China's Richest Man Seeks New Heir to $122 Billion Empire

By Bridget O'Donnell, December 15, 2016

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Wanda boss and China's richest man Wang Jianlin is seeking a replacement heir to his vast USD$122 billion empire.

Wang said his only son, 28-year-old Wang Sicong (AKA that guy who bought eight iPhone 7s and two tuhao gold Apple watches for his dog), is not interested in taking over the Wanda empire, which includes shopping centers, hotels, theme parks and sports clubs. 

Young Wang, who recently landed at #20 on HK Tatler Magazine's list of Asia's most eligible bachelors and once blew RMB2.5 million at KTV, told his father that he's not about that life.

Wang Sicong

Wang Sicong buys dog 8 iPhone 7s

Wang Sicong's dog
He'd rather be buying Apple products for his dog.

"I have asked my son about the succession plan, and he said he does not want to live a life like mine," Father Wang told media at a summit for entrepreneurs last weekend. 

Wang Sicong once said during a rich kid showdown: "When I make friends I don't care if they have money or not; no one's going to have more money than me anyway." He's drawn heat for the way he flaunts his fu'erdai [second generation rich] lifestyle. 

Here's more of what the elder Wang had to say at the summit — where he also warned US President-elect Donald Trump that thousands of American jobs were at stake — according to the transcript released on Wanda's website. (Translation via SCMP):

"Perhaps young people have their own quests and priorities. Probably it will be better to hand over to professional managers and have us sit on the board and see them run the company."

"We have several professional managers as candidates."

"The one who is handpicked and later trained to be a business leader should be no better than those who manage to stand out of the others through competition."

Wang Jianlin made his fortune through his Dalian Wanda Group, which owns Wanda Cinemas, the world’s largest chain of movie theaters, and Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties. He's also a and minority owner of Atlético Madrid, and is set to become even wealthier following the opening a cluster of Wanda theme parks across China, and has even vowed to take down Shanghai Disneyland.

[Top image via Daily Mail]

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