FORBES on Friday unveiled a list of 10 people who earned the most money in 2016 and two entrepreneurs in Shenzhen fetched second and fourth place on the list.

    According to the Forbes report, Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett topped the list with his fortune surging US$12.3 billion last year, despite the fact that he gave away US$2.9 billion in July. Most of his gains, US$7.8 billion, came after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November.

    Wang Wei, the 45-year-old chairman of S.F. Express, which is based in Shenzhen, earned US$10.8 billion last year, bringing his net worth to a total of US$14.4 billion. Following Buffett, Wang earned himself second place on the list.

    Wang got approval to merge his company with an already-listed firm, Maanshan Dingtai Rare Earth & New Materials Co., in a popular move called a backdoor listing — which helps firms bypass the lengthy regulatory process that most Chinese companies have to endure.

    Shares of Maanshan Dingtai Rare Earth & New Materials Co. have more than doubled in value since the end of 2015, according to the report.

    Wang also made it onto Forbes’ list of richest people in China last year. He made a surprising jump from the 32nd place in 2015 to the fourth place last year with a total fortune of US$18.5 billion, according to previous media reports.

    Wang comes from Shanghai and has only a high school degree. He came to Guangdong Province in 1993 at the age of 22 and started S.F. Express in Shunde. He relocated his company’s headquarters to Shenzhen in 2002.

    By the year 2010, S.F. Express’s profits had reached 13 billion yuan (US$1.87 billion), representing 18 percent of the nationwide market share. The company was listed May 23 last year.

    Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Shenzhen-based Baoneng Group, made fourth place on the Forbes’ list, after he earned US$7.3 billion, with his net worth growing to US$8.3 billion.

    Yao was a little known investor before he started aggressively buying shares of one of China’s biggest property developers, China Vanke. Now he owns 25 percent of Vanke and also controls more than 40 shopping malls in China.

    The report noted that Yao’s extensive property holdings last year explained most of his gains in net worth. (Zhang Yang)