Meet China's richest man who once worked as construction worker, no match for Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani

Several richest persons in the world built their billion-dollar business empire from scratch. They did several jobs such as sales agents and construction workers before starting their own company. One such person is Zhong Shanshan, founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company. According to Forbes, the 69-year-old has a real-time net worth of Rs 504450 crore as of February 1. Shanshan is the richest person in China, as per Forbes. Indian billionaires, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have net worths of Rs 911080 crore and Rs 654680 crore, respectively, much higher than him.

Shanshan had once worked as a construction worker. He even dropped out of elementary school during China's chaotic cultural revolution. Born in Hangzhou, the billionaire worked as a newspaper reporter and a beverage sales agent before starting his business in 1988. His company Nongfu Spring listed its shares in Hong Kong in September 2020. His son Zhong Shu Zi is Nongfu Spring's non-executive director. Zhong also controls Wantai Biological, which makes rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases including COVID-19.

Despite having massive wealth, Zhong maintains a low public profile and has been called a 'lone wolf' by Chinese media. His source of wealth is derived mainly from his business stakes and interests in the Chinese beverage and pharmaceutical industries.

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