Businessman Zong Qinghou, once China’s richest man thanks to his food group, died Sunday at age 79, his company announced. Zong Qinghou was the founder of the Wahaha conglomerate, specializing in bottled water, soft drinks, tea and other products. He died on Sunday after “treatment of an illness proved ineffective,” the company reported on social media site Weibo. State media reported this week that the businessman was hospitalized, but did not provide details about his illness.
Zong Qinghou started his business at the age of 40, selling soft drinks to children. At one point, according to media reports, she was so short on money that she slept under a bridge in Beijing because she couldn’t afford a hotel. He founded Wahaha in 1987, which grew into a food giant whose drinks are ubiquitous in stores and kiosks across China. A partnership with Danone, in the form of a joint venture with Wahaha, degenerated into a violent conflict in the courts, which led the French group to sell its stake in 2009.
A fortune of 8 billion dollars
In 2010, Zong Qinghou was named the richest person in China by Forbes magazine, with a fortune of $8 billion. Last year, the same media placed him in 53rd place among Chinese fortunes with 5.9 billion dollars. The Chinese tycoon advocated tax cuts to stimulate investment and told reporters in 2013 that growing wealth inequality in China was not a problem.
In recent years, Wahaha – whose name means “laughing child” in Chinese – has diversified into other sectors, including infant formula and clothing. In 2021, Zong Qinghou stepped aside and appointed his daughter Zong Fuli as vice president and general manager of Wahaha.
Source: BFM TV
