Ma Huateng, chairman of Tencent Holdings, topped the recently released List of the 3,000 Most Wealthy Families in China with a net worth of 46.7 billion yuan (US$7.53 billion).

Tencent, China's largest Internet company, maintains trendy software, like QQ and WeChat, and the online shopping mall Yixun. The Hong Kong-based company's performance allowed Ma to unseat SANY Heavy Industry CEO Liang Wengen as China's wealthiest man for the first time. Liang, who was ranked China's wealthiest man in 2012, has lost 19 billion yuan (US$2.58 billion), almost half his family's fortune, in the last year.

The success of Ma and Tencent reflect a larger trend of Internet dominating such wealth rankings. Four of the top 10 wealthiest men are Internet entrepreneurs of some kind, with Baidu CEO Robin Li (Li Yanhong) ranked second on the list. Li's personal fortune is estimated at 41.1 billion yuan (US$6.63 billion). Three men on the list have a real estate background, an indication that just two fields are dominating family wealth in China.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)