CHINA’S 100 RICHEST
FORBES ASIAIMAGINECHINAS
ixteen years ago unpaid customer bills left Yu Huiji-
ao’s architectural firm bankrupt. It took him a decade to
pay back creditors “and finally breathe a sigh of relief,”
he recalls.
During that interval his Zhejiang
Province was spawning a wave of
delivery startups, filling the gap in
the state-dominated transportation-
and-logistics industry as China’s
growth accelerated. Yu opted to try
that business in a metropolis, and
with 15 employees and his wife, he set
up Shanghai YTO Express (Logis-
tics). The staf delivered packages by
bicycle in the early days, and boss Yu
pedaled around town himself doing
the same.
Yu enters the list this year with
an estimated $7.5 billion fortune,
making him the country’s second
richest man in buzzy logistics. He achieved that feat by win-
ning regulatory approval for the transfer of shares in YTO
to apparel-maker Dalian Dayang Trands in September in an
all-stock transaction. (Soon-to-disappear Dayang’s claim to
fame: Years ago its suits won accolades from Warren Bufett.)The government-approved sale valued YTO at $2.6 billion,
but stock traders have bid Dayang up as the transaction has
proceeded.
It’s not hard to understand
investors’ enthusiasm for the
business. The number of parcels
delivered in China each year has
grown at an average of 45% since
2008, fueled by China’s emergence
as the world’s biggest e-commerce
market. As it happens, that’s just
how much YTO’s revenue grew, to
$1.8 billion, in 2015. It has ties to
Alibaba Group as a logistics partner
of Taobao, the big consumer shop-
ping site, and through investments.
Yu isn’t content with the China
market. He recalls being impressed
by a visit to UPS during his first trip
to the U.S. in 2007. He didn’t go back
to America until 2015, when he was part of a business delega-
tion that accompanied President Xi Jinping, a sign of clout
and prestige. He hopes that by the time he travels there again
in 2020, he will go as the leader of the world’s No. 5 logistics
company. —Kang Jian with Yolanda Huang and M.C.- Jason Jiang
$5.2 BILLION S
SOURCE: MEDIA.
AGE: 43. MARRIED
RESIDENCE: SHANGHAI
Media tycoon Jiang vaults to the upper ranks of
China’s richest this year after moving the listing
of his advertising giant Focus Media to the
Shenzhen exchange from the Nasdaq. It was an
indirect route: First, lagging computer maker Hedy
acquired Focus Media in an all-stock transaction in
late 2015; Hedy then changed its name to Focus
Media Information Technology. The business
puts ads on buildings and in elevators. Its market
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SUP TDOWN WXUNCHANGED ÌNEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE billion when it left Nasdaq. - Pan Zhengmin
$5.4 BILLION S
SOURCE: ELECTRONICS
AGE: 46. MARRIED
RESIDENCE: SHENZHEN
Pan is CEO of miniaturized electronic component
supplier AAC Technologies Holdings. The Hong
Kong-listed company makes speakers, receivers,
microphones and antennas; many of its wares end
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with his wife, Ingrid Wu, who shares the fortune.
Like fellow tech billionaire Jack Ma, Pan graduated
from a school for teachers. Pan also goes by the
name Benjamin. - Gong Hongjia
$5.4 BILLION S
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS
AGE: 51. MARRIED, 2 CHILDREN
Investor Gong’s fortune lies in Shenzhen-listed
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technologies,
one of the world’s largest suppliers of closed-
circuit TVs and video-surveillance products.
He is vice chairman and the biggest individual
shareholder, with an 18% stake. Looking to grow
abroad, Hikvision bought Pyronix, a U.K.-based
security alarm firm, for an undisclosed amount
in May.
RISING FACES
Delivered to Riches
Yu HuijiaoTODAY ASIA IS OUR SECOND HOME MARKET
WITH A PRESENCE IN SINGAPORE, HONG KONG,
TOKYO AND SHANGHAI.