Bottled water tycoon briefly overtakes Jack Ma as China's richest person

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Bottled water tycoon briefly overtakes Jack Ma as China's richest person

While all eyes are currently on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma, who is set for a windfall from the potential US$35 billion Ant Group Co. Ltd. IPO in the coming weeks, a bottled water tycoon little known outside the mainland briefly dethroned him as China's richest person on Sept. 23.To get more news about Nongfu Spring, you can visit en.nongfuspring official website.

Since its Sept. 8 listing in Hong Kong, shares of Nongfu Spring Co. Ltd. jumped 83% as of Sept. 23, propelling the net worth of founder Zhong Shanshan to $58.7 billion, $2 billion more than Jack Ma, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.Zhong, who owns an 84% stake in Nongfu Spring, has seen his fortune swell by $46.2 billion in 2020 as of Sept. 28 thanks to two public offerings. In April, Zhong's Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. Ltd., a producer of COVID-19 and HIV diagnostic kits, listed in Shanghai. The shares had gained more than 2,000% as of Sept. 24.

Tesla Inc.'s Elon Musk have enjoyed a greater rise in wealth during the year, according to the report. India's Mukesh Ambani, leader of the Reliance Industries Ltd. conglomerate, continues to be Asia's wealthiest individual.

A former reporter who dabbled in various ventures including mushroom farming and treatment for erectile dysfunction using turtle parts, Zhong set up Nongfu Spring in 1996. His reported low profile in the Chinese business circles with no known political affiliation has earned him the nickname "Lone Wolf."

Nongfu Spring has kept its net profit margin above 19% over the past three years and holds a leading position in the packaged drinking water market. This dominance is likely to remain unchallenged as resources for natural drinking water are limited and access requires government permits, according to a consumer research analyst at a Chinese broker speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"It is hard to create a differentiator for drinking water. Nongfu Spring's natural water positioning contributes to its branding, creating an aspirational impact among consumers," the analyst said.

Household consumption of the company's drinking water surged during the pandemic as people stayed home. While the overall bottled water business grew 0.7%, revenue from medium-to-large-sized packaging for household consumption rose 26.2% year over year.

Rising health awareness and a recovery from heavy rainfall in July should help to drive further growth for Nongfu Spring in the second half of the year, Macquarie analysts wrote in a Sept. 25 research note while retaining an "outperform" rating for the stock.