W illiam Ding Lei is a low-profile, self-made Chinese technology billionaire who is the founder and CEO of NetEase, one of China's earliest and most successful internet companies. He founded the company in 1997, and it initially became a major success as one of China's first major web portals. He took the company public on the Nasdaq in 2000, and for a time, he became the richest person in China. While many of the early Chinese internet portals have faded, Ding has successfully and repeatedly reinvented his company.

He transformed NetEase into a dominant force in the massive Chinese online gaming market, developing and licensing a string of massively popular multiplayer online games, such as "Fantasy Westward Journey." The company has since become the second-largest video game company in China, after its rival Tencent. In addition to its core gaming business, NetEase also has a major presence in online education (Youdao), music streaming (NetEase Cloud Music), and e-commerce (Yanxuan). Ding is known for being media-shy and for his product-focused leadership style.