WANG JIANLIN

1954–

Chinese businessman Wang Jianlin established himself as one of the wealthiest men in China by founding and chairing the Dalian Wanda Group. His vision was to expand his residential property development company into a global giant incorporating commercial property, the hotel trade, movie entertainment, retail, tourism, and sport.

Born in Sichuan Province, China, Wang Jianlin joined the People’s Liberation Army in 1970, aged 15. Serving for 16 years, he reached the rank of regimental commander, managing to complete his education at the same time through correspondence courses. After leaving the army, he worked in the port city of Dalian, first as a government clerk and then as a residential property developer.

In 1988, Wang borrowed money and invested it in the property company where he was working, changing its name to Dalian Wanda. Described in The Economist magazine as “a man of Napoleonic ambition,” Wang was eager to expand his interests beyond Dalian Wanda by taking on many commercial and residential building projects in cities all over China. These included large urban complexes known as Wanda Plazas, which combined housing, shopping centers, restaurants, and hotels. He built more than 260 such developments, transforming Dalian Wanda into the largest property development company in China.

Determined to diversify further, Wang turned his attention to investing in the entertainment industry. Already the owner of around 6,000 cinema screens in China, he acquired the AMC Entertainment group in 2012 for $2.6 billion, making Dalian Wanda the world’s biggest cinema operator. Then he made a big move into the global movie industry by purchasing Legendary Entertainment, the movie and production studio behind the Batman trilogy. In 2016, he opened his $3 billion Wanda City, a cultural theme park in Nanchang, as a rival to Disney’s Shanghai theme park. An advocate of philanthropy, Wang donated more than $197 million to charitable causes in 2011 and has contributed toward earthquake relief efforts and public building programs in China on behalf of Dalian Wanda.

A rendering of the 400-acre movie studio complex in Qingdao, backed by Wang’s company. It opened in 2018 aiming to boost the Chinese movie industry.