Jack Ma isn’t the only billionaire winner of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s initial public offering. The record-setting stock sale also gave a jolt to the fortunes of the world’s wealthiest technology tycoons.

On the day the biggest Chinese e-commerce company raised $21.8 billion in the largest U.S. IPO, the world’s 26 richest tech billionaires from Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Gates, Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg to local competitor Robin Li of Baidu added $3.1 billion of wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They added $56.1 billion this year, the most among 14 sectors tracked by the index.

Tech stocks globally are rallying ahead of the debut of Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba, scheduled today in New York. Baidu, China’s largest online search engine, jumped 4.3 percent in U.S. trading yesterday, adding about $680 million to the net worth of its founder Li, the most among Asian billionaires.

“Alibaba is such a visible transaction that everyone got excited,” said Philippe Espinasse, author of “IPO: A Global Guide” who used to head equity capital markets for Nomura Holdings Inc. in Asia. “This is a sentiment rally -- whether the sector’s valuation is sustainable depends on the companies’ own merits.”

Gates, the world’s richest person, added $329 million to his $86.5 billion fortune yesterday, while Zuckerberg gained $243 million, according to the Bloomberg index. Indian software magnate Azim Premji and Larry Ellison, who stepped down as CEO of Oracle Corp., increased their wealth by about $400 million.

Tencent Rises

Shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd., which is also competing with Alibaba, rose 1.9 percent to $125.20 at the close in Hong Kong, the highest close in almost two weeks. Alibaba’s Ma emerged as the richest person in China last month, overtaking Tencent Chairman Ma Huateng and Baidu’s Li.

Alibaba and its shareholders including Yahoo! Inc. sold 320.1 million shares for $68 each, according to a statement, after offering them for $66 to $68 apiece. The sale -- which values Alibaba at $167.6 billion -- is already the biggest by any company in the U.S. and has the potential to break the global record if additional shares are sold to underwriters.

Not all investors are piling into the IPO. Kevin Headland, director of the portfolio advisory group at Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto, whose firm manages $281 billion, said he doesn’t plan to invest right away as it’s “prudent to sit back and evaluate.”

IPO Setbacks

The IPO hasn’t been achieved without setbacks. Alibaba would have preferred to debut in Hong Kong, though listing rules in the city don’t allow its governance structure. A small group of insiders at Alibaba control the board, the kind of arrangement permitted in the U.S., where founders of technology companies often maintain control through dual-class shareholdings.

Alibaba’s Ma has a net worth estimated at $22.4 billion ahead of Alibaba’s trading, according to the Bloomberg index. It includes his stake in China’s biggest e-commerce operator, as well as almost half of closely-held parent of Alipay, a company similar to Paypal.

Along with Tencent’s Ma and Baidu’s Li, the three are the richest people in China with a combined net worth estimated at about $54 billion.

Richard Liu, founder and chairman of JD.com Inc., added $403 million yesterday as China’s second-biggest e-commerce company climbed 5 percent in U.S. trading, the most in more than a month.

Alibaba’s Ma, a former English teacher who started the company in his Hangzhou apartment, drew crowds of money managers to meetings held around the world as the company pitched itself to investors. Alibaba profited from China’s burgeoning consumer class by dominating the e-commerce industry in the country of 1.36 billion people.