The Richest Men in China
by kalyani10
One of the oldest civilizations on earth and the country with the largest human population, China is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity. Since the introduction of economic reforms in the late 1970s in the country, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy and a global power. Here are some of the richest men in China whose successes have continued to drive the nation’s economic growth.
- Zong Qinghou
Zong Qinghou, head of China’s third- largest beverage maker, is the country’s richest man after disclosing his stake in closely held Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co1. It now appears that Qinghou owns more than 80 percent of Wahaha, a stake that elevates Zong’s net worth to $21.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This is more than double previous estimates, and makes the 66-year-old soda and juice tycoon $13.4 billion wealthier than Robin Li, founder of the nation’s biggest search engine. A chain smoker, Zong is though quite frugal otherwise and reportedly spends only $20 a day. He is also member of the Chinese legislature.
TIP: Millionaire Match has many single multimillionaire men looking for women to date and marry.
Wahaha has benefited from decades of rapid economic growth in China. It has a 7.2 percent share of China’s soft drink market, according to London-based researcher Euromonitor International. The company has about 60 factories in 29 provinces across the country, making soda, food and baby formula, as well as children’s apparel, according to information on its website.
- Wang Jianlin
Wang Jianlin is the chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, one of Asia's largest property developers. Currently Chinese real estate tycoon Jianlin is worth $10.3 billion2, a staggering rise of $3.2 billion since 2011. His wealth jumped 44% this year after he acquired US-based movie theater operator AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion - The transaction was completed in September, turning Dalian Wanda into the world's largest operator of movie theaters. Wang's net worth doubled in the past year after a private placement revealed more details about the value of his real estate empire, which includes luxury hotels and retail stores in addition to the movie theatres.
- Robin Li
Qinghou’s spectacular rise and revelation of Jianlin’s private assets has brought down technology czar Robin Lee to the position of the third richest man in China with a net worth of $8.1 billion USD. Lee is the founder and chief executive officer of Baidu, the most popular search engine in China. According to global trading experts, Baidu’s stock has declined about 23 percent on the NASDAQ since the end of the first quarter on concerns that it may face more competition from Qihoo 360 Technology Co., which launched a new search in August this year. The decline in share prices appears to have shaved $1.1 billion from his net worth. However net profit in the second quarter soared 70% to $436 million amid rising Internet use in China. Li is married and has four children. A resident of Beijing, he holds degrees from Peking University and State University of New York at Buffalo.
- Yan Bin
Among the biggest gainers on the list of richest men in China is Yan Bin, head of the company, Ruoy Chai that owns rights to Red Bull energy drink in China. Currently Yan Bin is worth $7.9 billion, which marks a gain of a whopping $.1 billion from 2011. This year he invested in a $200 million property in London, which he is planning to turn into a hub for Chinese businessmen in Europe.
- Liang Wengen
Real estate tycoon, Liang Wengen, has slipped down on China’s rich list as his net worth fell by $3.4 billion. Sany Group, which is 56% owned by Liang, has borne the brunt of Chinese government policies to slow price increase in the real estate industry. Shares in flagship Sany Heavy Industry, a construction equipment maker, have dropped 45% in the past year while stocks in its Hong Kong-listed coal mining equipment arm have also suffered. Overall net profit of Sany Group has dropped by13% to $818 million, on account of the global economic slowdown and lower demand. Lian though Liang is the only one of four Sany executives to rank on the 2012 Forbes Billionaires list to still hold that level of the wealth. Based in Changsha, China, Liang is a graduate of Central South University. A self-made billionaire, the 55 year old is married and has one child.
- Liu Yongxing
A self-made entrepreneur Liu Yongxing is currently worth $7.1 billion, a jump of $.7 billion since 2011. After dabbling in electrical product repair, Liu Yongxing joined his three brothers into selling quail and later feed in rural Sichuan Province in the early 1980s. Eventually Liu turned the small animal feed business into one of the country's biggest animal feed producers, East Hope. The company is now on its way to invest more than $1 billion in an aluminium and power complex in Xinjiang. East Hope is also putting money into commercial real estate in Sichuan's capital.
- Ma Huateng
Nicknamed “Pony”, Huateng is one of the newest entrants on China’s rich list but already enjoys a net worth of $6.5 billion. Ma's IT company, Tencent Holdings, is the largest company by market share of anyone on 2012 HuRun Rich list, with a market cap of $65 billion. Tencent, better known by its web handle "QQ," is an Internet juggernaut with offerings in media, instant messaging and gaming. It is ranked as the world's ninth most popular website by Alexa.
- Xu Jiayin
Even though Jiayin ranks after Wu Yajun in the list of China’s richest individuals, as far as male names on the list are concerned, real estate tycoon follows next with a net worth of $5.5 billion. His current fortunes mark a fall of $1.7 billion since 2011, after a drop in the share price of his company, Evergrande which is one of the 10 largest developers in mainland China. The real estate company has benefited from Chinese residents' demand for better homes. Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Temasek Holdings of Singapore has in the past paid $400 million for 8% of his company Hengda, which is based in China's Guangdong province.
- Hui Wing Mau
Also known as Xu Rongmao, Mau is Chairman of real estate company Shimao Property Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed real estate developer whose residential projects dot many of China's biggest cities. Currently his estimated net worth is $4 billion. The fortunes of the Fujian-born Hui has increased $1.6 billion from a year ago on hopes that the government will ease its tight real estate policies and plans to speed sales of existing projects to raise cash. Hui resides in Hong Kong and is married with two children.
- He Xiangjian
Seventy year-old He Xiangjian is co-founder of Midea Group, one of China's biggest appliances manufacturers. Even though he is no longer at the helm of day to day affairs, Xiangjian enjoys a current net worth of $3.3 billion. However the company has suffered losses in the past year, GD Midea Holding reported a more than 30% plunge in revenue for the first half of the year, to $6.2 billion. Sales of traditional items such as refrigerators dropped 65% from a year earlier; its washing machine business shrank by 50%.
References:
- Log in to post comments
