China's billionaires turn 40 - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

China's extreme rich are very young compared to the billionaires elsewhere in the world, but they are getting older. The Hurun rich list of those under 40 years old, composed by Rupert Hoogewerf, lost 23 over last year, because they turned 40, he tells in China.org.cn.

China.org.cn

Thirty-three young Chinese entrepreneurs were selected for the Hurun 2012 list of Richest Chinese under Forty. The number of nominees decreased by 23 over last year's rankings due to many young entrepreneurs turning 40. Only individuals who have more than 1 billion yuan in assets and less than forty years old can be chosen. 

This is the second year that Hurun has published the list. Yang Huiyan, 31, vice-chairman of Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, won first place with a wealth of 36 billion yuan ($5.7 billion). 

Fang Wei, 39, second only to Yang Huiyan, was found to be the richest young entrepreneur starting from scratch with assets of 15 billion yuan (US$2.357 billion). 

"The richest Chinese under 40 are mostly successful in business of entertainment and information technology industries. Most people think that rich Chinese with more than 1 billion yuan got their wealth through inheritance. However, they are wrong. Most of them are self-made billionaires," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

More in China.org.cn, including the full list of China's rich under 40 years old.

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