Chicago, Meet Wang Jianlin and his $25.3B
At the helm of Beijing-based Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin added $12.8B to his fortune in 2014, and with a net worth of $25.3B he could soon be Asia’s richest person, the Daily Herald reports. (Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties raised an unprecedented $3.7B in its recent IPO.)
Why should you care? Wanda and Magellan Development are building the $900M, 88-story Wanda Vista (hotel, condo, retail) in Lakeshore East. It’s the largest investment by a Chinese company in Chicago and could become the city’s third-tallest building.
In case you find yourself crossing paths with Wang while he’s here on a site visit, some interesting facts: He’s the oldest of five brothers raised in a military family in the Sichuan province (his father fought for Mao’s Red Army in the ‘30s and during WWII), according to Bloomberg, and he likes to sing Tibetan and Mongolian folk songs at company annual meetings.
