Top billionaires got richer during COVID-19

Business magazine Forbes released a list of the global top 25 super-rich who gained the most in wealth during the past two months.

The fortune of top 25 billionaires increased $255 billion from two months ago when the US stock market hit the bottom on March 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business magazine Forbes said.

The top 25 super-rich's wealth tied to public stocks reached $1.5 trillion, accounting for 16 percent of the total wealth held by the world's billionaires.

Three Chinese billionaires - Pony Ma, Jack Ma and Huang Zheng - are ranked among the top 25, taking 18, 19 and 22 spots, respectively.

Huang Zheng, founder of China's second-largest online shopping platform Pingduoduo, became the biggest percentage gainer in wealth. The company's stock price has nearly doubled during the past two months boosted by its promotion campaigns including offering coupons to customers, big discounts and group purchasing mode. With his wealth adding $17.9 billion to $35.6 billion, Huang has become China's third-richest person.

Pony Ma, founder and CEO of Tencent, saw his wealth jump $6.8 billion to $46.4 billion and Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, recorded $3 billion rise in wealth to $41.3 billion.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the biggest gainer in the list, with his wealth surging $31.4 billion to $86.5 billion. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest man, and he is the second-largest gainer as his wealth grew $29.9 billion to $146.9 billion.

The business magazine said not a single top 25 fortune has fallen since March 23.