BroadChain News, October 10: The Hurun Research Institute today officially released the 2018 Hurun Rich List. The list reveals that 13 individuals from the blockchain sector made the cut, with a minimum threshold of RMB 2 billion. The cutoff date for calculating entrepreneurs’ wealth was August 15, 2018.
Mining Hardware Manufacturers Emerge as Biggest Winners
With three major mining hardware manufacturers—Canaan Creative, Ebang International, and Bitmain—submitting IPO prospectuses to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, mining hardware producers became the biggest winners in the blockchain sector on the 2018 Hurun Rich List, accounting for nine individuals on the list. Among them, Bitmain had the highest representation, with five individuals listed.
Specifically, Jia Nongtuan, Bitmain’s largest shareholder and co-founder, entered the Top 100 with a fortune of RMB 29.5 billion, ranking 95th; Wu Jihan, Bitmain’s second-largest shareholder and co-founder, ranked 204th with RMB 16.5 billion.
Zhao Zhaofeng, Bitmain’s fourth-largest shareholder and founding team member, ranked 789th with RMB 5 billion; Ge Yuesheng, Bitmain’s “Post-90s” Senior Investment Director, and Hu Yishuo, Bitmain founding team member and director, tied for 1,223rd place, each holding RMB 3.4 billion.
Notably, Ge Yuesheng has also become the new wealthiest “Post-90s” individual on the list, surpassing Dai Wei, founder of ofo.
Beyond Bitmain, Hu Dong, founder of Ebang International, ranked 728th with RMB 5.5 billion. Zhang Nangeng, founder and CEO of Canaan Creative, and Liu Xiangfu, co-founder of Canaan Creative, tied for 1,149th place with RMB 3.5 billion each; Li Jiaxuan, co-founder and CFO of Canaan Creative, ranked 1,223rd with RMB 3.4 billion.
It is evident that equity distribution among Canaan Creative’s three co-founders is relatively balanced, resulting in comparable net worth figures.
Leaders of the Three Major Exchanges All Featured
In addition to the three leading mining hardware giants, cryptocurrency exchanges also emerged as another major winner in the blockchain space.
Among them, Zhao Changpeng, founder of Binance, ranked 230th with RMB 15 billion; Xu Mingxing, founder of OKCoin, ranked 354th with RMB 10 billion; and Li Lin, founder of Huobi, ranked 556th with RMB 7 billion.
However, according to BroadChain Finance, on one hand, most exchange-related businesses involve cryptocurrencies, meaning the wealth of associated individuals cannot be simply converted into fiat currency; on the other hand, much of this wealth has not been publicly disclosed—as with the three major mining hardware giants—to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or the general public, nor can it be easily estimated via valuation and shareholding calculations.
Additionally, an employee currently working at an OK-affiliated company bluntly stated in their WeChat Moments: “RMB 10 billion? That vastly underestimates Boss Xu.”
Zhao Changpeng’s wealth appears even more opaque. As early as early February 2018, Forbes published its inaugural global cryptocurrency billionaire list, where Zhao ranked third with an estimated net worth of USD 1.1–2 billion—just behind Ripple founder Chris Larsen and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, and ahead of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin (“Vitalik”).
According to prior analysis by BroadChain Finance, Li Lin’s extensive business portfolio has earned him the moniker “King of the Huobi Forest,” and his actual wealth is difficult to quantify—meaning RMB 7 billion may represent only the tip of the iceberg.
Li Xiaolai Makes Rare Appearance on the List
Beyond leaders of mining hardware manufacturers and cryptocurrency exchanges, Li Xiaolai—a well-known Chinese Bitcoin investor—also appeared on the list with RMB 7 billion in wealth, tying with Huobi founder Li Lin for 556th place. The Hurun Rich List identifies him as founder of BitFund.