Copying Tencent's Ali Magic Donghai Li Xiaodong became the richest man in Singapore at the age of 43

A Tianjin man moved the business models of mainland technology giants Tencent Holdings (00700) and Alibaba (09988) to Southeast Asia and successfully built the largest local technology listed company. He also used this to become a The richest man in Singapore. This person is Forrest Li, the founder of Sea Limited (US stock code: SE).

In October 2021, the share price of Sea Limited, the listed parent company of e-commerce platforms Shopee and Garena, rose to US$363, with the total market value approaching US$200 billion. As the company's stock price continued to rise that year, the net worth of founder Li Xiaodong also increased, and the title of "Singapore's richest man" was born. However, in fact, the richest man was born in Tianjin, China, and lived in the mainland until he was 27 years old. 18-year-old Li Xiaodong was admitted to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. When taking an English class in college, the teacher asked each student to choose an English name for himself. He chose Forrest, the name of the male protagonist in the movie "Forrest Gump". Li Xiaodong explained: "Forrest Gump is not the smartest, nor the strongest, but he is enthusiastic and brave. He has helped many people and has a meaningful life as a result. All of this is very touching. people."

Although he majored in engineering at university, after graduation, Li Xiaodong did not choose a job related to his major. Instead, he worked in human resources-related positions at Motorola and Corning. After working in the Mainland for four years, he gave up his high-paying position, took out a loan of US$120,000, and went to the United States to study for an MBA program at Stanford University.