Top 10 richest people in Asia in 2024

The wealth scene in Asia is always in the spotlight, with many impressive individuals making it big on the Forbes list of billionaires. Have you ever wondered who's at the top of the list of the richest people in Asia?
It's no shocker that as of May 2024, the richest person in Asia is Mukesh Ambani, who has a mind-blowing net worth of $110.4 billion. But there are more rich folks beyond borders. This article gives you a summary of the wealthiest people in Asia for 2024 according to Forbes.

1. Mukesh Ambani

Country: India
Age: 66
Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in Asia and runs Reliance Industries. Back in 2008, he got into the Indian Premier League (IPL) by owning the Mumbai Indians team. His telecom and broadband service, Jio, already has nearly 470.29 million users. Recently, in August, Jio Financial Services started up, showing how his company is growing. Plus, in July 2023, BlackRock and Jio Financial Services teamed up to make Jio BlackRock, offering new and smart investment options for people in India.

2. Gautam Adani

Country: India
Age: 61
Gautam Adani is in charge of the Adani Group, which is a huge business worth $81 billion. They do all sorts of things like running ports, airports, energy projects, and eco-friendly initiatives. He began with a small trading company in 1988 and now he's one of the richest guys in Asia. He's well-known for running airports in India and controlling the gigantic Mundra Port in Gujarat. Plus, in 2022, he bought up some of Holcim's stuff in India, which made him one of the country's biggest cement makers.

3. Zhong Shanshan

Country: China
Age: 68
Zhong Shanshan is the person who started Nongfu Spring, a company that sells bottled water. He's the third richest man in Asia and the richest guy in China. He didn't start with water though; he did different jobs like construction and journalism before becoming an entrepreneur. Besides water, he also owns Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, a company that makes quick Covid-19 tests. He is China's richest person, with a fortune of $67.3 billion.

4. Prajogo Pangestu

Country: Indonesia
Age: 79
Prajogo Pangestu, who is big in energy and petrochemicals, is the richest guy in Indonesia. He began with timber, but now his company, PT Barito Pacific, is a major player in making plastics, mining, and energy in Indonesia. His wealth got a big boost in 2023 when two of his companies, Petrindo Jaya Kreasi and Barito Renewables Energy, went public, meaning they started selling shares to the public.

5. Colin Zheng Huang

Country: China
Age: 43
Colin Huang started Pinduoduo, a famous Chinese online shopping company, which changed its name to PDD Holdings in February 2023. Even though he stopped being the chairman a couple of years ago, Huang still owns about 28% of the company. He also started an online gaming company called Xinyoudi and another online shopping website called Ouku.com.

6. Zhang Yiming

Country: China
Age: 39
Zhang Yiming is the guy who started the big Chinese tech company ByteDance, which is famous for creating the app TikTok. TikTok is super popular, with over 1 billion users all around the world. As of March 2023, Zhang still owns two per cent of ByteDance. But there's some uncertainty because the US government might ban TikTok. Recently, the US Congress passed a new law giving them the power to try to stop TikTok. Besides TikTok, ByteDance is involved in lots of other things like news, education, and gaming.

7. Ma Huateng

Country: China
Age: 52
Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, leads Tencent Holdings, a big internet company in China. He's in charge of WeChat, a messaging app that lots of people use, with 1.3 billion users. Because of this, he's one of the richest people in Asia. Tencent also owns a big part of Epic Games, a major player in global gaming, and is a top video game maker itself. Ma's company Tencent has invested in Tesla and Spotify too. Recently, Ma announced plans for Tencent to work on new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that could help lots of people.

8. Li Ka-shing

Country: Hong Kong
Age: 95
Li Ka-Shing started his career at 21 by creating a company called Cheung Kong Plastics, named after a river, with $6,500 he had saved and borrowed from relatives in 1950. His Li Ka Shing Foundation has been incredibly generous, giving over $3.8 billion to different causes, especially in Greater China. Recently, CK Hutchison Holdings, which Li Ka-shing controls, and the Vodafone Group agreed to join their British telecommunications businesses to create the country's largest mobile phone company.

9. Tadashi Yanai and Family

Country: Japan
Age: 75
Tadashi Yanai is the brains behind Fast Retailing, a big clothing company based in Tokyo that owns Uniqlo stores. Fast Retailing also owns other brands like Theory, Helmut Lang, J Brand, and GU. Uniqlo, the main brand, has a huge presence with more than 2,400 stores in 25 countries, making Tadashi one of the top 10 richest people in Asia. Uniqlo wants to become the top brand in India, even with competition from local and international brands.

10. Savitri Jindal and Family

Country: India
Age: 74
Savitri Jindal, the wife of founder Om Prakash Jindal, now leads the Jindal Group, which deals with steel, power, cement, and infrastructure. After Om Prakash Jindal passed away, their sons divided the group's companies, and now they each run their own parts independently. Her son Sajjan Jindal, based in Mumbai, oversees the biggest assets of the group. Savitri Jindal is not only one of the richest people in Asia but also the wealthiest woman in India. She continues her late husband's tradition of giving back to society by supporting things like education and healthcare.

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