Who Is the Owner of Free Fire? Know More About His Networth and Early Life

A lot of mobile games have been launched in the recent past, but few have shaped the global gaming scene like Free Fire has. It was launched on December 8, 2017, by Garena, and the impressive factor of this game was that it could run on entry-level devices, which allowed it to dominate markets from India to Latin America. However, Free Fire was not an accident; the brain behind it was Forrest Li, the soft-spoken founder and CEO of Sea Ltd.

Who is the Free Fire Owner?

Free Fire isn’t just another mobile battle royale. It is a successful game, which is a massive hit in markets like India and Latin American countries. Free Fire is owned by Garena and its founder, Forrest Li. Li was born in Tianjin, China, in the late 1970s and is the founder and CEO of Sea Ltd, the Singapore-based tech giant behind Free Fire. He graduated from Stanford and moved to Singapore with over $75,000 in student debt. He lived modestly in a rented room before launching Garena in 2009. It began as a small gaming platform publishing titles like League of Legends, but soon evolved into something far bigger.

The Free Fire owner led Garena to develop a game for low-end smartphones and patchy networks. This move paid off as Free Fire became the world’s most downloaded mobile game in 2019 and peaked at over 150 million daily active users by 2021. Sea Ltd went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, making it the first major Southeast Asian tech IPO. Under Li’s leadership, Sea became one of the region’s most valuable companies, with Li’s net worth exceeding $10billion as of 2025.

Despite his success, the Free Fire owner remains media-shy, and his journey from a debt-ridden graduate to a tech giant is deeply tied to Free Fire’s success.

Free Fire Owner Net Worth

Forrest Li, the owner of Free Fire, has seen dramatic success after the launch of his famous game. According to multiple financial sources, his net worth is estimated between $8.6 billion and $10.7 billion. His company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, and he became a billionaire by 2019. During the tech boom in the COVID-19 pandemic, his wealth reportedly surged to as much as $19.8 billion, which momentarily made him Singapore’s richest person. The exact figures keep fluctuating, but Forrest Li is in the ultra-wealthy category.

What is Garena?

Garena is the digital gaming arm of Sea Ltd, which is a Singapore-based tech giant founded by Forrest Li in 2009. It started off with publishing titles like League of Legends and FIFA Online 3 and built its name in regional gaming circles. However, the real breakthrough came in 2017 with the launch of Free Fire. The game became a global sensation, topping worldwide download charts.

Garena has moved beyond the publishing scene now and has built a strong community ecosystem. It is running massive esports tournaments like the Free Fire World Series, which has millions of viewers. Its success helped Sea Ltd go public in 2017 with a $1 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Garena Net Worth

Garena doesn’t have its public valuation since it operates under Sea Ltd, but its numbers are big. Sea Ltd is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has a market cap of around $90 to $100 billion. This money is hugely powered by Garena, which remains Sea’s most profitable segment. Garena made $2.17 billion in revenue in 2023 and close to $5 billion in 2024. It is increasing in revenue year by year and is predicted to have a strong 2025 with projected double-digit growth.