What do Li Peng, Noboru Takeshita and Britain's Prince William have in common? All suffer from hair loss - the first two used China's most famous hair lotion to cure it, and the young prince may well have to do the same.
101 and its inventor, Zhao Zhangguang, have moved from a small room full of pigs and chickens in a mountain village in Zhejiang province into a corporate office base for a global business with assets of US$185 million, 12,000 workers and lotions on the heads of men from Berkeley to Beirut and Istanbul to Inchon.
But, while it is a story of rags to riches, most of the riches did not end up in the pocket of Mr Zhao and his five children, but with hundreds of officials, agents and salesmen who have exploited the product. Several of the country's richest men - including Li Xiaohua who bought China's first Ferrari - made their initial fortunes selling the purple plastic bottle of tonic.
The company is now at a crossroads, and Mr Zhao's reign as its boss may be coming to an end. His children want to list the company in Hong Kong and change it from a family business into a modern corporation. When they first proposed a listing in 2002, Mr Zhao opposed it, fearful of the costs, interference, loss of control and a reluctance to share the profits. But they have talked him around and next year, investors in Hong Kong should be able to take a punt on the dreams of millions of men for a bushy crown.
The children plan to list it on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) next year and possibly the main board in 2007. Each is hoping to be designated the successor, a choice Mr Zhao has so far avoided making.
At 62, he is worn out from running a business that has mushroomed into something so much grander than he ever imagined. Without a nap at lunchtime, he cannot get through the evening.