Fewer billionaires in China this year as fortunes sink
October 15, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
China’s stock market downturn has the hit the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest individuals, with the number of super rich dropping below 2,000 for the first time since 2015, according to the latest Hurun Report. The number of super rich, with a personal wealth of at least CNY2 billion, fell to 1,893 this year, down 11% from 2,130 in 2017. It is marginally better than the 1,877 who made the list in 2015. There were 219 new faces on the list this year. “A 20% drop in China’s stock exchanges, on the back of a slowing economy and the U.S.-China trade war, resulted in 456 drop-offs this year, the highest since records began 20 years ago,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, adding that he remains cautiously upbeat about further wealth growth of China’s super richest.
Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group Holding, regained the top spot on the list just weeks after he announced his retirement plan. Ma, 54, saw his net worth grow USD10 billion to USD39 billion mainly driven by the revaluation of Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba, following a new round of financing. It is the second time that Ma has secured the top place on the list in four years. He was the second-richest mainlander last year, behind only Hui Ka-yan, Chairman of property developer Evergrande Group. Hui, 60, is China’s second-richest person with assets of USD36 billion, down USD6 billion from last year.
Pony Ma, 47, Chairman and Chief Executive of Tencent, came in third place with USD35 billion. The combined personal fortunes of the top 10 accounted for 10% of the total wealth on the list, and that of the top 200 accounted for half of all assets. Lei Jun, Founder and CEO of smartphone maker Xiaomi, is the 10th richest person in China with USD16 billion of net worth after the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. Colin Huang, 38, Founder of e-commerce firm Pinduoduo, led the newcomers following the company’s listing on Nasdaq. Huang started Pinduoduo only three years ago and has amassed a personal fortune of USD14 billion, to rank 13th on the list. “The billionaires, once the bellwether entrepreneurs in the Chinese economy, have turned out to be leading investors in various businesses to diversify their assets,” said Hoogewerf. “Wealth in China is becoming more concentrated.” China has 620 billionaires in U.S. dollar terms, down 27 from last year.
Cryptocurrency bigwigs made it to the list for the first time, despite the crash in digital currency prices and the government’s crackdown on the trading of these assets. At least 13 cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, with businesses that range from bitcoin mining and virtual currency trading to venture capital funding, are now among the wealthiest individuals in the country. Micree Zhan, the 39-year-old co-founder of Bitmain Technologies, was the only one among his industry peers to rank in the report’s top 100 richest people in China, with an estimated wealth of CNY29.5 billion.
The number of women in the list accounted for 28.7%, a record high since the list began 20 years ago. Yang Huiyan of Country Garden remained the richest woman in China with net worth USD22 billion.
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