IMAGINECHINA
- Jiang Bin
$3.35 BILLION S
SOURCE: ELECTRONICS
AGE: 49.
RESIDENCE: WEIFANG
Jiang chairs Goertek, a supplier of acoustic
components that has been trying to move into
virtual-reality equipment through a partnership
with U.S. chip firm Qualcomm. Goertek, which
broke ground on a $2.1 billion industrial park in
Qingdao in May, employs more than 30,000 people
globally. - Sun Guangxin
$3.35 BILLION T
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED
AGE: 49. MARRIED, 2 CHILDREN
RESIDENCE: URUMQI
Sun leads Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment
Group, a conglomerate active in the energy and
automotive sectors. Lower prices have hurt his
listed coal-mining business, Guanghui Energy,
driving the stock down nearly 40% in the past year.
Sun also controls China Grand Automotive Service,
the country’s largest auto dealer. In June China
Grand Automotive said it would pay $150 million
for Shenzhen Pengfeng Auto Group, another auto
dealer, in a move to expand sales in southern China. - Liang Wengen
$3.3 BILLION T
SOURCE: MANUFACTURING
AGE: 56. MARRIED. 1 CHILD
RESIDENCE: CHANGSHA
A nearly 20% drop in the share price of Shanghai-
listed Sany Heavy Industry over the past year led
to a $1.1 billion decline in Liang’s fortune. He chairs
the construction-equipment maker, which has
faced stif competition at home. Liang was China’s
richest man in 2011, with a fortune of $9.3 billion. He
cofounded a small welding-material factory, which
became today’s Sany Group. - Lu Xiangyang
$3.3 BILLION T
SOURCE: AUTOS, BATTERIES
AGE: 53. MARRIED
RESIDENCE: GUANGZHOU
Lu had been working at a branch of the People’s
Bank of China when in 1995 he teamed up with
his cousin Wang Chuanfu (No. 34) to launch BYD,
a maker of batteries and autos; it also makes
electric buses in California. South Korea’s Samsung
Electronics bought a minority stake for $450 million
in July. Lu is vice chairman of BYD.
M
inting a ten-digit fortune or anything
close in China has long been a potentially
cursed blessing. In the crackdown on
corruption orchestrated by President Xi Jinping be-
ginning in late 2012, the risk hasn’t shrunk—tycoons
have been charged with insider trading, bribery and
more. Some have been sent to prison for years.
Remember Hua Bangsong, a billionaire in 2013?
His Wison engineering services company for the
chemicals and energy industries was prospering until
he was charged with bribery in 2014 and convicted
the following year. We haven’t bothered counting his riches lately.
Even a presumably innocent brush with the law can send shock waves. Chi-
nese media were agog in last December when Guo Guangchang, the billionaire
chairman and founder of the Fosun International conglomerate, was reported
missing. He reappeared a few days later, and Fosun issued a statement saying
that Guo had assisted judiciary authorities with investigations. Nothing more
was said, but a drop in the company’s share price shaved $1.3 billion of his total
net worth since last year, and he’s down to No. 22.
Another billionaire, Zhou Chengjian, went missing for a week in January.
Shanghai Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories, founded by Zhou, never said
what happened. The company’s shares fell 30% in the past year, knocking Zhou
from the ranks of the list.
The targeting of selected billionaires predates President Xi. In late 2008
authorities detained Wong Kwong Yu, an electronics retailer who was China’s
richest man in 2006, and later charged him with bribery and other crimes. He
was tried and given a 14-year prison sentence, which he is still serving even as
he keeps his top 100 standing.
Xu Ming sufered a worse fate. Ranked by FORBES ASIA as China’s eighth-
richest man in 2005, Xu had founded conglomerate Dalian Shide Group. He was
linked to disgraced politician Bo Xilai, a Xi rival. Reportedly detained in 2012
not long after Bo was fired as Communist Party chief in Chongqing, Xu testi-
fied at Bo’s trial that he had given millions of dollars to Bo’s wife to buy a villa in
the south of France. Xu reportedly died in prison last December of a suspected
heart attack. He was 44 years old. —Kerry A. DolanXu Ming‘ANTICORRUPTION’
That Knock in the Night
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