Fun And Games In China
Russell Flannery, 10.30.03, 6:30 PM ET
HONG KONG - For years, Shanghai entrepreneur Zhu Jun knew only the frustration of trying to turn a profit from his Internet business. "People never expected to pay for anything," he says.
Times have changed. This year his 50%-owned site, The9, started charging customers for playing online games, and the profits are rolling in. Stock-market valuations for online game companies in China are high, and Zhu is thinking about an IPO for his company.
That buoyant mood explains why Zhu, along with four other entrepreneurs whose companies offer online games, have made it onto the Forbes China Rich List this year. Revenue in China for what is currently a nascent business is likely to quadruple from this year to about $1 billion in 2006, according to a study by International Data Corp (see "Web Of Wealth"). The other three on the list beside Zhu are William Ding Lei, founder of NetEase.com (nasdaq: NTES - news - people ); Charles Zhang, chairman, CEO and founder of Sohu.com (nasdaq: SOHU - news - people ), and Timothy Chan, founder of Shanda Networking.
"It's got a great future," says Tom Tsao, a New York-born, ex-Merrill Lynch investment banker who is now a partner at Shanghai-based investment firm Gobi Partners. He heads a $75 million fund that specializes in making investments in digital media, including online game companies. The fund's investors include at least one savvy tech hand: IBM (nyse: IBM - news - people ).
forbes.com |
