Who is Zhong Shanshan?
Zhong Shanshan is the founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled-water company, and the majority owner of the vaccine and diagnostics maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy. Forbes valued him at $60.2 billion on its China’s 100 Richest 2026 list, published on 4 November 2026, which ranked him second in China after five years at the top 1.
How did Zhong Shanshan make his money?
From two public listings. Wantai floated in Shanghai in April 2020, and Nongfu Spring listed in Hong Kong later that year, which together made him China’s richest person and, by January 2021, the sixth richest in the world with about $95 billion 237. Forbes says the water group’s shares fell by nearly a quarter in the year to October 2026, which cut his fortune by $16.9 billion 1.
Early life and education
Zhong was born in December 1954 in Hangzhou, according to most sources, although some say Zhuji in Zhejiang. He left school in primary school during the Cultural Revolution, spent roughly a decade doing odd jobs in carpentry and construction, later worked as a journalist and sold beverages, and studied at a radio and television university in Zhejiang 2456.
Nongfu Spring and Wantai
He founded Nongfu Spring, which makes bottled water and beverages, and is its chairman. He is also the controlling owner of Wantai, in which he held 75% by September 2020. He left the Wantai board in January 2021, citing personal reasons, according to a company filing reported by Bloomberg 347. Read Zhong Shanshan’s companies.
Family
He has three children, and his son Zhong Shuzi is a board director who holds foreign citizenship and does not take part in daily operations, a Chinese report says 38.
Zhong Shanshan net worth
Forbes put him at $60.2 billion in November 2026, about ₹5.7 lakh crore at ₹94 to the dollar, down from $77.1 billion a year earlier, and at $68.1 billion on its March world list, when it ranked him 27th 19. See Zhong Shanshan net worth and our ranking of the top 50 richest people in the world.