Chen Tianqiao

Pioneer of China's online gaming industry chairs Shanda Interactive Entertainment, one of the industry's leaders. Tough competition and changing demographics in China have made for a difficult battle for Chen and Shanda. Although revenue during the first nine months of last year increased by 9%, net income plunged 49% by $92 million. Shanda's U.S.-listed shares have lost value in the past year. Chen holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Fudan University. He co-founded Shanda with brother Danian in 1999. Wife Qianqian Luo and Danian sit in on the board of directors. Chen was born in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, south of Shanghai, in 1973, and grew up as the country began to embrace capitalism in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. He graduated from Fudan University a year early, with a degree in economics. He met his future wife, Chrissy, while the two of them were working at a securities firm. They were married within six months, then soon quit to start Shanda in 1999. At the time, many Chinese entrepreneurs were rushing to create internet portals, directories of web sites similar Yahoo!. Chen, then 26, went his own way: He created an online gaming company with Chrissy, his younger brother and savings of about $60,000. In 2004, while Chen was on a flight from Shanghai to Beijing, he felt excruciating pain in his chest. Convinced he was suffering a heart attack, he rushed to a hospital after landing. The doctors told him his heart was in perfect condition. He was suffering a panic attack.. He suffered his second attack in 2009, this time it was more severe and longer lasting. Struggles with his own mental condition, combined with his Buddhist beliefs, convinced him to focus on research of the human brain. He has set aside $1 billion for the effort, out of a personal fortune of at least $2.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That includes $115 million that Chen and his wife have already given to the California Institute of Technology to establish the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience. The rest will be used to directly fund young scientists and set up Chen University somewhere in the U.S. He has used his assets to make investments well beyond the cerebral. He is the largest shareholder in peer-to-peer giant LendingClub Corp. and in the rural U.S. hospital chain Community Health Systems Inc. He also holds chunky stakes in Legg Mason Inc. and KKR & Co. He’s even bought up more than 700,000 acres of timberland in the U.S. and Canada.