He takes over paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang, who has a net worth of $17.7 billion, as Sea Ltd shares surge amid the pandemic.
With a net worth of $19.2 billion, Forrest Li, 42, is now Singapore’s richest person, according to the «Bloomberg Billionaires Index,» published Tuesday.
The China-born entrepreneur founded Sea Ltd, Southeast Asia's most valuable company, in 2009 with partners Gang Ye and David Chen, who are worth $10.8 billion and $3.6 billion respectively. Li is a
Sea is the holding company for e-commerce giant Shopee, mobile game developer Garena, fintech venture SeaMoney and football club Lion City Sailors.
Pandemic Boost
The pandemic has boosted Sea Ltd’s fortunes, with the e-commerce and gaming sector growing amid lockdowns. Sea shares rose a 67 percent this year alone, according to «Bloomberg» (behind paywall).
In the second quarter of 2021, the total payments made using its mobile-wallet services rose more than $4.1 billion, an increase of almost 150 percent from the previous year. During this period, Sea's revenue rose 159 percent to $2.3 billion.
The company is also one of the recipients of a digital banking license in Singapore, and according to a separate «Bloomberg» report, acquired Indonesia’s Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi earlier this year.
