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Forrest Li

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Singaporean billionaire (born c. 1977) In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.
Forrest Li Xiaodong
李小冬
Born1977 or 1978 (age 46–47)
Tianjin, China
CitizenshipSingaporean
EducationShanghai 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. He is also the chairman of Lion City Sailors FC, which is owned by Sea.

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.

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.


Career

Li joined GG Games in 2007 as CEO.

GG Games was Singapore's first competitive gaming platform. Founded in 2005 by Steve Ou and Liu Hui, Chinese international students attending Singapore's Nanyan Technological University.

After ousting the Founders in 2009, Li restructured the company to Garena. At the time, the company had only operated out of a single shophouse off Maxwell Road at Tanjong Pagar. The company first focused on game publishing. Over the years, Li's company diversified its business to include e-commerce and digital financial services. In 2015, Garena launched Shopee, an e-commerce platform that grew to become one of the leading online shopping service providers in Southeast Asia. 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.

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.

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.

Li is married and lives in Singapore. He appeared on the August 2020 cover of Forbes Asia, the Asia edition of Forbes magazine. 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.

References

  1. ^ "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. "How Chen Ou and I were forced out of Garena". Sina (in Chinese). 2014-06-13.
  6. "South-east Asia's most valuable startup Garena running toward US IPO". TODAY. 2016-08-30.
  7. Sim, Dewey (20 February 2021). "Why Singapore tech giant Sea is making waves in Southeast Asia". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  8. Balea, Jum (2016-03-31). "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. Yap, Jacky (2015-08-03). "Garena And Its Quest To Take Down Carousell With Newly Launched Shopee App". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  11. "Billionaires 2019". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  12. 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.
  13. "Forrest Li : "Singapore's Steve Jobs" shoots for the stars". MoneyWeek. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  14. Kang, John. "Forrest Li's Sea Ltd Surges As Pandemic Drives Digitalization Across ASEAN". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  15. Sivakumar, Yoganeetha (2024-04-05). "Forbes 2024 billionaire list: Who are the richest people in Singapore right now?". Vulcan Post.
  16. "Forbes Billionaires 2024". Forbes.
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