Jack Ma dethrones Wanda's Wang to take richest crown

Alibaba's chairman Jack Ma delivers a speech at an investor conference at the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 14, 2016. The e-commerce giant Alibaba owns the online shopping platform Taobao. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jack Ma, chairman of China's e-commerce leader Alibaba Group, has surpassed Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, to become the richest mainland Chinese, according to Forbes magazine.

As of Friday, Ma's fortune was worth $30.9 billion, compared with $30.7 billion for Wang. Ma Huateng, chairman of Tencent, took the third spot with $29.7 billion, according to the magazine.

Ma took the crown thanks to more than one-third rise in Alibaba's share price, which was $120.34 in New York on Friday.

Wang has made his wealth mainly from real estate and the entertainment industry.

In the past few years, Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin have rotated the No. 1 spot in China's wealth rankings.

However, the rankings may be poised for another shakeup as Ma Huateng's wealth increased rapidly following a run-up in the stock price of Tencent Holdings, which operates the country's popular WeChat online messaging platform. Ma Huateng's wealth is just $1 billion less compared with Ma and Wang.

Currently, Asia's richest man is Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong, with a fortune worth $32.9 billion, according to Forbes.