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Entrepreneur Zhong Shanshan: Got rich thanks to the Nongfu Spring food company
Photo: Jiang Xin / AP
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk or Bill Gates: These are typical names that come to mind when asked who belongs to the club of the super-rich, according to the US magazine "Forbes" three-digit billion fortunes.
On the other hand, only a few people in this country have heard of Zhong Shanshan, but the 67-year-old is preparing to move into this league soon: The mineral water entrepreneur from China has a fortune of 60.6 billion dollars, like the Shanghai magazine »Hurun« current rich list wrote.
He owes his wealth in particular to the food company Nongfu Spring.
In addition to the richest Chinese, the country has more and more billionaires, according to the magazine.
Almost every day, China has an extra dollar billionaire, according to the report.
Their number rose by 307 to 1185 last year, as the list shows.
The country with the second largest economy now has five times more dollar billionaires than ten years ago.
Jack Ma only in fifth place
In second place behind Zhong Shanshan is the 38-year-old founder of the TikTok video platform, Zhang Yiming, with $ 52.8 billion.
He is followed by the head of the car battery manufacturer CATL, Zeng Yuqun.
The 53-year-old was able to triple his fortune to $ 47.4 billion.
The boss of Internet giant Tencent, Pony Ma, 50, slipped to fourth place. Similarly, Alibaba founder Jack Ma landed in fifth place, who for years was considered the richest Chinese.
In 2020, however, the 57-year-old had trouble with the Chinese authorities, who thwarted a $ 37 billion IPO.
Ma disappeared from the scene for months.
There was much speculation about his whereabouts, and in January he finally spoke up in a video from his foundation.
Against the background of the crisis in the housing market in China, no real estate entrepreneur is in the top ten for the first time.
The founder of the highly indebted real estate giant Evergrande, Xu Jiayin, who headed the list in 2017, fell from fifth place in the previous year to 70th place with just $ 11.3 billion.
apr / dpa
