The global billionaire landscape has set a new record! On March 27th, the 2025 Hurun Global Rich List was released. This year, a total of 3442 billion-dollar entrepreneurs from 71 countries and 2524 companies made the list, an increase of 163 individuals compared to last year, a 5% growth. The total wealth of these top billionaires grew by 13% year-on-year, setting a historical high. Among these entrepreneurs, 1958 saw their wealth increase, with 387 new faces making their debut on the list. In contrast, 1260 entrepreneurs saw their wealth shrink, with 177 dropping off the list entirely. Additionally, 399 entrepreneurs' wealth remained unchanged compared to last year.
For the first time since 2016, the United States surpassed China to become the country with the most billion-dollar entrepreneurs, with 870 individuals, an increase of 70. China followed closely behind, with 823 billion-dollar entrepreneurs, an increase of 9, reversing a two-year trend of declining numbers. These two countries continue to dominate the global landscape of billion-dollar entrepreneurs. India ranked third, with 284 billion-dollar entrepreneurs, an increase of 13.
This year, 13 paint entrepreneurs (families) made the list, coming from seven paint companies including Nippon Paint, Asian Paints, Skshu Paint, Berger Paints, Dongfang Yuhong, Avia, and Mapei. Their combined wealth reached 254.5 billion RMB.
According to the list, the Wu Qingliang family from Singapore ranked 285th with a wealth of 71 billion RMB, a drop of 102 spots compared to previous years. Wu Qingliang is once again the wealthiest figure in the global paint industry. He has frequently appeared on the Forbes Global Billionaire List, Hurun Global Rich List, and Forbes Singapore Rich List. Most of Wu's wealth comes from his majority stake in Nippon Paint Holdings Co. (Nippon Paint), holding 55.06% of the shares. By revenue, Nippon Paint is the fourth-largest paint manufacturer globally. Before collaborating with a Japanese paint company in 1962, Wu started manufacturing paint at a small factory in Singapore. In 2021, his son, Wu Xuewen, chairman of Nippon Paint, completed a $12 billion stock and cash transaction to acquire a majority stake in the company.
Founded in 1881, Nippon Paint is the fourth-largest global and largest Asia-Pacific paint manufacturer, covering various products, including architectural paints, automotive coatings, wood coatings, industrial paints, automotive repair coatings, marine and protective coatings, and powder coatings. In 2024, it achieved a revenue of approximately $10.217 billion, a 10.2% increase year-on-year. As of April 10, 2025, Nippon Paint's stock price was 1,030 JPY per share, up by 6.19%, with a market value of 2.419 trillion JPY (approximately 121.7 billion RMB), and Wu Qingliang’s stock holdings are worth about 67 billion RMB.
Hong Jie from Skshu Paint ranked 1893rd with a wealth of 14.5 billion RMB, a drop of 261 spots compared to previous years.
Skshu Paint, founded in 2002 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2016, is involved in the research, production, sales, and service of paints, insulation, waterproofing, etc. Its products cover architectural paints, wood coatings, industrial coatings, waterproof materials, insulation panels, auxiliary materials, and home decoration coatings. The company currently operates 13 major production bases nationwide and is ranked among the top 13 global paint companies and top 10 publicly listed paint companies by market value. Its 2023 revenue was 12.476 billion RMB. As of April 10, 2025, Skshu Paint’s stock price was 52.81 RMB per share, down 2.53%, with a market value of 27.83 billion RMB. Hong Jie holds 353,181,163 shares, representing 67.02% of the company’s total shares, with the value of his holdings estimated at 18.7 billion RMB.
Ina Ashwin Dani family, Ashwin Shailesh Chimanlal Choks family, Mahendra Chimanlal Choksi family, and Nehal Abhay Vakil family from India’s Asian Paints were ranked 675th, 2448th, 2448th, and 2878th with wealth of 39 billion, 11 billion, 11 billion, and 9 billion RMB, respectively.
Asian Paints, founded in 1942, is India’s largest and Asia’s second-largest paint manufacturer, ranking eighth globally. It produces decorative paints, industrial coatings, automotive coatings, powder coatings, and other related products.
The Hermanto Tanoko family from Avia (Indonesia’s largest paint company) was ranked 1122nd with 24 billion RMB, a drop of 222 spots compared to previous years. As of April 10, 2025, Avia’s stock price was 396.00 IDR per share, up by 4.21%, with a market value of 24.07 trillion IDR.
From Berger Paints (India’s second-largest paint company), the families of Kordi Singh Singhra and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra ranked 1506th with wealth of 18.5 billion RMB. As of April 10, 2025, Berger Paints’ stock price was 537.40 INR per share, up 0.27%, with a market value of 626.5 billion INR (approximately 53.3 billion RMB).
Li Weiguo from Dongfang Yuhong (China) ranked 1981st with 14 billion RMB, a drop of 404 spots. Li has often appeared on various global and national rich lists. Dongfang Yuhong, founded in 1995, is the largest waterproof materials service provider in Asia, engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of construction waterproofing materials and related services. It achieved a 2024 revenue of 28.1 billion RMB. As of April 10, 2025, its stock price was 12.01 RMB per share, up 0.84%, with a market value of 28.69 billion RMB.
Simona Giorgetta, Veronica Squinzi, and Marco Squinzi from Mapei (Italy) ranked 1893rd, 1981st, and 1981st with wealth of 14.5 billion RMB, 14 billion RMB, and 14 billion RMB, respectively. Mapei, founded in 1937, initially focused on manufacturing paints and gradually expanded into adhesives, flooring materials, waterproofing, and other related products. It is a global leader in flooring coatings, with 93 factories across 36 countries and 21 research centers.
The Xu Ran family from Longmang Baililian (China) was ranked 2081st with a wealth of 13 billion RMB, making their debut on the list. Other notable names include the Li Jiaquan family from Longmang, Liu Honglin from Sanmu Group, and Sun Huigang from Wanhua Chemical, among others.
Among the top ten richest people globally, US tech giants dominate. Elon Musk, with a wealth of 3.07 trillion RMB, is the world’s richest person for the fourth time in five years, followed by Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Donald Trump has become the wealthiest US president in history, with his wealth almost doubling to 52.5 billion RMB, entering the Hurun Global Rich List's top 500, largely due to his 53% stake in TruthSocial.
In China, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming replaced Zhong Shanshan as the richest person, with 435 billion RMB, largely thanks to ByteDance's strong momentum in AI development. Tencent’s Pony Ma surpassed Pinduoduo’s founder Huang Zheng, entering the top three of China’s rich list.
Other rising stars include: Zeng Yuqun from CATL, Chen Tianshi from Cambricon, Zhou Chaonan family from Runze Technology, and Wang Ning family from Pop Mart, whose wealth surged exponentially in the last year.
