William Ding

William Ding
Born	Ding Lei (丁磊)
Nationality	Chinese
Occupation	Founder and CEO, NetEase
Known for	Founding NetEase, one of the world's largest online gaming and internet technology companies

William Ding (Template:Lang, pinyin: Dīng Lěi), commonly known in English as William Ding, is a Chinese technology entrepreneur and businessman who founded NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES), one of the world's largest online gaming companies and a major Chinese internet services provider. As the company's chief executive officer, Ding has overseen NetEase's growth from an early Chinese internet portal into a diversified technology conglomerate with significant operations in online gaming, e-commerce, music streaming, online education, and other digital services. Ding is among the wealthiest individuals in China and in Asia, consistently ranking among the top billionaires in global wealth rankings compiled by Forbes and other publications. As of 2025, he was listed among the five richest billionaires in China, a group whose combined net worth reached over US$310 billion according to Forbes. He was also recognized as one of the top ten richest people in Asia in 2025.

Early Life

William Ding was born in Fenghua, a county-level city in the Ningbo region of Zhejiang province, China. Growing up in Zhejiang — a province long associated with entrepreneurial culture and commercial activity — Ding developed an early interest in science and technology. China was undergoing significant economic reforms during his youth, and the country's opening to global markets during the 1980s and 1990s created new opportunities for young people with technical skills and entrepreneurial ambitions. Ding pursued studies in electronic engineering and science, reflecting his interest in the emerging field of information technology. Little else about his upbringing and family background has been widely documented in English-language sources.

Career

Founding of NetEase

William Ding founded NetEase in 1997 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, during the early years of internet development in China. The company initially operated as an internet technology company providing email services and web portal content, positioning itself alongside other early Chinese internet pioneers. At a time when internet usage in China was still nascent, Ding recognized the potential of the medium to serve the country's rapidly growing population of online users. NetEase quickly became one of China's leading internet portals, offering news, email, and community features that attracted millions of users.

The company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, gaining access to international capital markets and raising its profile among global investors. Like many early Chinese internet companies, NetEase navigated the challenges of the dot-com bubble and the subsequent technology downturn in the early 2000s. The company faced significant difficulties during this period, including regulatory scrutiny and a temporary delisting threat, but Ding guided NetEase through the crisis.

Growth in Online Gaming

NetEase's pivot toward online gaming proved to be one of the most consequential strategic decisions in the company's history. Under Ding's leadership, NetEase developed and published a series of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) that became enormously popular in China. Titles such as Fantasy Westward Journey and other legacy games attracted tens of millions of players and established NetEase as one of the dominant forces in the Chinese online gaming market.

As described by Forbes, NetEase is "one of the world's largest online games companies," with its gaming portfolio forming the core of the company's revenue and profit generation. The company developed both original intellectual properties and licensed games, building a broad portfolio that spanned multiple genres and platforms. NetEase also established partnerships with major international gaming companies, including a long-running collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment to operate games such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and other Blizzard titles in the Chinese market. This partnership, while productive for many years, eventually experienced complications and was a significant focal point of NetEase's international gaming strategy.

NetEase's gaming operations expanded to include mobile games as the smartphone revolution transformed the gaming industry worldwide. The company adapted its existing franchises for mobile platforms and developed new mobile-native titles, capitalizing on the massive growth in mobile gaming in China and globally. This transition helped sustain NetEase's competitive position as gaming consumption shifted from PCs to mobile devices.

Diversification Beyond Gaming

While gaming remained the foundation of NetEase's business, Ding pursued a diversification strategy that expanded the company into multiple sectors. NetEase developed significant operations in e-commerce through platforms such as Kaola, which focused on cross-border e-commerce, and Yanxuan, a private-label e-commerce brand. The company also invested in music streaming through NetEase Cloud Music, which became one of China's leading music platforms and eventually pursued its own public listing.

NetEase's diversification extended into online education through platforms such as Youdao, which offered a range of educational technology services. The company also maintained its legacy web portal and email services, though these became less central to NetEase's revenue mix as gaming and newer business lines grew.

Ding's approach to business diversification also included ventures into agriculture, specifically pig farming, which attracted considerable media attention. This unconventional investment reflected Ding's stated interest in food quality and safety, issues of widespread public concern in China.

Executive Departures and Strategic Shifts (2025)

By 2025, NetEase experienced a series of notable executive departures that drew attention from industry observers and financial analysts. In April 2025, Simon Zhu, NetEase's president for global investments and partnerships, announced his departure from the company in a social media post, as reported by Bloomberg. Bloomberg characterized the departures in the context of the CEO pulling back from the gaming sector, suggesting a potential strategic reorientation under Ding's direction.

In December 2025, NetEase announced that Ding Yingfeng (also known as Yingfeng Ding), the company's executive vice president and head of the interactive entertainment group, would retire on December 31, 2025, after 23 years with the company. Ding Yingfeng's departure was particularly significant given his long tenure and his role overseeing the interactive entertainment division that had been central to NetEase's identity and financial performance. His exit, combined with that of Simon Zhu earlier in the year, raised questions among industry observers about the future direction of NetEase's gaming operations and the company's broader strategic priorities under William Ding's continued leadership.

These executive changes occurred at a time when the Chinese gaming industry was navigating regulatory pressures, increased competition, and shifting consumer preferences. The departures suggested that William Ding was reshaping NetEase's leadership structure, potentially signaling a new strategic phase for the company.

Philanthropy and External Contributions

William Ding has directed philanthropic resources toward education and scientific research. In a notable instance, Stanford University acknowledged contributions toward the construction of research facilities. In November 2019, Stanford opened a research complex dedicated to brain research and molecular discovery, comprising the Stanford ChEM-H Building and the Stanford Neurosciences Building, described as a "team science" complex. Ding's involvement with such institutions reflects broader engagement by Chinese technology leaders in global education and research initiatives.

Recognition

Wealth Rankings

William Ding has been a consistent presence on major global wealth rankings. Forbes has profiled Ding as the founder and CEO of NetEase, describing the company as "one of the world's largest online games companies." His wealth has fluctuated with the performance of NetEase's stock and the broader Chinese technology sector, but he has remained among the most prominent billionaires in China and Asia.

In November 2025, VnExpress International reported that the combined net worth of the five richest billionaires in China had increased by 38 percent from the previous year to reach US$310.2 billion, according to Forbes data. William Ding was cited among this elite group. This increase reflected a broader recovery in valuations for Chinese technology companies following a period of regulatory tightening that had depressed share prices across the sector.

In May 2025, Forbes India included William Ding in its list of the top ten richest people in Asia, noting the "dynamic landscape of wealth in Asia" and the array of individuals shaping the region's economic trajectory. His inclusion alongside other leading Asian business figures underscored his sustained standing as one of the continent's most prominent technology entrepreneurs.

Legacy

William Ding's position in Chinese business and technology history rests primarily on his role as the founder and long-serving CEO of NetEase, one of the country's earliest and most enduring internet companies. Founded in 1997, NetEase predates or is contemporaneous with many of the companies that would come to define China's internet economy, including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. Unlike some of his peers who eventually stepped back from day-to-day operations or handed leadership to professional managers, Ding maintained direct control over NetEase as CEO for more than two decades, overseeing its evolution from a web portal into a diversified technology company with a dominant position in online gaming.

The company's success in gaming, in particular, demonstrated the commercial viability of developing high-quality online games for the Chinese market, both through original intellectual properties and through licensing agreements with major international publishers. NetEase's gaming operations helped establish China as one of the world's largest and most lucrative gaming markets, contributing to a broader ecosystem that includes game development studios, esports organizations, and streaming platforms.

Ding's diversification of NetEase into e-commerce, music streaming, education technology, and other sectors reflected a broader trend among major Chinese internet companies to build comprehensive digital ecosystems. His management style, characterized by sustained personal leadership and a willingness to enter unconventional sectors such as agriculture, distinguished him from some of his peers in the Chinese technology industry.

The executive departures at NetEase in 2025, including the retirement of the long-serving head of interactive entertainment, suggested that the company was entering a new phase under Ding's direction. The strategic implications of these changes for NetEase's future direction in gaming and other business areas remained a subject of interest for industry analysts and investors as of late 2025.

As one of the wealthiest individuals in China and Asia, Ding's influence extends beyond NetEase's corporate operations to include philanthropic activities and contributions to educational and research institutions. His career trajectory — from founding an internet startup in the late 1990s to leading one of the world's largest gaming and technology companies — mirrors the broader arc of China's digital economy over the same period.