DHAKA: The largest stock offer in history has made Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, China’s richest person with a fortune of US$25 billion.

An annual wealth ranking for the country showed Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.

Ma, who had to persuade friends to give him US$60,000 to start Alibaba just 15 years ago after being rejected by US venture capitalists, now leads a company valued at more than US$200 billion after listing on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.

‘It has been an amazing year for China's best tycoons despite the jitters about the Chinese economy,’ said China-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report in its annual rich list.

Ma reaped more than US$800 million from selling shares through the initial public offering in Alibaba, based on company filings, with the value of his remaining stake of 7.8 percent surging to more than US$17 billion by Monday.

BDST: 1627 HRS, SEP 23, 2014