Name: William Ding
Net worth: Approx. $29.45 billion Executive pay: $124 million
Company: Netease
Bio: Ding Lei, also known as William Ding, was born in Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Chengdu College of Electronic Science and Technology (now known as University of Electronic Science and Technology of China) and, after graduation, he worked as an engineer in a local state department in Ningbo.
After completing his studies, he initially took up a position as an engineer in a government department in Ningbo, before moving to Guangzhou to work for Sybase. He later established NetEase and by 2003, he had become the wealthiest person in mainland China, with a net worth of 7.6 billion yuan, making him the first internet and gaming billionaire in the country. According to the Hurun Report 2013, his net worth is now estimated to be $5.2 billion.
Ding founded NetEase in 1997 with only 3 employees, and became the richest individual in China in 2003, providing an essential asset to the progress of internet services there.
He won the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for his ground-breaking use of information technology in 2004.
Did you know: In June 2020, Ding purchased a 16,000-square-foot Bel Air, Los Angeles, mansion for US$29 million from Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
