Forrest Li

Last updated
Forrest Li Xiaodong
李小冬
Born1977or1978(age 46–47) [1]
Tianjin, China [2]
CitizenshipSingaporean
Education Shanghai Jiaotong University (BA)
Stanford University (MBA)
Known forFounder of Sea Limited
Chairman of Lion City Sailors FC

Forrest Li Xiaodong (born 1977 or 1978) is a 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.

Contents

Biography

Forrest 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

Li 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

Li 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]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Forbes profile: Forrest Li". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "7 Forrest Li Facts To Know Now That He's S'pore's Richest Man". mustsharenews.com. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Commentary: The incredible rise of Forrest Li, modest founder of Singapore's most valuable listed company". CNA. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ "South-east Asia's most valuable startup Garena running toward US IPO". TODAY. 2016-08-30.
  6. ↑ Sim, Dewey (20 February 2021). "Why Singapore tech giant Sea is making waves in Southeast Asia". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Balea, Jum (2016-03-31). "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com.
  8. 1 2 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.
  9. ↑ Yap, Jacky (2015-08-03). "Garena And Its Quest To Take Down Carousell With Newly Launched Shopee App". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  10. ↑ "Billionaires 2019". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Forrest Li : "Singapore's Steve Jobs" shoots for the stars". MoneyWeek. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  13. ↑ Kang, John. "Forrest Li's Sea Ltd Surges As Pandemic Drives Digitalization Across ASEAN". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  14. ↑ Sivakumar, Yoganeetha (2024-04-05). "Forbes 2024 billionaire list: Who are the richest people in Singapore right now?". Vulcan Post.
  15. ↑ "Forbes Billionaires 2024". Forbes.
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