Trust Me. You Don’t Want to Be the Biggest Billionaire
If you’re a real estate or tech tycoon in China, it’s important to keep your head down. You don’t want to be No. 1.
Colin Huang of Pinduoduo in 2018.
Photographer: China News Service/China News ServiceIn China, it’s good to be rich, but not too rich. Getting to the top of the billionaire rankings carries great risks. Just take a look at those who were once first among plutocrats. All got into trouble with Beijing — be they real estate developers or big tech bosses.
Wang Jianlin, founder of commercial real estate Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd. and China’s richest person as recently as 2016, was forced by the government to divest his overseas assets a year later when Beijing began a corporate deleveraging campaign in earnest. Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest in 2017, was asked to cut back on debt after his China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, crossed the country’s new “three red lines.”