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BEIJING: A businessman who turned his wealth from bottled water and vaccines usurped tech mogul Jack Ma as China’s richest man, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed on Thursday (Sept. 24).
Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan’s net worth has reached $ 58.7 billion after a massive listing by the Hong Kong bottled water company earlier this month.
This makes him $ 2 billion richer than the previous number one, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said, according to the wealth index.
Zhong’s Nongfu Spring, which claims to be number one in China’s huge bottled water market, is ubiquitous in a country where most people avoid tap water for health reasons.
The company raised nearly $ 1.1 billion in its initial public offering.
Zhong is also the president of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, a vaccine manufacturer listed in mainland China in April.
It is developing a COVID-19 vaccine nasal spray in conjunction with a prominent university.
Zhong, a 66-year-old former reporter from Zhejiang who according to state media was also a construction worker, is often referred to by the Chinese media as a “lone wolf” for his rare public appearances and his reluctance to be interviewed.
He founded Nongfu in 1996, just as China’s bottled water market was starting to take off.
