Sea Cofounders’ Fortunes Soar As E-Commerce Heavyweight Focuses On Profitability I cover Asia’s wealth creators from a base in Indonesia
Sea Cofounders’ Fortunes Soar As E-Commerce Heavyweight Focuses On Profitability The New York-listed e-commerce, fintech, and digital entertainment business Sea’s shares have more than doubled in value from a year ago, making its millionaire cofounders, Gang Ye, the company’s chief operating officer, and chairman and CEO Forrest Li, among the top gainers this year. Additionally, this helped David Chen, the third cofounder and chief product officer of Sea’s online retailer Shopee, climb back up the ranks after he fell off the radar last year.
Enjoying a shopping extravaganza, Sea turned a profit for the first time since its 2017 IPO, earning a $163 million net profit on $13.1 billion in revenue in 2023—a dramatic improvement over the $1.7 billion net loss recorded the year before.
In the face of fierce competition in the e-commerce sector in Southeast Asia, Shopee recorded revenue of $7.9 billion, a 27% increase over the previous year. Shopee, which is expected to have a gross merchandise value of $78.5 billion in 2023, will be up against competitors like Lazada from Alibaba and Tokopedia from Indonesia, which is currently a part of ByteDance’s TikTok Shop. According to reports, Shopee increased its seller fees in a number of important areas in an attempt to increase profits. (A representative for Sea declined to comment, citing corporate disclosures.)