China's Shanshan Now Sixth Richest In The World; Richer Than Buffett

The founder of Nongfu Spring, Zhong Shanshan, emerged as China's richest person after the successful listing of his company on the Hang Seng. Shares of his bottled-water company have surged over 200% from listing price, pushing his wealth higher exponentially.

Last week, his net worth surpassed Mukesh Ambani's (chairman of Reliance Industries Limited) to become Asia's richest and now he is richer than Warren Buffett as his fortune surged $13.5 billion to $91.7 billion, after shares of Nongfu Spring rose 18% in the first two trading days of 2021.

On the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is a daily ranking of the world's richest people, Shanshan is the world's sixth-richest person. Meanwhile, ace American investor Warren Buffett holds the position of the seventh richest at a net worth of $86.2 billion.

Shanshan is also the only Chinese national to be among the top ten richest.

The top five richest in the world at present are Jeff Bezos ($188 billion), Elon R Musk ($176 billion), Bill Gates ($131 billion), Bernard Arnault ($113 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg ($103 billion).

Shanshan's wealth skyrocketed by $70.9 billion in 2020 to $77.8 billion, one of the fastest accumulations of wealth seen in history, gaining global attention.

Zhong's other firm, Wantai, is among those developing a COVID-19 vaccine.