Wu Xinhong (吳欣鴻), cofounder and chief executive officer of Meitu Inc (美圖), became the second billionaire at the Chinese beauty-enhancing selfie app developer after the stock rose for nine straight days.
The shares extended gains since it was added to a second equity-trading link between China’s Shenzhen exchange and Hong Kong on Monday last week and jumped 11 percent to a record HK$14.22 at the close on Tuesday.
That gave Wu a net worth of US$1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The company said Wu declined to comment and referred to the CEO’s previous statement on how he is seeking to turn virtual beauty into real-life experiences through its artificial intelligence.
The link offers foreign investors more access to China-listed technology shares and gives Chinese investors access to Hong Kong-traded stocks such as Meitu.
The company became a household name in China by tapping a cybersavvy generation’s growing desire to look attractive online.
Its apps, with more than 456 million monthly active users, help people slim their faces, lengthen their limbs and even apply virtual make-up in photographs.
Meitu’s shares climbed after it was added to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen link because “Chinese investors have a more positive outlook on its ability to make money,” Yu Jianpeng (于健鵬), a Hong Kong-based analyst at ICBC International Research Ltd (工銀國際證券) said in an e-mail.
Wu joins cofounder and chairman Cai Wensheng (蔡文勝) in the billionaire ranks.
Cai, who is also an angel investor in China’s technology sector, has a fortune of more than US$2.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg index.
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