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Alibaba IPO makes founder Jack Ma richest man in China

The wealth of the 1,271 people on China's annual rich list accumulates to $1.4 trillion, greater than the GDP of Spain or South Korea.

By Aileen Graef
Alibaba Co-Founder Jack Ma stands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before Alibaba begins trading on Wall Street in New York City on September 19, 2014. The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group started trading Friday at 11:53 AM with an opening price of $92.70 to make it the biggest U.S. initial public offering ever. UPI/John Angelillo
Alibaba Co-Founder Jack Ma stands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before Alibaba begins trading on Wall Street in New York City on September 19, 2014. The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group started trading Friday at 11:53 AM with an opening price of $92.70 to make it the biggest U.S. initial public offering ever. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

HONG KONG, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Alibaba's record setting IPO on the NYSE made founder Jack Ma the richest man in China, topping the list of Internet and technology tycoons.

Ma is now worth $24.2 billion, which puts him in the top spot on the Hurun Report, China's annual list of the country's richest. He joins tech titans Lei Jun, founder of smartphone maker Xiaomi; Robin Li, co-founder of Chinese search group Baidu; and Pony Ma, founder of Alibaba arch-rival Tencent.

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The new technology additions now outnumber the members with the traditional sources of wealth -- namely real estate.

"It has been an amazing year for China's best tycoons despite the jitters about the Chinese economy," Hurun said.

The anti-corruption campaign in China hindered the growth of the list and caused several billionaires to be knocked off after getting in trouble with the Chinese authorities.

Membership to the elite club of China's 100 richest has a cutoff at $2.3 billion, 15 times more than the cutoff a decade ago.

Alibaba's co-founder Simon Xie Shihuang now has a fortune of $1.6 billion.

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