Wanda boss emerges as China's richest man
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 20, 2013
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Wang Jianlin, owner of Dalian Wanda Group, tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as China's richest man. [File photo] |
Wang Jianlin, owner of Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest property developer, has emerged as the richest person in the Chinese mainland with a total wealth of US$14.2 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Wang has replaced Hangzhou Wahaha Group founder Zong Qinghou, who is worth US$3.2 billion less.
Matthew Miller of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index told the People's Daily Online that Wang Jianlin's property business covered a gross floor area (GPA) of 148 million square feet, and he was looking to expand it by 68 percent in 2014.
Wanda Group has recently stepped up its overseas acquisition plans. Last year, it bought AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. for US$2.6 billion, making Wanda the world's largest chain of movie theaters. In June this year, Wanda acquired British Sunseeker International Ltd, whose products include the yachts seen in the James Bond films. Wang also plans to invest more than US$1 billion on a deluxe residential building on the bank of the River Thames in London.
Wanda's website shows that the group's revenue over the last 12 months was US$26 billion. As of June 30, commercial real estate constituted 76 percent of the group's H1 revenue so far this year, down from 88 percent in 2012 and 91 percent in 2011.
Bloomberg's data show that the value of Wang Jianlin's shares in Wanda Commercial Property Company, the group's flagship, reached US$7.4 billion, based on calculations of the mean earnings of China Vanke, China Overseas Land & Investment, Longfor Properties and Evergrande.
However, according to Bloomberg, Wang's shares could be worth even more. London-based Pacific Alliance China Land owns 0.5 percent of Wanda's equity, which has been valued at US$71.80 million, according to Miller. This would put Wanda Commercial Property's total assets at US$14.4 billion and the value of Wang's personal shares at US$8.6 billion.
Wang Jianlin's second largest asset is Wanda Department Store, which he fully owns. The company said that it plans to increase the number of Wanda shopping centers from 62 to 120 by the year 2015. If this sector is also factored into the calculation, Wang's personal wealth increases by another US$1.3 billion.
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