What is Wang Jianlin's Net Worth?
Wang Jianlin is a Chinese entrepreneur who has a net worth of $7 billion. In 2015 Wang Jianlin's net worth was close to $50 billion. At that point he was not only the richest person in China, but the richest person in Asia overall. His net worth has dropped precipitously as the Chinese real estate market has cooled considerably.
Wang Jianlin is the founder, and majority shareholder of the Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate development company, and the world's largest movie theater operator. Jianlin previously owned 17% of the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid. Wang is an economic consultant for Yunnan, an inland province in China, and a construction consultant for the Guiyang government. In 2016, Wanda Pictures purchased Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion in 2016. Wang is an art collector who owns more than 1,000 paintings and other pieces valued at $1.6 billion.
Early Life
Wang Jianlin was born on October 24, 1954, in Cangxi County, Guangyuan, Sichuan. He is the oldest of five sons. His father Wang Yiquan fought for Mauo Zedong's People's Liberation Army during the Long March (1934-1935). After the war, he worked for the forestry service. Wang's name at birth was originally 建林 which can be translated as "forest builder." Wang lied about his age and became a soldier at 15 years old. He quickly used his wit to move his way up in the army ranks and was a commander by the time he was 27 years old.
Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images
Business Career
In 1988, with an $80,000 loan, he acquired a small property developer company, Xigang Residential Development. In 1992, the company went public and Jianlin was promoted to general manager. The first major decision he made for the company was to change its name to Dalian Wanda.
This conglomerate owns over 21.57 million square meters of commercial real estate across China. This includes 168 Wanda Shopping Plazas, 82 luxury hotels, 213 cinemas, 99 department stores, and 54 karaoke centers. The company became the world's largest theatre owner in 2012 when it acquired AMC Theaters, which Jialin bought out for $2.6 billion. Later that year, he listed it on the New York Stock Exchange. Jianlin made the strategic marketing choice to build a "mini-Hollywood" in Qingdao in 2014. To advertise it, Wang flew in celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, and John Travolta to celebrate at the site.
Wanda Group acquired the historic landmark Edificio España in Madrid, Spain, in March 2014. In January 2015, Jianlin bought a 20% stake in the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid for €45m.
In 2016, Wang launched a competition with Disney. He announced that he did not want Shanghai Disneyland Park to make any profit in China, so he launched over a dozen amusement parks to compete with Disney. That same year, Wang's Dalian Wanda Group announced its move to buy out Dick Clark Productions for about $1 billion. With the production group, Wang's company planned to give the broadcasting rights to the Golden Globe Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the New Year countdown celebrations in New York. This business deal is not new to Wanda, as it already owns Legendary Entertainment, known for its hit film "Jurassic World."
Politics
Wang is a delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress. He is the vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and has been a member of the Chinse People's Political Consultative Conference since 2008.
He is vice chair of many different Chinese political confederations. Some of those include: the China Charity Confederation, China Folk Chamber of Commerce, China Enterprise Confederation, and over five more.
Wang's motto is "stay close to the government and distant from politics." He further explains, "If the government never talk to entrepreneurs, they'll never know what entrepreneurs want to invest, develop, or solve."
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Philanthropy
In 2000, Jianlin donated $156 million to the city of Nanjing for the reconstruction of the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, the largest single personal donation ever made in China.
In 2011, he donated $197 million to multiple charitable causes. The most notable was the restoration of an ancient temple in Nanjing. In 2017 he donated CNY 20 million to help 207 Sichuan landslide victims. It was speculated that he empathized especially with the region having grown up in Ngawa Prefecture himself.
Personal Life
Wang Jianlin is married to Lin Ning and has one son, Wang Sicong. His son attended Winchester College and University College London. Wang Sicong is currently a board member of the Wanda Group. He is a venture capitalist through his private equity fund, Prometheus Capital.
Wang is a follower of Buddhism and often sings Tibetan and Mongolian folk songs. His hobbies are collecting art and singing karaoke.
In July 2016, Wang released his book, "The Wanda Way: The managerial philosophy and values of one of China's largest companies." The book includes his 2013 China Central Television Voice interview, his speech at the Harvard Business School, and his business philosophy on Dalian Wanda's real estate, resort, and movie units.
