FORREST LI, FOUDER SHOEPEE IS SINGAPORE BILLIONARE

Forrest Li Xiaodong is a Chinese-born Singaporean billionaire businessman, founder, and CEO of Sea Limited, a major Southeast Asian internet company encompassing Garena and Shopee..

Inspired by Steve Jobs' "stay hungry, stay foolish" speech, he moved to Singapore and founded Garena in 2009 after earning an MBA from Stanford University.

As of late 2025, Sea Ltd is recognized as one of the largest internet companies in Southeast Asia, with Li playing a central role in its development as a gaming and e-commerce giant.

Key Background Details:

• Early Life & Education: Born in Tianjin, China (circa 1977/1978), Li earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University. He adopted the name "Forrest" after the movie Forrest Gump.

• Career Beginnings: He previously worked as an HR manager at Motorola Solutions and later at Corning in China.

• Entrepreneurial Pivot: After obtaining his MBA from Stanford, he moved to Singapore with significant student debt. He founded GGgame, an online gaming platform, before founding Garena in 2009.

• Sea Limited Expansion: Under his leadership, Sea Group expanded from gaming (Garena) into e-commerce with Shopee in 2015 and digital financial services.

• Other Ventures: Li is the chairman of the Lion City Sailors Football Club and serves on the board of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Shares in Sea Limited spiked approximately sevenfold in the last four years leading up to 2021, lifting the valuation of the business to US$120 billion (SG$160.8 billion). Sea operates three brands: e-commerce business Shopee, online gaming service Garena and fintech unit Seamoney. In September 2021, the company raised US$6 billion (SG$8 biliion) in a sale of convertible bonds and new shares. The funds will be used to grow its business, and for possible investments and acquisitions. Sea was also granted a full digital bank license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in December 2020, allowing the firm to accept deposits from and provide banking services to retail and non-retail customers. 

However, 2022 saw the US-listed company’s shares tumble 77 per cent amid a shakeout in high-tech stocks and Li’s fortune taking a steep drop from $4.2 billion to $2.8 billion. Though revenue was up by 29 per cent during the post-pandemic period, a mix of supply chain constraints, rising interest rates and local currency depreciations against the US dollar have continued to weigh down on Sea Group’s earnings. Shopee is currently undergoing a 12-18 month plan to achieve self-sufficiency, which includes the company’s executive staff temporarily forgoing cash compensation.

Li, who is a football fan, holds a degree in engineering from the prestigious Shanghai Jiaotong University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the Singapore Economic Development Board, and also serves on the advisory council of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business as well as an independent non-executive director of Shangri-La Asia Limited. Most recently, he also launched a $10-million, 28,000-square metre training facility along Mattar Road that serves as a new home for the Lion City Sailor’s first team, the club’s Under-21 side, the women’s team, academy trainees and a Sailors Galley café run by the guys behind Tiga Folks.