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1. Zhong Shanshan, founder and chairman of bottled water producer Nongfu Spring
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Zhong Shanshan, founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring. Photo courtesy of the company |
Zhong Shanshan, 69, amassed his wealth through the beverage manufacturer Nongfu Spring, China's leading packaged water supplier.
Established in 1996, Nongfu Spring went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020.
This milestone event secured Zhong's position as China's richest individual the following year.
The beverage giant reported revenues of 33.2 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) in 2022, according to Bloomberg.
In addition to Nongfu Spring, Zhong has expanded into the pharmaceutical industry with a 74% stake in vaccine maker Wantai Biological.
However, both companies saw a decline in their share prices last year amidst broader stock market declines in the country, reducing Zhong’s net worth by $5.7 billion to $62.3 billion as of April 2.
Nevertheless, he retained the top position in Forbes' Chinese billionaire ranking for the fourth consecutive year.
2. Zhang Yiming, founder of tech company ByteDance
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Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok's parent company ByteDance. Photo by Reuters |
Zhang Yiming, at the age of 41, established ByteDance in 2012, the parent company of the viral social media platform TikTok.
Prior to TikTok, ByteDance has introduced a series of successful apps, including the popular short-form video platform Douyin, a mainstay in Chinese digital culture.
However, ByteDance faced a considerable setback in its valuation recently due to swirling speculations about a potential TikTok ban in the U.S. market.
Consequently, Zhang saw his net worth decline by $1.6 billion from the previous year to $43.4 billion as of April 2nd.
3. Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce firm PDD Holdings
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Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings. Photo courtesy of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business |
Colin Huang, 44, rose from humble beginnings in a family of factory workers to engineering roles at Google by 2004, according to Business Insider.
Huang surged to prominence in China with the extraordinary success of Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform that he founded in 2015.
It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2018 before changing its name to PDD Holdings in 2023.
PDD's shares on U.S. markets saw robust growth last year, attributed to the burgeoning popularity of its budget-friendly shopping platform, Temu.
Notably, Huang is one of two billionaires among China’s five richest people to have become wealthier last year.
With a $8.7 billion gain in net worth, he ascended to the coveted No. 3 position from his No. 4 ranking last year, amassing a current net worth of $38.9 billion as of April 2nd.
4. William Ding, founder and CEO of online game company NetEase
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William Ding, founder and CEO of NetEase. Photo by Reuters |
The majority of 52-year-old William Ding’s wealth lies in his 45% ownership in Beijing-based NetEase, one of China’s largest online gaming firms, according to Bloomberg.
Ding laid the foundation for this enterprise back in 1997, guiding it to amass revenues of 96.5 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) in 2022.
Beyond the realm of video games, NetEase also diversifies its offerings, extending into advertising and email services within China.
Ding’s wealth rose in recent months along with his firm’s shares as its offerings continued to gain popularity.
His net worth is at $33.5 billion as of April 2, up $6.8 billion from a year earlier.
5. Ma Huateng, co-founder, CEO and chairman of internet services giant Tencent Holdings
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Ma Huateng, co-founder, CEO and chairman of Tencent Holdings. Photo by Reuters |
Ma Huateng, 52, co-founded internet services company Tencent Holdings in 1998.
The firm is well-known for its WeChat social messaging app, which currently has 1.3 billion users, Forbes reported.
Tencent's reach extends beyond social media, as it is also one of the largest video game publishers in the world.
Additionally, it also offers cloud computing, advertising, FinTech, and other enterprise services to aid with digital transformation.
The past year saw a downturn in Tencent's shares on the Hong Kong market due to slower economic growth.
This resulted in Ma's wealth shrinking from $35.3 billion a year earlier to $30.2 billion as of April 2.
