Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani is no longer Asia’s richest person. You read that right! Zhong Shanshan, vaccine magnate and founder of China’s largest bottled water company Nongfu Spring has managed to take his place.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zhong’s net worth has soared $70.9 billion this year to $77.8 billion, making him the 11th richest person in the world.
Things were not easy for Zhong, popularly known as ‘Lone Wolf’. The 66-year-old man worked as a construction worker, a newspaper reporter, drugmaker and beverage sales agent before starting his own business.
Born in Hangzhou, the man dropped out of primary school during the chaos of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. In April 2020, Zhong-controlled Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. His controlling stake in the company saw his overall fortunes surge as much as $20 billion by August.
Further, Nongfu Spring shares became an instant hit in September this year when they were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Mukesh Ambani, 63, who earlier rose to the fourth spot on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, is pushed to the 12th slot with current net worth is $76.9 billion (around Rs 5.63 lakh crore), down from nearly $90 billion (around Rs 6.62 lakh crore) earlier this year.
