China Has More Billionaires than US

By Bridget O'Donnell

The Hurun 2016 Rich List is out, and despite an economic slowdown, the latest figures show China has topped the US in number of billionaires.

“There are now 754 Chinese billionaires in the world, way more than in the US,” says Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher. “Mainland China has 594, down 2 from last year; HK, Taiwan and Macao have 94; and there are 66 others in the world, mainly in SE Asia. This compares with 535 billionaires in the US, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2016 released in February.”

Wanda boss Wang Jianlin has retained his spot as richest man with USD32.1 billion, holding off second-placed Alibaba founder Jack Ma at USD30.6 billion. Tencent's Pony Ma rose to third place with a net wealth of USD24.6 billion.

The biggest surprise of this year's list was Yao Zhenhua who shot up 200 places to fourth—a ninefold increase—with an accumulated wealth of USD17.2 billion. According to Hurun, Yao made headlines earlier this year after his hostile takeover of real estate firm Vanke, a market leader.

Some new entries into the top ten included ‘Online Games Tycoon’ Ding Lei of Netease, ‘Real Estate King’ Xu Jiayin of Evergrande and ‘Home Appliances King’ He Xiangjian of Midea. Lei Jun of Xiaomi, meanwhile, dropped out of the top 10 to 14th place.

Here's a look at China's top ten:

Some other key stats from Hurun:

Beijing is the preferred city of residence for 322 individuals, up 43 from last year, followed by Shenzhen and Shanghai. HK rose one place to seventh.

Wealth creation slowing. 1007 saw their wealth decline or remain static; 703 saw their wealth increase, of which only 45 doubled; 346 new faces and 167 drop-offs.

Millennials. 181 individuals are under forty, of which 64 are self-made, led by Jack Wang Qicheng, 36, of Hakim with US$3.7bn and Drone King Frank Wang Tao of DJI with US$3.6bn.Three born in the ninties, inherited their wealth.

24 percent are women, up 3 percent from last year. ‘Beijing Real Estate Queen’ Chen Lihua, 73, of Fuwah is the most successful businesswoman in China and – by default – the world.

Read the full report on Hurun website: www.hurun.net/EN/.

[Images via Hurun]

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