Wang Jianlin listed his cinema business last month on the Shenzhen Exchange to raise money. Wanda Cinema Line, China’s biggest owner of movie screens, surged by the daily limit for more than two weeks after it started trading, adding US$3.8 billion to Mr Wang’s $28.9bn fortune.
“We could have priced Wanda Cinema a lot higher if not for regulatory limits,” says Mr Wang. “We chose an A-share listing because you get a much better valuation in China,” he says, referring to yuan-denominated stocks traded on mainland exchanges.
So who will take over the Wanda Empire when Mr Wang retires at 66, as he plans to do?
His only son, Wang Sicong, 26, is on the board of Wanda Group, holding 2 per cent of the company and is also the chairman of the private equity firm Prometheus Capital – and he runs his own electronic gaming firm called Invictus.
Forbes puts Wang Sicong’s wealth at about US$14 billion.
The youngest Mr Wang recently caused a stir at a charity auction on Valentine’s Day when he said his main criteria when choosing a girlfriend was that she should be “buxom”, and his often hilarious comments on Sina Weibo, where he has 500,000 followers, make him one of the more notable scions among China’s heirs.
While Wang Sicong has been mentioned as a possible successor, Wang Jianlin has been coy. He says he has yet to decide on a succession plan and will eventually donate most of his holding in Dalian Wanda to charity.
“If he [Sicong] can make himself accepted by everyone [at Wanda] in the next five to eight years, he will succeed me. If he doesn’t have that ability, he won’t,” says Mr Wang senior.
That may be a tall order, but with a father of Jianlin’s calibre, many will hope his son can succeed.
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