Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest e-commerce company, has passed Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong property and ports tycoon, as Asia's richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

"I am nothing but happy when young people from China do well," said Li through a spokeswoman in Hong Kong. A spokesman at Alibaba declined to comment on Ma's net worth.

Ma, a former English teacher who started Alibaba in 1999, has added $25 billion to his fortune this year, riding a 54 percent surge in the company's shares since its September initial public offering.