Wanda's Wang JianLin holds off Jack Ma to reclaim top spot with US$32bn, 595 dollar Billionaires in China, pulling away from USA, 'Hostile Take Over King' Yao ZhenHua, 46 breaks top 5 with US$17bn and 2,056 Chinese with US$300M, up 179 YOY despite slowdown.

The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun Rich List 2016 in association with Forest City, this is the 18th annual ranking of the richest individuals in China, wealth calculations are a snapshot of 15 August, the same date as previous years.

• Hurun Rich List slows. Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher, said, “Despite a 20% drop in the domestic stock markets and a slowdown in the economy, the Forest City Hurun Rich List swelled by 179 to 2056 individuals, double that of three years ago and up ten-fold from ten years ago.”
• Wang Jianlin, 62, of Wanda, retains his crown, down 2% to US$32.1bn, holding off a 41% surge in wealth from Jack Ma, 52. Pony Ma, 45, of Tencent rises one place to third on a 38% surge in wealth, despite giving away US$2.1 billion in the last year.
• Wealth creation pulling away from US. “There are now 754 Chinese billionaires in the world, way more than in the US,” says Rupert Hoogewerf. “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.”
• ‘Hostile Takeover King’ Yao Zhenhua, 46, of Baoneng is the biggest riser this year, shooting up 200 places to 4th on the back of a nine-fold increase in his wealth to US$17.2bn. Low-profile Yao made the headlines this year for his hostile takeover of leading real estate developer Vanke. Rupert Hoogewerf said, “Yao’s financial investment model represents the new wave of wealth creation in China. The first money made in China twenty years ago came from trading, followed by manufacturing, real estate, IT and today it is about using the capital markets for financial investments.
• 3 other new faces in Top 10: ‘Online Games Tycoon’ Ding Lei, 45, of Netease, ‘Real Estate King’ Xu Jiayin, 58, of Evergrande and ‘Home Appliances King’ He Xiangjian, 78 of Midea. Mobile phone maker Lei Jun of Xiaomi dropped out of Top 10 to 14th place.
• It has been a good year for financial investments and IT.  Despite a surge in real estate prices in China’s first-tier cities of Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, it has been a bad year for real estate, manufacturing and textiles. Rupert Hoogewerf said, “If you look at absolute wealth on the Hurun Rich List, it has come from three main sources: real estate, driven by China urbanization program, IT, driven by the digitalization of the country, and manufacturing, based on China’s early export model. Total wealth from theHurun Rich List rose 7%, in line with China’s GDP growth.”
• Two new entrants to the Top 100. Online games magnet Chi Yufeng, 45, of Perfect World, and ‘Shaver and Hairdryer King’ Li Gaiteng, 44, of Flyco.
• 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% are women, up 3% from last year. ‘Beijing Real Estate Queen’ Chen Lihua, 73, of Fuwah is the most successful businesswoman in China and �" by default �" the world.
• Political appointments down. 176 of the Forest  City Hurun Rich List, down 17 from last year, are delegates to the 12th National People’s Congress (99 individuals) or the CPPCC (77 individuals). 8 NPC delegates from Liaoning province were expelled for election fraud.
• In trouble with the law. Only 12 of last year’s list in varying degrees of trouble with the authorities, down four from last year. In a disappearance that captured world business media attention, Guo Guangchang went missing for three days before being released.  Mou Qizhong, 75, a former Top 15 on the first Hurun Rich Listin 1999, was released after completing a 16-year sentence.
• 95% are self-made, with only 5% inheriting their wealth.
• Chinese star signs. It has been a good year for sheep, rats and pigs, and a bad year for horses and ox. Rabbits lead the way for the umpteenth year.

The 18th edition of the Hurun Rich List is published in association with Forest City, a large-scale property development by Country Garden Pacificview in Iskandar Malaysia, next to Singapore.

The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun Rich List 2016 in association with Forest City. This is the 18th annual ranking of the richest individuals in China. Wealth calculations are a snapshot of 15 August, the same date as previous years.

Rupert Hoogewerf said, “Over the past 18 years, the Hurun Rich List has grown to become a yardstick by which to measure the evolution of China’s private sector.  I am delighted to be putting out the list this year in association with Forest City, a real estate project in Malaysia, just beside Singapore, developed by HK-listed Chinese real estate brand Country Garden. This shows the appetite for Chinese to buy property abroad.”

The Top 10

There are 4 new entries to the Top 10: Yao Zhenhua of Baoneng, Ding Lei of Netease, Xu Jiayin of Evergrande and He Xiangjian & son He Jianfeng of Midea. Six made their money from real estate, up 1 from last year. 4 are IT tycoons, same as than last year.

The cut-off to make the Top 10 increased 20%, to US$11.6bn. Average age is 54, one more than last year. All would now make the Top 100 of the Hurun Global Rich List. Lei Jun of Xiaomi and Lu Guanqiu of Wanxiang dropped out of the Top 10.

Read the full story here.