Chinese mainland's red-hot IPOs creating a new billionaire every week

Zhong Shanshan quit his reporter job to start a bottled-water business in Hainan, and later in 1996 founded Nongfu Spring Co, a beverage company now seeking a US$1 billion offering in Hong Kong. - China Daily/ANN

BEIJING (Bloomberg): Zhong Shanshan, whose schooling was interrupted during the Chinese mainland’s cultural revolution, worked in construction, as a reporter and in the bottled-water business. Today, he’s worth US$17 billion after his drug company went public in April and the shares surged 26-fold.

Known as Lone Wolf by the mainland media, Zhong, 65, has a made-for-movie story, but it’s far from unique in the mainland. At least 24 people have become billionaires this year through June from the country’s raging market for initial public offerings, including former teachers, accountants and software developers, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.