Business mogul Wang Jianlin has just become the richest person in China, with a personal fortune of USD $22bn (£14bn).
59-year-old Wang heads up Dalian Wanda Group, one of the largest property developers in China. It recently acquired American cinema chain AMC Entertainment, making the company the world’s largest cinema operator.
Wang’s fortune has doubled since last year, according to the Hurun Wealth Report 2013 that indexes China’s richest people. He overtook last year’s number one Zong Qinghou, despite Zong’s fortune growing 50% since last year’s index.
The Hurun Wealth Report says the number of billionaires (in dollars) has grown almost fivefold in a year, from 64 in 2012 to a whopping 315 people in 2013. It claims that just 10 years ago there were no US dollar billionaires in China.
The report also says that the wealth of the top five has double in the past year. The richest woman in China comes in at number five – Yang Huiyan, who has a fortune of $8.3bn.
A quarter of the 1,021 people tracked by the report of China’s wealthiest made their fortunes in property.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of The Hurun Report, said: ”Strong performances in real estate and IT have driven China’s richest to new records.”
Earlier this year Bill Gates holds the top spot on Forbes rich list, according to Bloomberg news, as a lift in Microsoft shares saw his personal worth hit $73bn.
He bumped Mexican mogul Carlos Slim Helu off the number one spot.
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