Zhong Shanshan
| Net worth | $68.1 billion Forbes 2026 list, March 24, 2026[1] |
|---|---|
| World rank | 27th (Forbes 2026)[1] |
| Source of wealth | Beverages, pharmaceuticals |
| Companies | Nongfu Spring (founder, chairman); Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy (majority owner) |
| Citizenship | China |
| Born | 1954, Hangzhou, China |
| Known for | Founding Nongfu Spring bottled water |
| Net worth figures are estimates by the source named and change every day. | |
Zhong Shanshan is a Chinese businessman who founded the bottled water and drinks company Nongfu Spring and is the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.[2] On the Forbes 2026 billionaires list, a snapshot taken on March 24, 2026, he was 27th in the world with an estimated $68.1 billion.[1]
Net worth
- September 2020: Nongfu Spring's stock-market listing lifted his fortune from $18.9 billion to more than $50 billion.[2]
- January 2021: about $95 billion; Forbes called him China's richest person and sixth in the world.[2]
- March 2026: $68.1 billion, 27th on the Forbes list.[1]
How the fortune was made
Zhong was born in Hangzhou in 1954 and left primary school during the Cultural Revolution to work in construction.[2] He became a journalist at the Zhejiang Daily, then quit in 1988 to go into business on the island of Hainan, where he sold mushrooms, prawns and turtles.[2] In 1996 he founded the bottled water company in Hangzhou that became Nongfu Spring.[2] In 1999 it stopped taking the natural minerals out of its water, which set it apart in a market where distilled water was the norm.[2] By September 2020 he also owned 75% of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.[2]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Forbes, "Zhong Shanshan", 2026 World's Billionaires list (snapshot of March 24, 2026), read November 3, 2026. Net worth is a Forbes estimate.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Wikipedia, "Zhong Shanshan", read November 3, 2026. Billionaire Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.