Zhong Shanshan,becomes China’s richest person from selling bottle water
A bottle water billionaire, Zhong Shanshan beats two technology tycoons to be recognized as the richest person in China.
READ ALSO: Not a billionaire, but Kylie Jenner is highest-paid celebrity, Forbes says
According to Forbes’s real time billionaires list, the founder of Hangzhou-based beverage maker Nongfu Spring, has claimed the honor with a net worth of $57 billion as of Thursday,
That fortune makes him the 17th-richest person in the world and puts him two spots ahead of the next Chinese billionaire, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng, who’s worth $56.2 billion. He’s followed by Jack Ma, co-founder of the Alibaba e-commerce empire, who ranks 22nd in the world with a fortune of $50.4 billion, Forbes says.
Zhong has benefitted from an explosive initial public offering for Nongfu Spring, which sells tea, coffee and juices as well as its red-labeled bottles of water. The company’s stock price reportedly soared 54 percent on its first day of trading in Hong Kong earlier this month and closed Thursday at 38 Hong Kong dollars, well above its offering price of 21.50, according to CBNC.
Daily Times understands that Zhong reportedly worked as a news reporter before getting into the bottled water business in the 1990s.
According to Bloomberg he went on to acquire his majority stake in Wantai in 2001 and the company went public in April of this year.
Zhong is now the second-richest man in Asia behind Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries. Ambani’s net worth of $83.7 billion makes him the fifth-wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes.
