SHANGHAI: Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, billionaires across the world saw their wealth rise by 32% to US$14.7 trillion last year, with individuals from China dominating the rankings, a new study has said.
A total of 3,228 entrepreneurs with a personal fortune of at least US$1bil entered the list, 412 more than the number in the previous year.
And 256 entrepreneurs from China entered the billionaire’s club, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, which is in its 10th year now. China became the first country in the world to have 1,000 plus dollar-billionaires, with the total number exceeding 1,056, surpassing the combined number of the next three countries on the list: the United States, India and Germany.
Surprisingly, the first Chinese entrepreneur who broke into the global top-10 billionaire list does not come from the Internet industry. Zhong Shanshan, founder of the Hangzhou-based bottled water company Nongfu Spring, was one of the richest men in the world this year with a personal wealth of US$85bil. Nongfu Spring raised HK$8.15bil (US$1.05bil) from an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in September.
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