Hurun names Baidu's Robin Li as richest IT man in China

Li, now 42, also topped the Hurun IT Rich List in 2007 and 2008. He holds a 16 per cent share in Baidu which gained significant ground in China following Google's scrap with the government over censorship of its search results in the mainland. The brand is also listed as one of the largest internet companies in the US.

Ma Huateng, the 39 year-old founder of Tencent, follows Li in second place with a personal wealth of US$4.4 billion. Tencent, reportedly worth US$6 billion, is currently listed as one of the top twenty IT companies in the world and has seen its stock price increase by 30 per cent this year. Its QQ platform boasts with a market share of 90 per cent in China.

Also listed is founder and CEO of the Nasdaq-listed Netease (163.com) Ding Lei who is worth $2.3 billion. 

The top 10 list goes on to include the likes of Wang Chuanfu from BYD Company with US$1.7 billion, Chen Tianqiao of Shanda.com with US$1.6 billion, Jack Ma of Alibaba Group with US$1.3 billion, Zhang Zhidong also at Tencent with US$1.3 billion, Wang Wenjing of UFIDA with US$1.1 billion, Lu Xiangyang of Youngy with US$1 billion, Dai Weili of Marvell with US$1 billion and Jiang Bin at Goertek with US$1 billion.

Reported in September, Hurun Report named man in China for 2010.