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Bloomberg

Singapore’s newest billionaire is a former government employee who rode mobile sensation Free Fire into the ranks of the ultra-wealthy this week.
The battle royale or fight-to-the-death title distributed by Sea Ltd ranked among the five most downloaded games on the Apple and Google app stores for three straight quarters this year and has amassed US$1 billion in adjusted revenue since launching in 2017.
That propelled a tripling in Sea’s market value and the fortune of co-founder Gang Ye, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate who has worked for Wilmar International Ltd and Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
The 39-year-old joins co-founder Forrest Li, whose larger stake in the fast-growing games-to-shopping company earned him a 10-digit fortune earlier this year.
5 things to know about billionaire Forrest Li’s shooter game Free Fire
Ye, who moved to Singapore from China in the 1990s as a teenager and became a citizen soon after his return from the US, has served as Sea’s chief operating officer since 2017.
The executive holds an 8.4 per cent stake in the company and is worth US$1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. A company representative declined to comment on his net worth.
Shares in the company, which is part-owned by Chinese social media titan Tencent Holdings Ltd, reached an all-time high this month after Sea’s revenue tripled to US$610.1 million in the third quarter.
While gaming is Sea’s biggest business, e-commerce platform Shopee is also growing fast. The segment’s revenue more than tripled in the quarter, helping narrow net losses to US$206 million. Sea’s dependence on the success of “just a few game titles” was listed as one of its business risks in a 2018 annual report.

Shopee, whose television and online ads feature Juventus soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, topped the mobile shopping category in Southeast Asia by monthly active users and downloads in the third quarter, according to researcher Iprice Group.
While the influx of e-commerce giants from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to Amazon.com Inc onto Sea’s turf has sparked concerns over its growth, the company has a “firm lead in the region that’s tough to break”, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman wrote in November.
Singapore’s not-so-secret formula to becoming a regional tech hub
Ye and Li are the latest billionaires to emerge from the gaming scene. Tim Sweeney, founder of Fortnite maker Epic Games, has a US$7.2 billion fortune while Gabe Newell – whose Valve Corp operates the Steam platform – has a net worth of US$5.7 billion, according to Bloomberg’s ranking.


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Singapore

Singapore’s latest billionaire is a Chinese immigrant who made his fortune in gaming

Gang Ye, co-founder and group chief operating officer at Sea Ltd. Photo: Handout

The founder of Singapore's tech unicorn, Sea, made it onto the Bloomberg Billionaires List thanks to a 13.8 per cent stake in the company worth roughly US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion). Photo: Singapore Press Holdings

5 things to know about billionaire Forrest Li's shooter game Free Fire

An avatar from the last-man-standing online survival game, Free Fire, which has become a huge worldwide success.

Free Fire avatar

Free Fire emojis

Free Fire still

‘Free Fire’ game creator Forrest Li earns a spot on the world’s billionaires list

Forrest Li is only the second person ever to become a billionaire thanks to an online game. Photo: Singapore Press Holdings

Sea Limited

Forrest Gump DVD.

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Asia

Southeast Asia


Gang Ye, 39, moved from China in the 1990s and previously worked for Singapore’s Economic Development Board
He co-founded Sea Ltd, which distributes mobile sensation Free Fire



Gang Ye, 39, moved to Singapore from China in the 1990s and previously worked for Singapore’s Economic Development Board.


Asia Tech

Video gaming

Singapore’s latest billionaire is a Chinese immigrant who made his fortune in gaming

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Gang Ye, 39, moved from China in the 1990s and previously worked for Singapore’s Economic Development Board He co-founded Sea Ltd, which distributes mobile sensation Free Fire

Gang Ye, 39, moved from China in the 1990s and previously worked for Singapore’s Economic Development Board

He co-founded Sea Ltd, which distributes mobile sensation Free Fire