Chinese vaccine investors make $ 70 billion in 2020, spectacularly becoming Asia’s richest person

The title of the richest man in Asia has just been a swap from Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani to the hands of Zhong Shanshan – a Chinese billionaire, investor in bottled water and vaccines.

After a turbulent 2020 with the COVID-19 respiratory epidemic, many businesses went bankrupt and a series of other businessmen dropped in the list of billionaires, Shanshan’s assets increased more than 70 billion USD. , bringing his net worth to about $ 77.8 billion, according to Bloomberg statistics.

Shanshan is not only the richest person in Asia, but also the 11th richest person on the planet, behind Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. And while Ambani has lost its lead on the continent, the Reliance Industries chairman’s fortune lags behind Shanshan with $ 76.9 billion.

Shanshan’s spectacular breakthrough came from his role as president at two major companies: bottled water producer Nongfu Spring and vaccine maker and hepatitis testing device Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise. In 2019, Nongfu Spring reported revenue of $ 3.5 billion, while Shanshan’s pharmaceutical business reported revenue of $ 171 million.

By 2020, Shanshan’s net worth soared as he made both of his companies public. Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April, and Nongfu Spring’s $ 1.1 billion public offering in Hong Kong in September turned Shanshan. become China’s third richest person overnight.

The 66-year-old billionaire is known as the ” Lonely Wolf” because he is not involved in politics or any other business group. He rarely appears in public or speaks to the media.

“I’m a loner, and I don’t care what my colleagues are doing or thinking , “ Shanshan once told reporters.

Born in Hangzhou in 1954, Shanshan studied at the Open University of China and worked as a press reporter in the 1980s before founding Yangshengtang Co., Ltd. In 1996, he founded Nongfu Spring and today directly manages sales, branding and human resources as executive chairman.

Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise is also working on a COVID-19 spray vaccine and has been registered for a Phase II clinical trial in China since November 2020.

Consult Businessinsider