New richest man in Singapore is worth $20.3 billion

Forrest Li, the co-founder of Sea Limited, a tech conglomerate that oversees digital services and brands such as Shopee, Garena and SeaMoney, has become Singapore’s richest man,

How it happened: Li became the city-state’s richest man after his company saw a 67% increase in shares this year, according to Bloomberg. He now has a net worth of $20.3 billion.

The company’s second-quarter earnings report showed a $2.3 billion revenue increase, up by 158.6%, and total gross profits of $930.9 million, equating to a 363.5% year-on-year growth rate, Mashable reported.
Sea Limited’s Shopee, the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, was both the most downloaded app and the second-most downloaded app on the Google Play Store in the second quarter of 2021. It was also the second-most downloaded shopping app in the iOS App Store during the same period.
“Free Fire,” a battle royale game developed by Garena, was the highest-grossing mobile game in Southeast Asia, Latin America and India for the second quarter of this year. It was also the second-highest grossing app on the Google Play Store in the same quarter and the highest-grossing battle royale game in the U.S. for two consecutive quarters.
SeaMoney, a mobile wallet and another brand that Li’s company oversees, has also seen massive growth in the same quarter, with $4.1 billion in payments recorded. This marks a year-on-year increase of about 150%.
Sea Limited is looking into expanding its portfolio in financial technology. In December 2020, the company obtained a digital banking license in Singapore, while it acquired Indonesia’s PT Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi (Bank BKE) the following month, Tech in Asia reported.
The expansions “should allow the group to grow its SeaMoney business beyond payments to include lending, insurance, wealth management and other financial services,” said Nathan Naidu, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst.

About Forrest Li: Li, who co-founded the tech conglomerate along with Gang Ye and David Chen, serves as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Born in Tianjin, China, Li arrived in the city-state about 15 or 16 years ago and became a naturalized citizen, The Straits Times reported.
Sea Limited’s other co-founders, Ye and Chen, are also billionaires with a net worth of $10.8 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.
Li joined the billionaire’s club in 2019, according to the Vulcan Post. He is currently ranked 5th in Forbes’ list of Singapore’s richest.

Featured Image via Lion City Sailors

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