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Business Day

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. Related Article »

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