Web of influence ( 2004-01-17 09:36) (Shanghai Star)
Who is the most influential
rich person in China? He is 32-year-old William Ding Lei, head of NetEase Inc,
according to the new influence list released by Rupert Hoogewerf, the much-hyped
compiler of the Chinamoney 100 list.
Ding Lei(left) pose
with Zhang Chaoyang for a photo at a party. [China
Daily/file]
In co-operation with www.Baidu.com,
the country's biggest Chinese search engine, Ding won the top-slot by being the
target of 91,722 searches on the website last year.
"We take the 100 richest entrepreneurs as research objects. The number of
times they are searched is taken as a standard because searching is a kind of
initiative based upon caring about something or someone, I think it represents a
person's influence," Rupert Hoogewerf said.
"The aim is to let more people understand those people who run private
enterprises. I hope their spirit can affect more young people, leading them to
create their own businesses," he added.
Cause for concern
Zhang Chaoyang, president of Sohu Inc, who came second on the influential
persons list, expressed his willingness to be a star.
"In a more and more commercialized society, success equals celebrity and
wealth. Why not be a star?" said Zhang, who is well-known for his fashionable
style.
Xu Ming, president of Shide Group, the 15th richest entreprenuer in the 2003
Chinamoney 100 list, cited the ancient saying, "Fame would bring danger" though
he said he doesn't believe it, arguing that the entreprenuer should have the
courage to be new, to be innovative.
The falls from last year's 100 richest list are spectacular. The highest
profile case was the arrest of the flamboyant Zhou Zhengyi, former chairman of
Nongkai Group. He was charged last summer with manipulating share prices and
falsifying paid-up capital. Though it was not his fame that carried him to
prison, people compare his story with an old saying: "It is bad for a pig to be
fat, the same goes for a person who is well-known."
"In most cases people like to keep a low profile, which serves as a kind of
self-protection. It may be related to personal experience," said Zhang Jun,
director of the China Centre for Economic Studies at Fudan University.
The challenge these entrepreneurs face lies in taking more social
responsibility in a country where the wealth gap between cities and the
countryside is widening, according to Hoogewerf.
China's GDP per capita is about US$1,000 and the Gini co-efficient, a
standard statistical measure of income inequality, has crossed the 0.40
threshold, a level generally viewed as a cause for concern.
As these businesses grow, they are expected to play a more active part in
society, contributing to local hospitals, schools and infrastructure.
"Running a large company makes it impossible to avoid politics," said Guo
Guangchang, chairman of the Shanghai-based Fosun Group, to Chinamoney.
Not just money
Apart from the richest Ding Lei, the position of influence seems to be only
loosely related to wealth according to the analysis of Hoogewerf.
Some entrepreneurs with huge fortunes such as Xu Rongmao, Lu Guanqiu and Chen
Lihua, all among the top-10 for wealth, fall outside top 10 on the influence
list. The fifth richest individual, Ye Lipei from Shanghai, known as a real
estate tycoon, is listed 60 in the influence list.
It can be concluded that the influence of people in the real estate business
does not match the volume of capital they possess.
The most influential business is IT. In the top 10 of the influence list,
three, including the champion Ding Lei, are in the IT business.
"The influence comes from many factors quite apart from the money they have,"
Hoogewerf said. "Entrepreneurs' personality, creativity, political position,
business-type and location all matter. IT is a business that starts from scratch
and can be copied by many young people."
Number one this year is IT "geek" Ding Lei, chairman and chief technology
officer of NetEase Inc, whose stock price on Nasdaq has shot up more than
50-fold in the past two years, making him the mainland's richest person with
assets of US$900 million in 2003.
Ding founded NetEase in 1996. It is appropriate to compare him with the
founders of Google, which was set up in 1998.
Based on new technology and bringing success at a young age, this is a model
for many young people.
But compared with successful overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, the influence of
entrepreneurs in the mainland is still limited.
Take Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing as an example. In 2003, he was searched for
over 21 million times on the Baidu website, almost competing with the most
influential movie star, Andy Lau, who was the target of 26 million
searches.
