{
  "id": 19655,
  "title": "Turnover at the top: 17 people have held title of China’s richest person in past 27 years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/01/turnover-at-the-top-17-people-have-held-title-of-chinas-richest",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-01T09:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/business/money/wealth/article/3362539/turnover-top-17-people-have-held-title-chinas-richest-person-past-27-years"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the past 27 years, 17 Chinese entrepreneurs have held the title of the richest person in China, a figure that is four times higher than the United States, according to the Hurun Group. This dynamism in China's market has led to the rise of billionaires from various sectors such as technology, consumption, and property, including ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, and Country Garden chairwoman Yang Huiyan. In 2001, Liu Yonghao and his brother Liu Yongxing were the richest people in China, owning New Hope Group, a leading feed producer with an estimated net worth of 8.3 billion yuan. In comparison, the United States has seen only four billionaires dominate the rankings for nearly three decades, with Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett frequently at the top. Sinclair Lyu, the CEO and co-founder of Hurun Group, attributes China's market dynamism to its phase of industrial development and macroeconomic policies. During the period from 1999 to 2025, property tycoons and internet platform giants like Li Ka-shing, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, and NetEase rose to the top due to globalization and technology. China's GDP skyrocketed over 16 times during this period, reaching US$19.5 trillion in 2026, compared to the US's growth of more than threefold to US$30.77 trillion. While both countries embrace artificial intelligence, China's richest people's wealth remains significantly lower than their US counterparts, with Musk's net worth reaching US$792 billion as of mid-January. However, Lyu remains optimistic about China's AI-related startups and their potential to extend wealth creation during the current tech boom, citing the country's manufacturing prowess and the emergence of tech-savvy young consumers.",
  "summary": "Seventeen Chinese entrepreneurs have held the title of the country’s richest billionaire in the past 27 years, over four times as many as in the United States, which wealth research firm Hurun Group attributed to the “dynamism” of the Chinese market. China’s richest people – including ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, and Country Garden chairwoman Yang Huiyan –…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}