Published: October 25, 2012, by The New York Times
The Wen Family Empire
Beginning with diamonds in the 1990s, the relatives of Wen Jiabao amassed a fortune by forming a complex business network that bought stakes in sectors as varied as real estate and telecommunications. Corporate records reviewed by The Times show that a tight-knit group of about 20 relatives and friends made investments that were sometimes aided by Asia’s wealthiest tycoons. By far the biggest source of the wealth came from investments in Ping An Insurance, China’s biggest financial services company.
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PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
OWNER
OWNER
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
LEGAL
REPRESENTATIVE
DIRECTOR
LEGAL
REPRESENTATIVE
C.E.O.
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
CO-FOUNDER
CO-FOUNDER
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
INVESTOR
C.E.O.
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
INVESTOR
LEGAL
REPRESENTATIVE
FORMED A JOINT VENTURE
WITH NEW WORLD CYBERBASE
LEGAL
REPRESENTATIVE
SOLD TO
DALIAN HAICHANG
DAUGHTER
WIFE
WIFE’S BROTHER
WIFE’S
BROTHER
SON’S WIFE
SON
WIFE’S
COLLEAGUE
BROTHER’S
COLLEAGUE
BROTHER
SON’S COLLEAGUE
MOTHER
MERGED WITH
P.C.C.W.
SOLD TO A
SUBSIDIARY
OF CHINA.COM
ZHANG BEILI
WEN JIABAO
WEN JIAHONG AND WIFE
YANG XIAOMENG AND PARENTS
WEN YUNSONG
ZHANG JIANMING
ZHANG JIANKUN
WANG ZHUANGLI
YU JIANMING
$74 million
Worked for a diamond
company linked to Zhang Beili.
A shareholder in several Wen
family-related companies.
$1 million*
$75 million
$1.4 billion*
$14 billion
$1.3 billion
$176 million
$416 million
$110 million
$1 million
$120 million
KEY
YANG ZHIYUN
Worked at Credit
Suisse. Held
shares of a
Chinese jewelry
company called
Gallop.
The richest man in Hong
Kong for much of the last
decade, with a net worth
of $22 billion. He controls
the Hong Kong
conglomerate Hutchison
Whampoa.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Dalian
Hong Kong
Beijing
LI
KA-SHING
Hong Kong’s
second-richest man.
Controls New World
Development, with real
estate, infrastructure and
retail business holdings,
including the world’s
biggest jewelry store
chain, Chow Tai Fook.
CHENG
YU-TUNG
The former chief executive
of the CDC Corporation, a
Chinese technology
company. One of its major
shareholders was New
World Development, which
is controlled by the Hong
Kong tycoon Cheng
Yu-tung.
PETER
YIP
Wealthy businessman
from northern China
who controls Dalian
Haichang. Has interests
in chemicals, plastics
and diamonds. Forbes
puts his net worth at
$770 million.
QU
NAIJIE
Also known as Vincent
Cheng. A reclusive
philanthropist and
business associate of the
Hong Kong tycoon Cheng
Yu-tung. Once controlled
three investment vehicles
with 300 million shares in
Ping An.
ZHENG
JIANYUAN
One of China’s wealthiest
women and the founder
of Taihong, the Great
Ocean Group and Airport
City Logistics. Her
Kaifeng Foundation gives
to Harvard University and
Beijing’s Tsinghua
University.
DUAN
WEIHONG
Also known as Yang Xiu’an, the
90-year-old mother owned
investments in Ping An
Insurance worth $120 million.
Control energy, engineering and waste
treatment companies; his wife held a
major stake in Ping An.
An expert in gems and a force in
the nation’s diamond trade. She
met Wen Jiabao while both were
working as government geologists
in Gansu Province.
Invested in diamond
companies with his
sister's colleagues.
Former government bureaucrat who
invested in diamond companies
backed by his sister, as well as real
estate and highway infrastructure.
Hold shares in family-related
companies, including a company that
owns part of Union Mobile Pay. Parents
once held big Ping An stake.
Holds engineering degrees, and
an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s
Kellogg School of Business.
Co-founder of New Horizon
Capital. Chairman of China
Satellite Communications.
Worked briefly at McKinsey in Los Angeles. Co-founded
the private equity firm New Horizon Capital. Helps control
a string of investment vehicles tied to the Wen family.
PRIME MINISTER OF CHINA
Nicknamed Grandpa Wen
because of his concern for
the underprivileged, he has
called official corruption a
threat to the ruling
Communist Party.
WEN RUCHUN
ZHANG YUHONG
Vice president at Hanyang
Investment. Grew up in Tianjin.
Helps control investment firms
tied to the Wen family.
The family
built a fortune
by forming
business networks
aided by
wealthy
tycoons
Hanyang
Investment
Grey type
Blue type
Value of Ping An stake
Shell company
Operational company
Business relationship
Colleague of Wen family
Member of Wen family
Go2Joy
New
Horizon
Capital
Xuanda
Sheng
Churui
Union
Mobile Pay
Unihub
Sino-
Diamond
Xinyuan
Liandong
Tianjin
Taihong
National
Trust
