Ding Lei

Ding Lei (Chinese: 丁磊; pinyin: Dīng Lěi; born 1 October 1971), also known as William Ding, is a Chinese billionaire businessman, and the founder and CEO of NetEase (163.com).

For the automotive entrepreneur and politician, see Ding Lei (businessman, born 1963).
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ding.
William Ding
丁磊
Born
Ding Lei

(1971-10-01) 1 October 1971
Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
NationalityChinese
EducationUESTC
OccupationFounder and CEO of NetEase
Net worthUS$ 36.1 Billion (February 2021)[1]
Spouse(s)
Wang Xunfang
​
(m. 2006)​

Ding made significant contributions to the development of computer networks in mainland China. In late 2016, Ding was looking into investing in the property sector, and travelled to Zimbabwe in December, and to the United Kingdom.[2][3] As of November 2020, Ding's fortune was estimated to be $17 billion.[4]

Early life

Ding Lei was born in Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from Chengdu Institute of Radio Engineering (now University of Electronic Science and Technology of China) and obtained a bachelor's degree.

Career

After graduation he first worked in a local state department in Ningbo as an engineer, and then he went to Guangzhou and worked for Sybase there. He founded NetEase and became the richest individual in Chinese mainland in the year of 2003 (7.6 billion yuan). According to the Hurun Report 2013, his net worth is estimated to be $5.2 billion.[3]

In 2012, it was confirmed that Ding branched NetEase's activities out into pork production.[5] The pig farm is centered around technology and environmental sustainability, and is not meant to become a major arm of the company.[6]

In May 2017, venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures, US-based Meituan-Dianping, and Alibaba competitor JD invested a total of US$23 million into the farm.[6]

In June 2020, Ding purchased a 16,000-square-foot Bel Air, Los Angeles, mansion for US$29 million from the Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.[7][8]

References
  1. "William Ding". Bloomberg.
  2. "Chinese billonaire expected in Byo". The Chronicle. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  3. "鮭非為源". Hurun.net. Archived from the original on 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  4. "William Lei Ding". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  5. "Netease Expanding into the Pork Business…Wait, What?". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  6. "In China, a pig farm just got tens of millions of bucks in VC funding". Tech in Asia.
  7. "One down, six to go: Elon Musk sells Bel Air mansion for $29M". The Real Deal Los Angeles. June 19, 2020.
  8. Vega, Nicolas (June 19, 2020). "Elon Musk sells LA mansion for $29M amid quest to 'own no house'".
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