Zhong Shanshan, chairman of bottled water company Nongfu Spring, remains China’s richest person © Oriental Image via Reuters Conne
The wealth of China’s 100 richest people is set to shrink by more than a third by 2022 as the country’s zero-Covid policy, faltering economic growth and a push for “prosperity common” affected the valuations of the country’s leading companies and consumed their private wealth.
The wealth of the nation’s richest tycoons fell 39 percent to $907.1 billion in 2022 from $1.48 billion a year earlier, according to the Forbes Rich List, the biggest drop since the publication started compiling the list over 20 years ago.
Only two of the names on the list saw their wealth increase, Forbes said, while 79 billionaires became poorer.
Forbes blamed the fall on Beijing’s tech crackdown, its economic zero-covid policies, slow economic growth and worries about the outcome of the 20th Communist Party congress in October.
The slide in the value of the renminbi further affected fortunes.
Zhong Shanshan, chairman of Nongfu Spring, the bottled water company, remained at the top of the list with a wealth of $62.3 billion, down just 5% from the previous year.
Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, saw his wealth drop 43% to $28.9 billion, while Pony Ma, chief executive of Internet giant Tencent , whose share price has fallen to four-year lows. year, he saw his wealth fall by more than half.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma also saw his personal fortune nearly cut in half after his company fell roughly 60% in value over the past year.
Shein founder Chris Xu was a notable newcomer, with a fortune estimated at $10 billion, while Evergrand chairman Hui Ka Yan, once one of the country’s richest individuals, dropped out of the 100 richest in the country.