Chinese billionaires outnumber US peers for first time
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www.diecastingpartsupplier.com
2015-10-21 15:28:32
China has overtaken the US as home to the most dollar billionaires, according to the latest Hurun Rich List, with real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin overtaking Alibaba founder Jack Ma as the mainland’s wealthiest person.
Mr Wang also overtook Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing as the richest person in Greater China. Hurun values Mr Wang, 61, at $34.4bn, up 52 per cent from a year earlier, versus $32.7bn for Mr Li and $22.7bn for Mr Ma. Mr Wang topped the mainland list in 2013 but lost the title to Mr Ma last year.
China added 242 dollar billionaires in 2015, bringing its total to 596, against 537 in the US, according to the annual ranking of China’s wealthy. If Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are included, the Greater China total reaches 715.
Much of this wealth is on paper and comes from vast stakes in companies the billionaires founded. The value of these stakes has been hugely volatile as the Chinese stock market whipsawed earlier this year. The Hurun report is based on equity values on August 14, since then the Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 16 per cent .
As China’s property market cools, Mr Wang has diversified into media, tourism, and finance. Hurun said that only half of his wealth came from property in 2015, versus 90 per cent five years ago.
Despite the slowing economy, the number of people on the overall rich list — which claims to track anyone with at least Rmb2bn ($315m) in wealth — rose by 680 to 1,877 in 2015, the largest yearly increase on record and up from a gain of 343 names last year. The cut-off to make the top 10 was $10.2bn, up 44 per cent from last year. For the top 100, the cut-off was $3.2bn, triple the level of five years ago.
Excluding inherited wealth, six dollar billionaires were born in the 1980s, including Frank Wang, 35, of DJI Innovations with $3.4bn. Pony Ma, 44, founder of social media group Tencent Holdings, is the youngest in the top 10, with $18.8bn.
Women accounted for 21 per cent of the list’s members, and are led by Zhou Qunfei, founder of touchscreen maker Lens Technology, who ranks 17th with $17.8bn.