B is for Beijing ... and billionaires
Print Edition
BEIJING has replaced New York as billionaire capital of the world, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2016 released yesterday.
Hurun noted that out of a record 2,188 billionaires in 68 countries and regions, China took 568 places on the list with 100 of them based in the capital.
The addition of 90 wealthy Chinese to the list this year compared to 2015 also meant that the nation overtook the US in total numbers of ultra rich for the first time.
Leading the Chinese billionaires is Wang Jianlin, 61, chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, China’s largest real estate developer and the world’s largest movie theater operator.
Earlier this year it bought US film studio Legendary Entertainment for around US$3.5 billion.
According to Hurun, Wang has US$26 billion worth of personal assets and ranks 21st on the list, two places ahead of Li Ka-shing, founder of Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate Cheung Kong Holdings.
The 87-year-old business magnate is said to have US$25 billion in personal assets.
Jack Ma, 51, founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is ranked 36th, with US$21 billion.
Topping the list are Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 60, and renowned investor Warren Buffett, 85, with US$80 billion and US$68 billion, respectively.
“The growth in billionaires in the rest of the world was held back by a slowdown in the global economy, the strengthening of the US dollar and the drop in oil prices,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.
Still, the combined wealth of the billionaires’ club expanded by 9 percent to US$7.3 trillion, higher than the GDP of Germany and the UK put together, and equal to almost half that of the US.
China’s richest individuals contributed US$1.4 trillion of the total, close to the GDP of Australia.
Real estate money-spinner
Taking the brunt of losses, Russia saw 13 billionaires drop out of the list and the loss of US$130 billion on the back of a 19 percent drop in the Russian ruble and lackluster performance in the mining, metals and energy sectors.
Real estate remained the top money-spinner for China, with 117 billionaires involved in the sector, while manufacturing and technology followed closely with 94 and 68 respectively.
Globally, technology, media, telecommunications, real estate, manufacturing and investments made up half the major sources of wealth for billionaires.
China also strengthened its status as the biggest generator of “rags-to-riches” stories, accounting for 69 percent of the world’s self-made billionaires who did not rely on parents for their wealth. It also led in the number of self-made women, 93 out of a total of 124.
Counting in those of Chinese origin but not of Chinese nationality, the presence of Chinese on the list would increase to 630 people, or 29 percent, a percentage much higher than their 20 percent share of the global population. In the breakdown, 470 are from the Chinese mainland, 60 from Hong Kong, 56 from Southeast Asia, 34 from Taiwan, 8 from the US and 1 each from Canada and France.
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