Chinese investor Li Ying is often dubbed the female “Warren Buffett of China”. In 2010, at the tender age of 29, Jack Ma – the co-founder of Alibaba Holdings, the owner of the South China Morning Post – personally asked Li three times to move from Silicon Valley to run Yunfeng Capital, Ma’s private equity firm. The firm focuses on hi-tech and new energy enterprises; Li eventually agreed and went on to become one of the co-founders along with Ma and David Yu. Managing hundreds of billions, Li was once competing with property developer Yang Huiyan for the title of the richest woman in China . Her exact net worth has not ever been revealed, but Chinese media reports suggest that her total assets amount to more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion). Where did China’s richest tech billionaires study? There’s not much information on Li out there. She is known to be a fan of supercars; her collection includes a Bentley, a Mercedes-Maybach and a coveted red convertible Rolls-Royce Phantom. Here’s how she became one of the richest women in China. Li grew up in Shenzhen, China, until the second year of middle school when her parents suggested she continue her studies in the US. She initially hated the idea of relocating but after making a deal with her parents to skip some grades (middle to high school), she eventually agreed to the move. It turned out that she was much more advanced than her peers and was accepted by MIT, Yale and Stanford at the age of 17. She chose MIT and completed her studies in three years. By the time she was 20, she had a Bachelor of Science in computer science, a Bachelor of Economics, and a Master’s degree in electronic engineering and computer science. 5 Chinese tycoons who lost billions thanks to Covid-19 Li’s first job was at McKinsey & Company where she was a management consultant in Silicon Valley. For the next 13 years, she worked for top Wall Street investment firms such as Ikano, UT and KPCB and quickly rose up the ranks. It was then when Jack Ma discovered her talent and abilities. Alibaba Group was looking to expand, and with her impressive resume and work experience, it took Ma several attempts before he could persuade her to join him at Yunfeng Capital. Li was made the general manager of the board of directors and was responsible for investment in hi-tech and new energy fields. Her addition and success at the company saw the initial funding of Yunfeng Capital grow to tens of billions of yuan. She left the company last year, according to LinkedIn, and has founded her own firm. We await to see what she does next. Why are all these billionaires wearing watches that even you can afford? Li had always kept a low profile, and the combination of beauty and brains reportedly caused gasps of awe when she made her first public appearance. It is thought that she is still single, making her one of the most eligible women in China, if not the world. Want more stories like this? Sign up here . Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .