Zhong Shanshan (pictured) is setting new wealth records.
The chairman of Nongfu Spring Co., a bottled-water company that’s ubiquitous in China, is now richer than Warren Buffett as his fortune surged $13.5 billion since the start of the year to $91.7 billion on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhong, 66, is now the sixth-wealthiest person on the planet. Nongfu shares jumped 18 per cent in the first two trading days of 2021, taking the advance since their September listing to more than 200 per cent. They gained 0.7 per cent on Wednesday.
It’s only the second time a Chinese national has broken into the world’s Top 10 — property tycoon Wang Jianlin hit No. 8 in 2015 — and no one from the mainland has ever ranked this high on Bloomberg’s wealth index since it launched in 2012.