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Forbes’ top Chinese CEOs list includes names from Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan among the top five
- Only four women are included on the the list of 50 names
- Shenzhen is home to more companies on the list than any other cities
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Forbes China has a new list of the country’s top 50 CEOs, and some of the biggest names in tech make an appearance. Just in the top five are the CEOs of food delivery company Meituan Dianping, Tencent and Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post.
But what makes a CEO great? With Forbes, it’s all about the numbers. The company says metrics like company valuation, profit and returns on equity and assets all went into assessing each business leader. The CEOs also need to have held their position for at least three consecutive years. Given the dominant position of China’s biggest tech companies, some of the top names on the list should come as no surprise.
#1: Daniel Zhang, Alibaba
At the very top sits Daniel Zhang, who has headed Alibaba since 2015 as the company’s third CEO, taking the reins from the successor of company founder Jack Ma.
Zhang is best known for his roles leading Taobao and Tmall, the backbone of Alibaba’s e-commerce empire in China. Zhang is also credited with creating Singles' Day, the world’s largest shopping festival that takes place on November 11 – hence the nickname Double Eleven.
#2: Pony Ma, Tencent
In close second is Pony Ma Huateng, the multibillionaire founder of Tencent. Ma, who topped Forbes China’s CEO list in 2018, built his company’s social media empire initially with the launch QQ. This ICQ-inspired messaging service was a hit, but it was nothing compared to the company’s next big product: WeChat.
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