Tycoon Wang Jianlin regains top spot in Forbes list of China's richest people
Property and entertainment tycoon Wang Jianlin has topped a list of China’s richest people compiled by the business magazine Forbes, which said that factors including rises in share prices at the beginning of the year have driven up the total wealth of the nation’s 100 wealthiest people by 20 per cent over the past 12 months.
Wang, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, has unseated the head of the internet commerce company Alibaba, Jack Ma, to be named the richest man in the country this year, Forbes said.
Wang’s estimated personal wealth has more than doubled over the past year to US$30 billion thanks to the listing of his group’s commercial property arm in Hong Kong last December and its cinema chain on Shenzhen’s stock market in January.
Wang reclaims the top spot as he was named richest man in the Forbes list in 2013.
Wang was also named China’s richest person in another ranking published by the magazine the Hurun Report in August.
READ MORE: Dalian Wanda boss Wang Jianlin unseats Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing as richest Chinese
Ma, leader of the world’s largest e-commerce company, ranked second in the latest Forbes list with estimated wealth of US$21.8 billion.
“Despite a slowing economy and the fluctuation in stock markets, many Chinese billionaires in our 100-strong list have still seen an increase in their wealth year-on-year,” said Russell Flannery, Shanghai bureau chief of Forbes.
“China’s economy is in the midst of a structural transition period, which has been creating new business opportunities and new billionaires. This trend also can be seen from our list.”
Six people in the top 10 list are from internet-related industries, Forbes said.
READ MORE: Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin plans to buy more sports assets
They include Tencent chairman Pony Ma, smartphone maker Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun, search engine Baidu’s chairman Robin Li, online shopping site JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong and online game and news portal NetEase’s founder Ding Lei.
Entrepreneurs in traditional manufacturing industry fared less well.
The wealth of Zong Qinghou, the chairman of beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group, is estimated by Forbes to have shrunk from US$10.6 billion to US$7.3 billion, dragging his ranking down from sixth to 11th.
