Zhong Shanshan of Nongfu Spring retains No.1 spot
SINGAPORE (November 10, 2022) – The collective net worth of tycoons on the 2022 Forbes’ list of China’s 100 Richest fell 39% to US$907.1 billion from $1.48 trillion last year, marking the biggest drop in wealth since Forbes began tracking the country’s wealthiest more than two decades ago. The complete list can be found here and www.forbeschina.com. The list can also be found in the November issue of Forbes Asia and November-December issue of Forbes China.
Of the 100 names on the list, 79 were down, 12 were returnees, four had split fortunes, three were new and only two were richer. Wealth fell in part on a tech crackdown, zero-Covid policies, slower economic growth, political worries after the Communist Party Congress in October, and the more than 12% fall in the value of the yuan against the U.S. dollar in the past year. Two key metrics suffered heavy losses: mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300 stock index shed over a quarter of its value since the list was last published, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fared worse, plunging almost 41%.
Russell Flannery, Forbes editor-at-large and editor of the China’s 100 Richest List, said: “The past year has been one of China's most difficult in recent decades, and overall wealth destruction among the top 100 on our list has been large by any measure. On the other hand, the list highlights the staying power of a number of China entrepreneurs in green technology-related areas such as EVs and solar, even though their shares on the whole have taken a hit in the past year.”
This year’s No. 1 spot is held again by Zhong Shanshan, chairman of China’s top bottled-water supplier Nongfu Spring. Among dramatic falls for many, Zhong’s fortune fared relatively well, slipping just 5% to $62.3 billion from $65.9 billion a year ago. Zhong suffered less than many others due to his savvy investment into Covid-test supplier Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, and from supplying the vital commodity of drinking water.
Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, remains at No. 2 in this year’s list with a fortune of $49.5 billion, down $9.9 billion from last year. Robin Zeng, chairman of the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker CATL, retains the No. 3 spot with a net worth of $28.9 billion, a decline of 43% from $50.8 billion last year.
At No. 4 with 23.4 billion is Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, who saw his fortune plunge by $25.7 billion from $49.1 billion a year ago. Alibaba founder Jack Ma (No. 5) saw his net worth nearly halved to $20.6 billion from $41.5 billion last year.
Wang Chuanfu (No. 11, $17.7 billion), chairman of Warren Buffett-backed carmaker BYD, and non-executive director Lu Xiangyang (No. 18, $12.7 billion) secured two spots on the list. The company overtook Tesla this year as the world’s largest manufacturer of EVs. Their net worth declined by $5.8 million and $5.9 million respectively, as compared to a year ago.
Jin Baofang (No. 23, $10.4 billion), founder, chairman and managing director of JA Solar Technology was among the only two listees who saw their wealth rise. His wealth was up 16% from $8.95 billion last year, due to a boom in the global market for solar energy products. Gao Jifan (No. 40) of Trina Solar also saw his wealth rise slightly to $7.3 billion from $7.16 billion previously.
Among the three newcomers to this year’s list is Chris Xu, the founder of online fast-fashion supplier Shein. Xu ranked No. 25 with a fortune worth $10 billion following new fundraising. Another first-time billionaire is Xue Min (No. 64), controlling shareholder of Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, a supplier of medical imaging equipment, with an estimated wealth of $5.25 billion. Also new to the list is Zhang Hejun (No. 41, $7.2 billion) of Ningbo Deye Technology.
Those connected to electronics and internet companies did not fare well either. Lei Jun (No. 37), CEO of the world’s No. 3 smartphone brand Xiaomi, saw his fortune drop by more than half from $17.9 billion to $7.6 billion amid slack global demand. Similarly, the wealth of e-commerce giant JD.com chairman Richard Liu (No. 32) fell to $8.3 billion from $17.6 billion last year.
Real estate developers also had a tough year. One of the biggest decliners on this year’s list is Country Garden co-chairman Yang Huiyan (No. 69), whose wealth nosedived to $4.91 billion from $27.8 billion a year ago. Notable drop-offs from the real estate sector include Kei Hoi Pang, chairman of real estate developer Logan Property Holdings, and Hui Ka Yan, chairman of troubled real estate developer China Evergrande Group.
The minimum net worth needed to make the top 100 fell to $3.5 billion compared with $5.74 billion a year ago.
The top 10 richest in China are:
- Zhong Shanshan; US$62.3 billion
- Zhang Yiming; $49.5 billion
- Robin Zeng; $28.9 billion
- Ma Huateng; $23.4 billion
- Jack Ma; $20.6 billion
- Wang Wei; $19.6 billion
- He Xiangjian; $18.8 billion
- William Ding; $18.7 billion
- Colin Huang; $18.6 billion
- Qin Yinglin; $18.4 billion
This list of mainland China’s richest was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private databases and other sources. Net worth figures are based on exchange rates and stock prices on October 28. Private companies are valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar companies that are publicly traded. Some family fortunes were split. In order to facilitate comparisons among individuals with similar backgrounds, a number of entrepreneurs from mainland China whose citizenship is not People’s Republic of China but whose main source of wealth is the mainland were included.
The full list of China’s 100 Richest can be accessed at www.forbes.com/china and www.forbeschina.com.
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