Investopedia defines tycoons as a specific person in a particular industry who has been proved successful in amassing substantial wealth while building a colossal business empire. As much as the word Tycoon sounds fancy, the actual people successful enough to badge the title in the World’s populous country China are no less in proving its worth.
The world today is pomp and show made from nothing but money. All contributions to contemporary art whether in a form of innovation, creativity, or talents, it’s all born from the urge to live lavishly. Who on earth, by the way, does not have a similar motive nowadays?
Well, to look at one side it isn’t that bad. It gives humans purpose in life- a motive to work hard, to think keenly, and appreciate their existence. However, the coin always has two sides and well we aren’t here to discuss money, right?
Without further ado, the top 10 richest tycoons of China as of April 2021 are:
1. Zhong Shanshan
Some of us may be awestruck to hear that the net worth of Zhong Shanshan is a whopping $68.9 billion. You aren’t? Well, I most certainly am! The September of 2020 was brought about by a breakthrough for Zhong Shanshan’s water bottled company, Nongfu Spring; IPO proved to be ground-breaking. It surged his wealth by 3,345% making him a lone wolf accounting to be the year’s largest gainer and giving China a new member in their tycoon realm.
His major source of wealth is beverages, however, besides that he is also a chairperson of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy which has recently gone public on the Shanghai stock exchange, precisely April 2021.
2. Ma Huateng
Ever heard of WeChat? Well, this is a face behind him. Web-media giant founder Ma Huateng is worth $ 65.8 billion. His venture in the industry of internet media named Tencent owns stakes in major global companies like Tesla, Spotify, and Snap. Ma Huateng became a gainer when he put his video-sharing application Kuaishou on public offering late in February this year.
3. Colin Zheng Huang
Well when we think of e-commerce in China, the giant Alibaba pops up in our heads. However, the scenario has been changed. Colin Zheng Huang, with an estimated worth of $ 55.3 billion has stepped down from the post of CEO and founder of a renowned online discounter Pinduoduo as his passion for food and life sciences compel him to pursue that research.
It is interesting to note that in the most unfortunate year of decades, Pinduoduo managed to surpass Alibaba in terms of yearly users compounding to no less than 788 million.
4. Jack Ma
Who hasn’t heard of Jack Ma? With the total worth of $ 48.4 billion, the cofounder has been lying low since his fintech giant was dual-listed and thus was told to halt its operation by Chinese regulators. To add insult to injury, his Alibaba empire too seems to be under pressure given the events of launching an anti-monopoly investigation by the Chinese regulator late in December of 2020. The recent case of workplace culture threat and an issue confronting China’s IT industry is a gender imbalance, which leads to chauvinist advertisements from tech behemoths. were salt to the wounds, that have not even been fully recovered.
5. Wang Wei
Diving into the realm of the packaging industry, it seems like China has left no industry unturned. With a total worth of $ 39 billion, Wang Wei made his place among the richest tycoons of China prominent. His venture that is China’s very own FedEx has seen an uprise of its revenue by 37% in 2020 given the surge in demand for e-commerce platforms. Wang founded S.F Express in 1993, however, he took it public for the first time in 24 years as a consequence of a reverse merger. His share in the company still lingers to be 60%
6. He Xiangjian
The attempt to kidnap using explosives to rob the house is what surrounded the co-founder of electric appliance maker Midea Group. The total worth of He, who stepped down from the chairmanship in 2012 is $ 37.7 billion. His venture of home appliances has been successful in marking its prominent territory in the industry. The horrific incident was curbed by the vigilance of his son who swam across the river to inform the authorities and actions taken thereupon.
7. Zhang Yiming
Tiktok has taken a huge hit not just in China but across the globe. Do you know the man behind it? Well, now you do. Zhang Yiming with a total worth of $ 35.6 billion is with no wonder in the list of China’s richest tycoons. He has successfully founded ByteDance who in turn created the renowned short video application TikTok. The story that follows behind its creation is also a must-read. December last year, it received funding of around $180 billion, and just for a little Do you know the thing: The first hit of the application was in 2012 Toutiao, China.
8. Qin Yinglin & family
The food industry isn’t left out either. The founder of Muyuan Foodstuff Co with a total worth of $ 33.5 billion takes us to teach the value of true partnership. Qin along with his wife and 22 pigs has reached, if not the zenith then at least the considerable heights as a top hog producer of China. The recently published report shows that the group can generate 140,000 employees and just in 2020 produced approximately 18 million pigs. The husband Qin has graced the position of chairmanship, however, his wife Qian ( also a billionaire ) manages and looks after the company as a board member.
9. William Lei Ding
Pandemic has surely surged the demand for online games and what’s better than playing as if you are in your favorite movies. Well, that’s the venture we are talking about by William Lei Ding called NetEase. The revenue of this Nasdaq-listed company rose by 24% in the year 2020
The quintessential mix of crazy graphics and world-famous fantasy contributed to the total net worth of $ 33 billion.
10. Yang Huiyan
Last but not the least, we present Yang Huiyan from Country Garden Holdings, a real estate developer, who is an heiress and thus a major stakeholder. Her interest was passed down to her by her father, Yeung Kwok Keung, the company’s founder and current chairman. Bright Scholar Education Holdings, a publicly-traded education company in the United States, is chaired by Yang’s younger brother.
That is all from China. The Richest Tycoon series has just begun. Brace yourselves and dive into the pool of knowledge wherein you will recognize and understand which of your fellow humans are living the lives of their dreams!
edited and proof read by: nikita sharma
