Forrest Li
Sean Lee for Forbes Asia
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Singapore’s Richest 2022. See the full list here.
The three cofounders of gaming and e-commerce firm Sea, Forrest Li, Gang Ye and David Chen, saw their wealth plummet by a collective $21.6 billion in the past year. Shares in their U.S.-listed company tumbled 77% amid a shakeout in high-tech stocks and as global headwinds scoured the online retail industry. Li, chairman and CEO, and Ye, chief operating officer, saw a steep drop in their fortunes to $4.2 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. Chen, chief product officer at Sea’s shopping platform Shopee, is no longer a billionaire with his net worth now at $745 million.
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Following a period of pandemic-fueled growth, a return to daily life coupled with supply chain constraints and inflationary pressures weighed on Sea’s earnings. The Singapore-headquartered company reported a bigger-than-expected net loss in the second quarter, more than doubling to $931 million from a year earlier. Though revenue was up 29% to $2.9 billion, it was lower than expected and the company said it would not provide 2022 revenue guidance for its e-commerce business. “We are in an environment of increased macro uncertainty, with rising inflation, rising interest rates, local currency depreciations against the U.S. dollar, and ongoing reopening trends,” Li said at Sea’s recent earnings briefing. The 13-year-old company has yet to turn a profit.
To rein in costs, Sea downsized its global plans for Shopee, which competes regionally with Alibaba’s Lazada and superapp Grab. Since March, Shopee has exited France, Spain and India—just months after pilot launches in those markets. Elsewhere, Shopee saw staff cuts across the globe including Mexico, Argentina, Chile and parts of Southeast Asia.
In fintech, the company has made some headway via its digital payments and services unit. In September 2021, SeaMoney rolled out its digital bank in Indonesia. It also clinched digital bank licenses in Malaysia and Singapore, where it is expected to launch in the second half of 2022.