Jack Ma is no longer China's richest person! Meet the man who dethroned him

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma is no longer China's richest man. The Chinese billionaire is replaced by Zhong Shanshan, vaccine tycoon and founder of China's largest bottled water company Nongfu Spring.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zhong's net worth reached $58.7 billion on Wednesday, September 23, $2 billion more than Jack Ma's $56.7 billion.

Zhong is now Asia's second-richest person, only behind Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) CEO Mukesh Ambani, and the 17th wealthiest person overall, ahead of American billionaires Phil Knight and Charles Koch.

Also Read: Jack Ma no longer the richest person in China, Tencent's Ma Huateng takes crown

Popularly known as "Lone Wolf", Zhong's fortune leaped around $52 billion in 2020, more than anyone else in the world except Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla chief Elon Musk.

Both Bezos and Musk suffered massive dips in their net worth on Wednesday as tech stocks took a heavy beating.

Tesla's shares dived after its "Battery Day" event fell short of expectations, causing Musk's fortune to dip by almost $10 billion.

Meanwhile, the IPO (initial public offering) of Zhong's Nongfu Spring Co. emerged as Hong Kong's most popular market debut among retail investors, propelling him to China's top three richest earlier this month.

Also Read: Mukesh Ambani surpasses Jack Ma as Asia's richest man after Reliance Jio-Facebook deal

This came following the April listing of vaccine manufacturer Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. that pushed 65-year-old Zhong's net worth to $20 billion by early August.

The tycoon now steers a wealth ranking in China that is usually dominated by people who made their fortunes from tech companies.

Although Zhong has outdone Ma as China's wealthiest, the tech business magnate might soon reclaim the top spot, which he has held for most of the past six years after Alibaba went public in the US.