Who wants to be biggest billionaire?

In China, it’s good to be rich, but not too rich. Getting to the top of the billionaire rankings carries great risks. Just take a look at those who were once first among plutocrats. All got into trouble with Beijing — be they real estate developers or big tech bosses.
Wang Jianlin, founder of commercial real estate Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd and China’s richest person as recently as 2016, was forced by the government to divest his overseas assets a year later when Beijing began a corporate deleveraging campaign in earnest. Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest in 2017, was asked to cut back on debt after his China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, crossed the country’s new “three red lines.”
The best known billionaire made an example of by Beijing is, of course, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. According to several news reports, President Xi Jinping personally pulled Ma’s $35 billion Ant Group initial public offering in early November, furious with the tech billionaire’s blunt criticism of China’s state-owned banks. Five months later, China slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on Alibaba after an anti-monopoly probe.
Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Pony Ma, who in recent years jostled with Jack for the No. 1 slot, has not been spared. Beijing sees Tencent as the next target for oversight because of its fintech operations and acquisition deals, Bloomberg News reported in March.
Tencent’s Ma recently met voluntarily with China’s watchdogs to discuss antitrust compliance issues.
Conspicuous wealth attracts unwanted scrutiny. Beijing is wary of rich developers because they often load up on debt to fuel expansion, thereby putting corporate China’s financial health at risk. The government is just as watchful of Big Tech as it gets bigger. The ubiquity of Alibaba and Tencent in the economy raises the issue of their monopolistic powers, which can choke innovation but also pose systemic risks to Chinese society (that is, the supremacy of the Communist Party).

—Bloomberg