Hurun: China’s Rich Are Getting Poorer

In a year when the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 23%， 469 of the Hurun Top 1000 saw their wealth shrink， 291 saw their wealth grow， 114 stayed the same and there were 150 new faces and 37 individuals saw their wealth shrink by over 50%.

There were 251 dollar billionaires in China ranked this year， down 20 on last year， but still hugely up on six years ago when there were only 15 billionaires.

The average wealth of the Hurun Top 1000 is down 9% to US$860 million， but still almost double that of 2008 when it was US$439 million.

Solar， textiles and retail have been the hardest hit this year. Entertainment， IT， natural gas and property developers sitting on large landbanks， have had a good year.

Rupert Hoogewerf， Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher said，“Although this year has seen some significant wealth bloodletting， it is worth remembering that these entrepreneurs are still up 40% on two years ago and almost ten times ten years ago.”

‘Drinks King’ Zong Qinghou， 67， of the Wahaha Group has regained the top berth he held in 2010 and becomes only the third person in 14 years to retain the crown. Zong tops the Hurun Rich List 2012 with a personal fortune of US$12.6 billion， based on his 80% holding of soft drinks brand Wahaha， which last year reported net profits of over US$1bn.

58-year-old Wang Jianlin’s wealth jumped 44% to US$10.3 billion， bouncing Wang into second place. Earlier this year， Wang shook up the entertainment industry with the announcement of a US$2.6bn acquisition of US cinema chain AMC Entertainment， the largest international acquisition by someone from the Hurun Rich List to date. Wanda’s core business remains its property arm， particularly its shopping malls， which continue to spring up all over the country and last year turned over US$16bn.

Robin Li Yanhong， 44， is in third place again with a net worth of US$8 billion， based on his 16% of Baidu. Google’s withdrawal from the Chinese market two years ago has allowed Baidu to cement its position as the number one choice for Chinese-language internet search services. Baidu has a market cap of over US$50bn.

Yan Bin， 57， of Reignwood， is fourth again with US$7.9 billion， and is the second member of the drinks industry to make the Top Five. Yan holds the Chinese rights for the Red Bull energy drink and has this year invested into a US$200 million property in London， which he is planning to turn into a hub for Chinese business people in Europe.

Last year’s Number One， Liang Wen’gen saw his share price drop， resulting in a fall to fifth place. Liang is one of the only seven individuals on the Hurun Rich List that has been appointed as delegate to the 18th Party Congress， the once in a decade leadership change. The Sany Group， in which Liang owns 58%， has contributed seven individuals to this year’s Top 1000， more than any other single company. This past year， Liang purchased a German machinery builder for US$400 million， in the largest SinoGerman acquisition to date.

Liu Yongxing， the richest man in 2001， jumped two places to sixth this year with a total wealth of US$7.1 billion.