China’s Bottled Water King ‘Lone Wolf’ Dethrones Mukesh Ambani

Pic: Financial Times

A Chinese bottled water king has replaced India’s business magnet Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest man.

Zhong Shanshan also leaves behind a host Chinese tech titans including Jack Ma with his bottled water company, Nongfu Spring Co.

Zhong’s net worth has surged $70.9 billion this year to $77.8 billion, making him the 11th-richest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s one of the fastest accumulations of wealth in history, and all the more remarkable considering that until this year he was little known outside of China.

He owes his success to two unrelated fields. He took vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. public in April, months later Nongfu Spring Co., a maker of bottled water, became one of Hong Kong’s hottest listings. Nongfu shares have jumped 155% since their debut, and Wantai’s are up more than 2,000%, as per a report in NDTV.

Ambani has also had an extraordinary year – striking deals to transform his conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. into a technology and e-commerce titan — and seeing his fortune surge $18.3 billion to $76.9 billion.