Ma vs Lee

Alibaba Group and Samsung Electronics.

The differences

Forbes puts Jay Y. Lee about $0.6B ahead of Jack Ma.Forbes figures from 15 Oct 2026 and 9 Oct 2026.
Jack Ma: co-founded it. Jay Y. Lee: inherited it.
Jack Ma is from China; Jay Y. Lee is from South Korea.
Jack Ma has held a public or government advisory role; Jay Y. Lee has none on record.

Put someone else on either side

Lee

Net worth, Forbes: $26.1BForbes, 9 Oct 2026; $26.7BForbes, 15 Oct 2026
Net worth, Bloomberg: $42BBloomberg, 10 Oct 2026; $29.8BBloomberg, 12 Oct 2026
Forbes rank: No. 91Real-Time list, 9 Oct 2026; No. 84Real-Time list, 9 Oct 2026
Billionaire since: Not stated; Not stated

How it started: Co-founded itAlibaba was founded in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma; Ant Group grew out of Alipay, set up in 2004; Inherited itSamsung was founded by his grandfather Lee Byung-chull in 1938; his stakes rose sharply when his father's shares were distributed to the heirs in 2021. He has been executive chairman of Samsung Electronics since 2022
Main source: Alibaba and Ant Group shares, dividends and share salesBloomberg: most of his wealth is accumulated cash from dividends and share sales of Alibaba and Ant Group; Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T stockBloomberg names Samsung Electronics as his biggest asset
Companies: Alibaba Group, Ant GroupAlibaba Group: Partner in the Alibaba Partnership and partnership-committee continuity member; Ant Group: Founder; no management role; Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&TSamsung Electronics: Executive chairman
Biggest stake: Ant Group9.9% owned; Samsung C&T21.8% owned

Born: 10 Sep 1964Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Not stated
Country: ChinaLives in Hangzhou, China; South KoreaLives in Seoul, South Korea
Education: Bachelor's degreeBA in English, Hangzhou Teachers College (1988); Not statedSeoul National University and Keio University; attended Harvard Business School without graduating
Parents: His parents were traditional Chinese musician-storytellers in Hangzhou; Son of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, long South Korea's richest person, and Hong Ra-hee, a former director of Samsung's Leeum art museum

Giving Pledge: Not a signer; Not a signer
Foundation: Jack Ma FoundationFounded 15 December 2014; Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation and Samsung Foundation of CultureHe was named head of both Samsung foundations in 2015, succeeding his father
Lifetime giving: $0.3BForbes, 2 Dec 2019. Forbes, citing Alibaba: the Jack Ma Foundation had 'distributed or pledged at least $300 million' since its founding; paid and pledged combined; Not stated

Role now: Founder, no executive rolePartner in the Alibaba Partnership; Runs the companyExecutive chairman of Samsung Electronics
Successor: Daniel Zhang succeeded him as Alibaba chairman on 10 September 2019; None named; his sister Lee Seo-hyun became president of Samsung C&T in 2024 and his sister Lee Boo-jin is president and CEO of Hotel Shilla
Public office: Member, UK Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group; Special Adviser for Youth Entrepreneurship and Small Business, UNCTAD2015; 2016; None found
Legal record: None found; 2021: South Korean courtsSentenced in January 2021 to two and a half years in prison on bribery charges tied to the influence-peddling scandal around former President Park Geun-hye, after a 2017 arrest and a retrial; released early and pardoned by the president in August 2022.