William Ding, also known as Ding Lei, founder and chief executive of NetEase, is ranked No. 55 on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $37.9 billion. He was China’s first internet and gaming billionaire.
Ding Lei, known as William Ding, was born on October 1, 1971, in Fenghua, Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province, China. He graduated from the Chengdu Institute of Radio Engineering, now the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications engineering.
Net Worth and Rank
- Forbes 2026 list: No. 55, with $37.9 billion
- Earlier estimate: Bloomberg estimated his fortune at $38.9 billion in May 2025, according to Wikipedia
Career
After graduation Ding worked as an engineer in a local state department in Ningbo and then for the software company Sybase in Guangzhou. He founded NetEase and in 2003 became the richest individual on the Chinese mainland, with 7.6 billion yuan, making him the country’s first internet and gaming billionaire. According to the Hurun Report 2013, his fortune was then estimated at $5.2 billion.
Other Ventures
- Pork production: in 2012 he was confirmed to have branched NetEase into pig farming, centred on technology and environmental sustainability and not meant to become a major arm of the company
- Property: in late 2016 he was reported to be looking at property investment and travelled to Zimbabwe and the UK
- Los Angeles: in June 2020 he bought a 16,000-square-foot mansion in Bel Air for $29 million from Elon Musk
Why It Matters
NetEase made Ding the first internet and gaming billionaire on the Chinese mainland, and its share price drives his wealth.
Net worth figures change daily with share prices. Rankings here follow the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list, with wealth measured on March 1, 2026.
Image: NetEase’s office in Hangzhou, China (file photo, 2017; William Ding is not pictured). Photo: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
