Jack Ma is no longer China’s richest person.
The chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has been surpassed by a Chinese property developer and Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, according to an annual survey released Wednesday. The survey, produced by Shanghai-based research firm Hurun Report, also showed individuals in China’s property market returning to the top of the list—mostly reflecting a change in methodology to include Chinese living outside the mainland, such as in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Mr. Ma, who topped the list last year after Alibaba’s $25 billion initial public offering of stock in New York, showed an uptick in wealth; by Hurun’s count, he and his family are worth $27 billion, up from $25 billion in 2014. But it wasn’t enough to lead the survey.
An Alibaba spokeswoman declined to comment.
The new No. 1, Hurun said, is Wang Jianlin , chairman of real-estate developer and entertainment company Dalian Wanda Group Corp. At $42.6 billion, his wealth is far above last year’s $24.2 billion, mostly on the back of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. A Wanda spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In the battle for the top mainland spot, both Mr. Wang and Mr. Ma benefited from IPOs last year. Hurun said the $3.7 billion Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties IPO and the $209 million Wanda Cinema Line Co. IPO helped drive the numbers for Mr. Wang, who most recently topped the Hurun China Rich List in 2013, at $22 billion.
With the list for the first time including Chinese people living outside the mainland, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing slipped between Messrs. Wang and Ma to take second place, with wealth totaling $32.8 billion. His holdings include property, infrastructure and energy assets.
The survey covered 1,577 individuals with a wealth of at least two billion yuan, or roughly $320 million, each.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of Hurun Report, said the firm decided to make the report global because “so many Chinese have gone international” that there now is a “global Chinese network of wealth.” Still, nearly 80% of the people on the list were on the mainland.
"When we started the research eight months ago, we didn’t expect this,” Mr. Hoogewerf said, referring to the sizable mainland percentage.
Hong Kong is home to 6% of the list-worthy, while Taiwan is home to nearly 5%, led by Tsai Eng-Meng, the chairman and chief executive of Want Want China Holdings Ltd., at $10 billion. Singapore has 38 individuals on the list and Malaysia 28.
Of the list’s top 10, five people focus on property and three on technology. Last year’s list, which included only mainlanders, had five people in the tech industry among the top 10.
Mr. Ma’s wealth has tumbled in recent months along with Alibaba’s share price. Tuesday’s close of $73.88 was down 38% from the stock’s high of nearly $120, hit in November. Last week, Alibaba posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth in more than three years.
Mr. Hoogewerf said the list is far from complete. “Assuming that we have missed at least two for every one we found, there should probably be close to 5,000 Chinese around the world with wealth of $320 million or more,” he said.
Other well-known business figures on the list include Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. Chairman Li Hejun, who ranked fourth based on the value of his stock as of May 20, when Hanergy shares stopped trading because of an investigation by Hong Kong security regulators. Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s chairman and CEO, Pony Ma, ranked sixth. At 44 years old, Pony Ma is the youngest individual on the list.
Yang Jie contributed to this article.