Markets chaos is a roller-coaster ride for China’s billionaires
Asia’s richest person Wang Jianlin among those whose losses – and gains – were in the tens of billions of yuan
Tens of billions of yuan were wiped from portfolios overnight while thousands of listed companies in the mainland, Hong Kong and Nasdaq fell sharply in the stock rout between July 1 and 8.
However, the billionaires might now be able to breathe more easily thanks to a strong recovery following the government’s rescue measures.
Wang Jianlin, Asia’s richest person and chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, might have been one of the biggest losers last week.
He and his family were estimated to have lost as much as 39.8 billion yuan (HK$50 billion) as share prices of his two public companies, Hong Kong-listed Wanda Commercial Properties and Shenzhen-listed Wanda Cinema Line, both slumped by 19 per cent during the first week of this month.
To avoid further risk, Wanda Cinema Line applied to suspend trading from July 8, a protective strategy adopted by half of the listed companies in the mainland earlier last week.
But the property and entertainment tycoon has already recovered part of his loss, with the share price of Wanda Commercial Properties rising 17 per cent on Thursday and Friday. The surge buoyed Wang’s wealth with an additional HK$21.1 billion.
Lens Technology slumped nearly 50 per cent from a peak of 143.59 yuan during the past month and a half. It means at least 40 billion yuan of her fortune evaporated during the period.
But the Shenzhen-listed company made a strong comeback last week, with the share price surging by 30 per cent on Thursday and Friday.
The collapse in the mainland and Hong Kong markets also had a spill-over effect on the mainland companies listed in the United States. The personal wealth of Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma shrank by US$836 million by July 8 as the Chinese e-commerce giant’s share price dropped 5.3 per cent from July 1.
Online search engine Baidu’s Robin Li and online shopping portal JD.com’s Richard Liu Qiangdong recorded paper losses of US$81 million and US$1.75 billion respectively
In Hong Kong, on July 8, Tencent’s Pony Ma, property tycoon Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee lost US$1.2 billion, US$1.1 billion and US$478 million respectively, according to Bloomberg’s estimates.
The mainland stock market has fluctuated wildly this year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index soared 63 per cent in the first half before plunging 25 per cent over the past month. Shenzhen Component Index also rallied 69 per cent by June and then dropped by 33 per cent.
