about $300 million more than Hong Kong real-estate-and-ports tycoon Li Ka-shing, who had been Asia’s richest person since April 5, 2012.
About half of Ma’s fortune comes from his 6.3% stake of Alibaba. The Hangzhou-based company is larger than Amazon.com and worth about $259 billion.
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Write to Elizabeth Barber at elizabeth.barber@timeasia.com