Mukesh Ambani dethroned: How China’s Zhong Shanshan became Asia’s richest man, earning US$71 billion in 2020 from vaccines and Nongfu Spring water

Jan 7 , 2021

Zhong Shanshan has unseated Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s richest man – so what do we know about the Chinese billionaire? Photos: @newmoney_gr/Instagram, Reuters

The Chinese entrepreneur made billions overnight when his Beijing Wantai Biological and Nongfu Spring companies went public – who would have thought the former mushroom farmer dropped out of school during the Cultural Revolution?

Mukesh Ambani might have enjoyed a sweet end to 2020 by welcoming his first grandchild, but the beginning of 2021 is less rosy – the Reliance Industries kingpin has been spectacularly booted from his position as Asia’s richest person.

So who is the man who stole Ambani’s title, and what do we know about him?

His name is Zhong Shanshan and his incredible rise from mushroom farmer and construction worker to the global rich list has enraptured the world. Here’s everything you need to know about the “lone wolf”.

Right, so how rich is he?

Last year saw the rich getting richer, and 66-year-old Zhong made most of his fortune during 2020 alone: his wealth grew by a staggering US$71 billion throughout the year, bringing his estimated net worth to US$77.8 billion. Not only is he the richest man in Asia – he’s also now the 11th richest person in the world.

How did he get so rich so quickly?

Beijing Wantai Biological. Photo: Beijing Wantai Biological

One of the biggest reasons Zhong has been making headlines is because of the sheer speed by which his wealth ballooned. So what was the key to his success?

His pharmaceutical company Beijing Wantai Biological and his bottled water company Nongfu Spring went public. The former manufactures vaccines and hepatitis E test kits while the latter is considered the largest and cleanest packaged water manufacturer in China, where tap water is not considered safe to drink. Zhong has also attracted attention for being one of a handful of billionaires who aren’t in the tech or retail industries, unlike other big players.