IMAGINECHINA
- Chan Laiwa
$5.8 BILLION T
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE
AGE:ƫĈĆċƫ
Čƫăƫ
RESIDENCE: BEIJING
Chan’s Fu Wah International Group is one of the
largest real estate developers headquartered in
Beijing and is best known for its Jinbao Street
development in the city, with Jinbao Tower, the
Regent Building and the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey
Club, among other structures. Fu Wah has been
expanding overseas, building or buying hotels in
Australia and New Zealand. Chan is curator of the
China Red Sandalwood Museum. - Ji Changqun
$5.5 BILLION Ì
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE
AGE: 48.
RESIDENCE: NANJING
Newcomer Ji chairs Hong Kong-listed real estate
developer Fullshare Holdings, whose stock has
skyrocketed more than 200% in the past year; the
company is trading at 26 times 2015 revenues of
ĸăĊăƫ)%((%+ċƫ
%Čƫ3$+ƫ $ %./ƫ1((/$ .!Čƫ% .! /! ƫ
his stake to nearly 62% in November 2015 after he
traded a piece of real estate he owned for shares in
the business. - Wei Jianjun
$5.5 BILLION T
SOURCE: AUTOS
AGE: 52. MARRIED
RESIDENCE: BAODING
Wei leads China’s largest SUV manufacturer,
Great Wall Motor. He took over the debt-plagued
predecessor to Great Wall Automobile Industry
+ċƫ%ƫāĊĊĀƫ3$!ƫ$!ƫ 3 /ƫ+(5ƫĂćċƫ!%Ě/ƫ"+.01!ƫ"!((ƫ
ĸāƫ %((%+ƫ%ƫ0$!ƫ, /0ƫ 5 ! .ƫ /ƫ,.% !ƫ +),!0%0%+ƫ%ƫ
the world’s biggest auto market pushed down the
share price of Great Wall by about 15%. - Zhang Shiping
$5.45 BILLION S
SOURCE: METALS
AGE:ƫĆĊċƫ
Čƫăƫ
RESIDENCE: BINZHOU
Zhang chairs Hong Kong-listed China Hongqiao
Group, the world’s largest maker of aluminum
,.+ 1 0/ċƫ%/ƫ"+.01!ƫ$ /ƫ% .! /! ƫ 5 ƫĸĂƫ
billion in the past due to a 60% increase in the
company’s share price. This followed the group’s
expansion into power generation and distribution.
Headquartered in Shandong Province.
I
n China, perhaps
more so than in
other countries, how
exactly some people end
up with large fortunes is
not always easy to trace. A
classic example is Anbang
Insurance, a company
founded just 12 years ago
as an auto insurer that has
grown rapidly to become
one of the country’s larg-
est insurers, with total
assets of more than $118
billion, the firm says. The group bought the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in midtown
Manhattan for $1.95 billion in 2014.
Its grand ambitions were on display earlier this year, when a consortium
led by Anbang ofered $14 billion to purchase the Starwood Hotel chain; it
dropped the bid in April, citing market considerations. Anbang also bid $6.5
billion for 16 hotels (including Essex House) owned by Blackstone; 15 of those
hotels were sold to the insurer in September.
FORBES ASIA reporters spent time digging through Anbang company
registrations provided by the Chinese government and determined that ten
people own stakes of at least 3% in the group—stakes that would be worth at
least $1 billion each by our methodology. These people do not appear to be
executives at Anbang. Some of them share the same (very common) surname
as company chairman Wu Xiaohui—who is married to Deng Xiaoping’s
granddaughter. (Wu Xiaohui was not listed as a shareholder.) In September
the New York Times determined that a number of Anbang shareholders are
relatives and acquaintances of the company’s chairman. Anbang Insurance
had no comment.
It’s not unusual in China for a tycoon to place his shares in the name of
trusted friends or relatives. Because FORBES ASIA can’t determine who these
shareholders are and can’t reach them, we chose not to rank them among
China’s richest. —R.F., M.C and Lance ZhuAn acquisitive insurer’s enigmatic shareholders.FAMILY SECRETS
Anbang’s
Mystery ‘Billionaires’
AS THE LEADING SWISS PRIVATE BANKING GROUP WE ARE
PRESENT IN MORE THAN 2 COUNTRIES AND SOME 0
LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE.