The richest man in China — Zhong Shanshan, founder of bottled water consortium Nongfu — has a low profile and few headlines, even though he knocked Alibaba and Ant Group Founder Jack Ma out of the billionaire top spots, according to media reports.
And Zhong might just stay at No. 1 for a bit, as regulators don’t seem to be looking into his bottled water empire. Zhong overtook Ma by about $2 billion. In the billionaire world, this may not be much — and all lists vary just a touch. But there was a turning point in 2020, going into 2021, that changed things in China.
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For example, every watchdog agency started paying close attention to Ma’s Ant Group when the former richest man in China filed to take his company public in an initial public offering (IPO) estimated at $37 billion. Nongfu is not a tech platform, which means it was in a separate category, and one not getting attention.
Read more: Ant IPO Stopped By President Xi As Rebuke To Gov’t Criticism
Ma isn’t the only Chinese billionaire losing money due to government policies. China’s attack on its industry’s tech space is estimated to have taken some $87 billion out of startup founders’ high-net-worth pockets, the Financial Times reported on Monday (Aug. 9). Tencent’s Ma Huateng is feeling the pinch, as is Pinduoduo’s Colin Huang.
Bottled water king Zhong also pushed Huateng further down the billionaire rankings. Zhong’s wealth stands at just over $72 billion, up about $5 billion since the end of June.
“We have seen a restructuring of wealth creation,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, who has documented the rise of Chinese millionaires in recent decades via his research firm Hurun Report. He also added that “smart entrepreneurs are shifting focus.”
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