Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma's net worth has toppled around $11 billion since the end of October as China has increased scrutiny of the e-commerce giant along with the country's other tech heavyweights.
Ma's wealth has dwindled to $50.9 billion from a peak of $61.7 billion, making him the 25th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a list of the world's 500 richest people.
The 56-year-old former English teacher who is often linked to the meteoric rise of China's internet sector was poised to reclaim the title of Asia's wealthiest person when his net worth reached a peak of $61.7 billion this year.
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China had on December 24 started a probe into suspected monopolistic activities by Alibaba. The country's regulators investigating the charges also asked the Ant Group, Alibaba's affiliate, to redress the company's insurance, lending, and wealth management services.
Alibaba is potentially the world's largest e-commerce company with billions of dollars in turnover and millions of users.
The e-commerce giant is Asia's "most valuable corporation", according to the news agency. Several other Chinese tech giants have also come under tight scrutiny of regulators, losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.
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Ma Huateng's Tencent Holdings has plunged 15 per cent since early November and Wang Xing's food delivery behemoth Meituan has slipped by almost a fifth from its peak in November.
"There is a wave of similar signals showing that China's tech giants are staying on the radar of authorities," said Bruce Pang, head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance Securities Hong Kong told the news agency. "The anti-monopoly drafted guidance and antitrust review are just two of those signals," he added.