This year, Forbes welcomed 236 newcomers to its annual list. Get to know some of the noteworthy billionaires from Asia
With war and uncertainty, 2022 has not been as great a year for the world’s richest as it was in 2021. According to Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires list, a list comprising more than 2,000 billionaires worldwide, there are 87 fewer billionaires in this year’s report. On the whole, the combined net worth of the world’s richest people dropped by a whopping US$400 billion from when the report was released last year.
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Though deemed as “the worst year for billionaire drop-offs” by Forbes, it’s clearly been a bumper year for some. This year, Forbes welcomed 236 newcomers from various industries to the extensive list. Among the freshman class of billionaires, there were some notable women who made the list too.
The newcomers include Grammy award-winning singer Rihanna, with a net worth of US$1.7 billion from her beauty brand Fenty, as well as Melinda French Gates of Microsoft with a net worth of US$6.2 billion. On the same list, there were also many new Asian debutantes; China came in first this year with the most number of billionaires produced, while India came in third. Here, we highlight the most notable Asian newcomers to know.
#163. Zhang Congyuan (China)
Net worth: US$11.7 billion
Zhang Congyuan is the founder of Zhongshan Huali Industrial Group, a shoe manufacturer based in Zhongshan, China. The 74 year-old business mogul, who founded his company in 2004, is currently the richest self-made billionaire from Taiwan. His company supplies footwear to dozens of renowned sportswear brands including the likes of Nike, Converse, Vans, Puma, UGG, Columbia and Under Armour.
Today, Zhongshan Huali Industrial Group has expanded all over the world and has manufacturing plants in Vietnam, Dominica, Myanmar and other regions. With an annual output of more than 180 million pairs of footwear, Zhongshan Huali is one of the major players in the world of athletic and casual footwear.
Zhang also cofounded the Hong Kong-listed shoemaker Symphony Holdings. In 2014, Zhang purchased about US$56 million worth of assets from Symphony Holdings, but he has since sold his stake and is no longer with the company.