Jack Ma was dethroned as China's wealthiest individual on September 23 as the country's bottled-water and vaccine tycoon surpassed the Alibaba co-funder amid a massive losses incurred by tech elites across the world.
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Zhong Shanshan, the bottled-water and vaccine tycoon became China's richest person, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth was estimated at $58.7 billion on September 23, $2 billion more than that of Jack Ma's $56.7 billion.
The founder of China's largest bottled water company Nongfu Spring, is currently Asia’s second-richest person behind India's Mukesh Ambani. Overall, he is the 17th wealthiest person, ahead of Charles Koch and Phil Knight on the index.
Zhong's initial public offering (IPO) of Nongfu Spring surfaced as Hong Kong's most popular market debut among retail investors, prompting him to be listed among China's top three richest. This came after the April listing of the vaccine-maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise pushed his net worth to $20 billion in early August.
Known as "Lone Wolf", Zhong's fortune leaped around $52 billion in 2020, more than anyone else in the world except Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla's Elon Musk.
On Wednesday, Amazon and Tesla suffered heavy declines as tech stocks tumbled and Tesla plunged after its “Battery Day" event fell short of expectations, causing Musk's fortune to dip by almost $10 billion.
Although Zhong has successfully surpassed Jack Ma as China's most wealthiest, the business tycoon could regain his spot that he has held for six straight years after Alibaba went public in the US. Ant Group’s IPO next month is poised to boost his fortune, with his stake valued at $28 billion if the company achieves the $250 billion valuation, reports said.