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Ryan Swift

While most billionaires have seen their fortunes shrink drastically amid a stock market rout brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and containment measures launched by governments, a handful have seen their wealth rise – significantly.
According to research by Hurun Report calculating the pandemic’s impact on billionaires’ fortunes, Eric Yuan, the US-based founder and chief executive of Zoom, the video conferencing software company, saw his net worth skyrocket by US$3.5 billion – or 77 per cent – to US$8 billion. This makes him the fast riser of the past two months.
Zoom has become ubiquitous as executives at companies around the world try to stay in touch while working from home.

Alex Xu, the founder of Shenzhen-based ventilator manufacturer Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, saw his net worth rise 26 per cent to US$13.5 billion. Mindray makes a range of ventilators, which are needed to fight the effects of Covid-19.
“The last two months have wiped out all the wealth made in the past two-and-a-half years, with the World’s Top 100 down 12.6 per cent, or US$408 billion, equivalent to each of the Hurun Top 100 losing US$75 million a day,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report’s chairman and chief researcher.
“China has been the relative winner,” he said. The country added six billionaires to the top 100 list, while India lost three and the US lost two. He said that the Hurun Report had 2,816 known billionaires before the Covid-19 pandemic, but that number had dropped by 20 per cent, as tanking stock markets wiped out net worth estimations.


Just 9 per cent of the Hurun Global Top 100 reported increases in their wealth over the past two months, and 5 per cent were unchanged.
Among the biggest gainers over the past two months was Liu Yonghao, founder of New Hope, a pork producer, whose fortune rose 20 per cent to US$15 billion. Qin Yinglin, chairman of Muyuan, another Chinese pork production company, saw his fortune rise 16 per cent to US$22 billion.
These bright spots were set against a landscape of enormous losses. Hurun Report calculated that the world’s top 100 billionaires collectively lost US$408 billion in just two months, with the top 10 losing US$125 billion, as stock markets tanked in the first quarter of 2020. The Hurun Global Rich List 2020 had a cut off date of January 31, and its latest update had a cut off date of March 31.
Luckin Coffee’s sales scandal spills over to chairmain’s associate company
The biggest loser on the top 100 list was Bernard Arnault of LVMH, who is also referred to as the “King of Luxury”. His net worth fell US$30 billion over the past two months, equivalent to US$20 million per hour. On January 17, LVMH stock peaked at €439 a share. It last traded at €329 a share. According to Hurun Report, 10 people on its list had lost more than US$10 billion.
Also among the biggest losers were Charles Lu Zhengyao and Jenny Qian Zhiya of Chinese coffee unicorn Luckin, after a US$300 million sales fraud caused its shares to drop by 90 per cent last week. Lu and Qian have both dropped off Hurun Report’s billionaires list.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos of Amazon remained the world’s richest person with a net worth of US$131 billion, despite losing US$9 billion in the two months to March 31.

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Zoom founder sees wealth skyrocket amid broad coronavirus-led market declines: Hurun Report

Video conferencing software Zoom has become ubiquitous as executives at companies around the world try to stay in touch while working from home. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this April 18, 2019 file photo, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan attends the opening bell at Nasdaq as his company holds its IPO in New York. Millions of people are now working from home as part of the intensifying fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Beside relying on Zoom, the video conference service, more frequently as part of their jobs, more people are also tapping it to hold virtual happy hours with friends and family banned from gathering in public places. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

China produces 182 new billionaires, triple the new faces in the US, while Shanghai overtakes Hong Kong for the first time: Hurun Report

While Beijing remains the global capital of billionaires, the growing numbers in Shanghai has allowed the mainland financial hub to overtake Hong Kong for the first time this year, according to the Hurun Report Global Rich List. Photo: AFP

Colin Huang, founder and CEO of the online group discounter Pinduoduo, speaks during the company's stock trading debut at the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York, during an event in Shanghai, China July 26, 2018. Picture taken July 26, 2018. Yin Liqin/CNS via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT.

Fewer super rich individuals in China as fortunes shrink amid raging trade war, slowing economy, Hurun list shows

The ranks of wealthy individuals in China fell for a second consecutive year. Photo: Xinhua

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM WEIBO === Image of Qin Yinglin.  WEIBO

Zhang Yong, chairman of Sichuan HaiDiLao Catering Co., poses for a photograph following a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the China Green Companies Summit in Zhengzhou, China, on Sunday, April 23, 2017. HaiDiLao, the Chinese spicy soup chain that offers free massages and manicures to awaiting customers, may open 80 outlets this year as it expands abroad. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding, topped the 2019 Hurun Rich List. Photo: Bloomberg

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All wealth made in the past two-and-a-half years wiped out over past two months, research company says
China, a ‘relative winner’, adds six billionaires to top 100 list



Eric Yuan, the US-based founder of Zoom, the video conferencing software company, has seen his net worth skyrocket by US$3.5 billion – or 77 per cent – to US$8 billion over the past two months.


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Millionaires, billionaires and trillionaires

Zoom founder sees wealth skyrocket amid broad coronavirus-led market declines: Hurun Report

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} All wealth made in the past two-and-a-half years wiped out over past two months, research company says China, a ‘relative winner’, adds six billionaires to top 100 list

All wealth made in the past two-and-a-half years wiped out over past two months, research company says

China, a ‘relative winner’, adds six billionaires to top 100 list