Double acts: 4 Chinese power couples you need to know
China’s explosive economic growth has propelled some of its most formidable husband-and-wife teams into the limelight
China’s economic take-off has catapulted a bevy of entrepreneurs – men and woman – into the hall of wealth and fame. Here are four billionaire couples who made their own fortune, and quite often, news headlines.
Wang Jianlin and Lin Ning
Wang Jianlin is the founder of Dalian Wanda Group, China’s largest real estate development company. Besides a chain of residences and shopping malls in almost every Chinese province, his flag extends overseas, including Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper, Vista Tower, and luxury condo Circular Quay in Australia.
Wang is an entertainment emperor whose Wanda Cinema chain decides which Hollywood movies will be screened to 1.3 billion Chinese. That was even before he bought AMC. Wang also owns hospitality titles, ranging from the Beijing Sofitel Hotel to the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, as well as the British yacht maker Sunseeker.
His wife, Lin Ning, is the CEO of her own company, Lin Investment Group, whose business involves architecture and interior decorations and karaoke clubs. Lin is the daughter of senior colonel Lin Lianzhang, a veteran survivor of the second Sino-Japanese war.
Lin holds the key to China’s most exclusive club. The Oriental Club, part of her business portfolio, is the designated gathering venue for the China Entrepreneur Club, whose members include Jack Ma of Alibaba (which owns the South China Morning Post) as chairman, Liu Chuanzhi of Lenovo, Guo Guangchang of Fosun, and a bevy of China’s richest.
The couple has a son, Wang Sicong. In a recent reshuffle of Wanda’s board members, Lin bowed out while her son remained in place.