Forrest Li Xiaodong (born 1977 or 1978) is a Chinese Singaporean billionaire businessman. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Sea Limited, a company with subsidiaries including Garena, Shopee, and SeaMoney.[3] He is also the chairman of Lion City Sailors FC, which is owned by Sea.
Forrest Li Xiaodong | |
|---|---|
| 李小冬 | |
| Born | 1977 or 1978 (age 46–47)[1] |
| Citizenship | Singaporean |
| Education | Shanghai Jiaotong University (BA) Stanford University (MBA) |
| Known for | Founder of Sea Limited Chairman of Lion City Sailors FC |
Biography
editForrest Li Xiaodong was born in Tianjin, China. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.[1]
Li moved to Singapore with limited financial resources and substantial student loan debt amounting to $100,000. Upon his arrival, he and his wife rented a single bedroom in a three-room HDB flat in Braddell. He later became a permanent resident of Singapore and took up citizenship.[4]
Career
editLi founded Sea in 2009, initially as a digital entertainment company under the name Garena.[5] At the time, the company had only operated out of a single shophouse off Maxwell Road at Tanjong Pagar.[6] The company first focused on game publishing.[7] Over the years, Li's company diversified its business to include e-commerce and digital financial services.[8] In 2015, Garena launched Shopee, an e-commerce platform that grew to become one of the leading online shopping service providers in Southeast Asia.[9] Later, the company introduced SeaMoney, which offers digital financial services including payments and lending.
In May 2017, after raising US$550 million in a funding round, Garena underwent a corporate rebranding and adopted the name Sea Ltd, while retaining use of the name Garena for Sea's digital entertainment segment.[8]
In March 2019, after the share price of his consumer internet company Sea Ltd increased by 45%, Li's net worth increased to more than $1 billion.[10]
Other Ventures
editLi is a football enthusiast and serves as the chairman of the Lion City Sailors, a Singapore Premier League football club acquired by Sea in 2020.[11][12]
Li is married and lives in Singapore.[1] He appeared on the August 2020 cover of Forbes Asia, the Asia edition of Forbes magazine.[13] As of April 5, 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$3.6 billion according to the Forbes World’s Billionaires List, ranking him as the ninth richest person in Singapore.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Forbes profile: Forrest Li". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "7 Forrest Li Facts To Know Now That He's S'pore's Richest Man". mustsharenews.com. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ "Commentary: The incredible rise of Forrest Li, modest founder of Singapore's most valuable listed company". CNA. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ Pillai, Sharanya (17 December 2020). "Sea's Forrest Li credits Singapore in Businessman of the Year win". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "South-east Asia's most valuable startup Garena running toward US IPO". TODAY. 2016-08-30.
- ^ Sim, Dewey (20 February 2021). "Why Singapore tech giant Sea is making waves in Southeast Asia". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Balea, Jum (2016-03-31). "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com.
- ^ a b Chia, Yan Min (2017-05-16). "Tech company Garena raises US$550m, rebrands as Sea, Companies & Markets News & Top Stories - The Straits Times". The Straits Times Business.
- ^ Yap, Jacky (2015-08-03). "Garena And Its Quest To Take Down Carousell With Newly Launched Shopee App". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ^ "Billionaires 2019". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ Mohan, Matthew. "Football: Singapore tech firm Sea takes ownership of Home United; club changes name to Lion City Sailors FC". CNA. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- ^ "Forrest Li : "Singapore's Steve Jobs" shoots for the stars". MoneyWeek. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ Kang, John. "Forrest Li's Sea Ltd Surges As Pandemic Drives Digitalization Across ASEAN". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
- ^ Sivakumar, Yoganeetha (2024-04-05). "Forbes 2024 billionaire list: Who are the richest people in Singapore right now?". Vulcan Post.
- ^ "Forbes Billionaires 2024". Forbes.
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