Jack Ma toppled by bottled water tycoon Zhong as China’s richest man

Water tycoon Zhong Shanshan and Jack Ma

Water tycoon Zhong Shanshan and Jack Ma

Water tycoon Zhong Shanshan and Jack Ma

By Muhamin Olowoporoku

Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group has been unseated as the richest man in China by Zhong Shanshan, the manufacturer of bottled water.

Zhong, known as the “Lone Wolf” overtook Alibaba in China’s richest list after his fortune trebled this year.

According to Bloomberg, the personal fortune of Zhong, who owns China’s largest bottled water company Nongfu Spring, soared to $58.7 billion this year.

This makes him the 17th richest person in the world on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index , and the second-wealthiest person in Asia after Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani.

Jack Ma’s fortune is now estimated at $56.7 billion pushing him down to the 19th richest person in the world. He has spent most of the last six years at the top of China’s rich list

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Zhong’s Nongfu was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange earlier this month and its share price has risen by around 77%.

The billionaire owns 84% of the company’s shares. He founded the company in 1996.

Zhong also owns and has a 74% stake in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics company Wantai, which produces hepatitis vaccines and COVID-19 testing kits.

His fortune has risen by almost $52 billion so far this year.

The only people whose net worth has risen more in 2020 are Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk but Musk’s fell almost $10 billion after Tesla said upcoming battery developments won’t reach mass production for another two years.

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