Chinese billionaire Zhong Shanshan recently became the richest man in Asia, with an estimated fortune of $ 84.7 billion. However, his life is more like that of a hermit. He lives in a small apartment, rarely appears in public, or communicates with the media.
Last January, Zhong was already a billionaire with a fortune of about $ 7 billion, but in 2020 the wealth of the Chinese businessman has increased by tens of billions, thereby making him one of the richest people in the world in a matter of months.
In September 2020, Zhong came into the spotlight, surpassing Alibaba founder Jack Ma in the ranking of the wealthy. So he became the richest man in China. By the end of December, the businessman’s fortune had increased by another $ 17 billion, making him the richest man in all of Asia. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Zhong’s net worth peaked at $ 95 billion in early January and now stands at $ 84.7 billion. He is just a few billion behind Warren Buffett. In 2020, Zhong brought his two companies to the stock market and increased his fortune by more than $ 70 billion.
He also overtook the previous leader in the ranking, Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, who runs one of the largest conglomerates in India. Ambani has a fortune of $ 74.7 billion and is known for his lavish lifestyle. He lives in a $ 1 billion skyscraper and is friends with Hillary Clinton and Beyoncé, who performed at Ambani’s daughter’s wedding in 2018.
By contrast, Zhong usually does not come to the attention of the public. He is called a lone wolf because he is not interested in politics, rarely appears in public, or talks to the media. And almost nothing is grasped about his individual life.
Zhong Shanshan became the richest man in Asia: his fortune is estimated at $ 84.7 billion.
According to the Billionaire Index, this makes him the seventh richest person in the world, right behind Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and legendary investor Warren Buffett. He’s also richer than the Google co-founders.
Zhong is chairman of two ventures: bottled water company Nongfu Spring and vaccine manufacturer Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which produces COVID-19 tests and develops a vaccine against the virus. Unitedly, the return of the two companies in 2019 amounted to more numerous than $ 3.6 billion.
In 2020, Zhong put both of his companies on the stock exchange and earned more than $ 70 billion.
His company, Beijing Wantai biological pharmacy enterprise, went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April.
And in September, Nongfu Spring’s first public offering of $ 1.1 billion instantly made Shanshan the third richest person in China. His net worth has skyrocketed from $ 16 billion to over $ 50 billion.
Zhong’s main income is reportedly from his bottled water company, in which he owns 84% of the shares. And Beijing Wantai owns 75% of the company.
In December, Zhong overtook Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani.
Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, has been the richest man in Asia for two years. At the moment, Zhong is richer than Ambani by $ 10 billion.
With a fortune of $ 74.7 billion, Ambani still holds the leading position in India and 12th in the world ranking of the rich.
Zhong’s lifestyle is strikingly different from his competitors. Ambani lives with his family in a 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai, with three helipads and underground parking for 160 cars. In 2010, much international media drew attention to a large-scale construction project.
Jack Ma, formerly China’s richest man, is also known for his massive real estate purchases. For example, he acquired a $ 23 million mansion in upstate New York and a rumored $ 191 million mansion in Hong Kong.
But Zhong, having a large fortune, does not invest in real estate. He lives in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China with a population of about 10 million. It is considered the commercial center of the country and is famous for its picturesque landscapes.
Zhong lives in a modest apartment on the shores of West Lake.
The district is located six kilometers from the Hangzhou Central Business District. Zhong’s headquarters, Nongfu Spring, is approximately seven minute drive away. The headquarters of Ant Group, Jack Ma’s company, is also nearby.
Zhong’s pharmaceutical company Wantai Beijing is located much further from his home – in the Changping district of Beijing. According to the Travel China Guide, Changping is “Beijing’s high-tech and scientific base.”
Many people call Zhong a lone wolf in China because he does not participate in politics or business groups. According to the Chinese publication The Paper, he rarely appears in public or speaks to the media.
Before making a fortune, Zhong dropped out of elementary school and worked for a while on a construction site, and in 1983 got a job as a reporter for the Zhejiang Daily newspaper. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, he became interested in the business after about five years. First, he founded a private newspaper, grew mushrooms, and sold curtains.
He later founded Yangshengtang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, which is now the Beijing Wantai holding company. And in 1996, Zhong founded Nongfu Spring and today, according to his corporate biography, directly manages the company’s sales, branding, and human resources as executive chairman.
Little is known about Zhong’s personal life. Nongfu Spring’s public offering prospectus revealed, however, that several members of his family own stakes in a bottled water company. According to Bloomberg, Lu Xiaowei, his wife’s older sister, owns 1.4% of Nongfu Spring, which is valued at $ 432 million. His wife’s brother and sister also own shares worth $ 428 million each. And Zhong’s sisters, Xiaoxiao and Xuanxuan, together own $ 642 million in shares.
