Zhong Shanshan, Bottled Water Billionaire From China, Dethrones Mukesh Ambani As Asia's Richest Man

Zhong Shanshan, the owner of China’s largest bottled water maker, is become Asia’s richest person, eclipsing India’s Mukesh Ambani and a group of Chinese tech titans including Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and Pony Ma, the founder of Chinese internet group Tencent.

The net worth on paper of Zhong Shanshan, the president of Nongfu Spring Co, has surged $70.9 billion this year to $77.8 billion, making him the 11th-richest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Zhong, whose career encompassed journalism, mushroom farming and sale of erectile dysfunction pills, is now the 11th-richest person on the planet.

Jack Ma, Asia’s richest person before Ambani took over this year, is now worth $51.2 billion, down from a high of $61.7 billion in October.

The bottled water billionaire's fortunes have soared since Nongfu's listing on Hong Kong's stock exchange in September. He had earlier taken vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. public in April. Nongfu shares have jumped 155% since their debut, and Wantai’s are up more than 2000%. Zhong owns 80% of shares in Nongfu.