A new female billionaire has emerged from one of Asia’s most expensive breakups.
Du Weimin (杜偉民), chairman of Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co (深圳康泰生物制品), transferred 161.3 million shares of the vaccine maker to his ex-wife, Yuan Liping (袁莉萍), according to a filing on Friday, immediately catapulting her into the ranks of the world’s richest.
The stock was worth US$3.2 billion as of Monday’s close.
Yuan, 49 this year, owns the shares directly, but signed an agreement delegating the voting rights to her ex-husband, the filing shows.
The Canadian citizen, who resides in Shenzhen, served as a director of Kangtai between May 2011 and August 2018. She is now the vice general manager of subsidiary Beijing Minhai Biotechnology Co (北京民海生物科技).
Yuan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics.
Kangtai shares have more than doubled in the past year and have continued their ascent since February, when the company announced a plan to develop a vaccine to fight the coronavirus.
They slipped for a second day yesterday following news of the divorce terms, losing 3.1 percent as of 9:43am in Hong Kong and bringing the company’s market value to US$12.9 billion.
Du’s net worth has now dropped to about US$3.1 billion from US$6.5 billion before the split, excluding his pledged shares.
The 56-year-old Du was born into a farming family in Jiangxi Province. After studying chemistry in college, he began working in a clinic in 1987 and became a sales manager for a biotech company in 1995, according to the prospectus of Kangtai’s 2017 initial public offering.
In 2009, Kangtai acquired Minhai, the company Du founded in 2004, and he became chairman of the combined entity.
China’s rapidly growing economy has been an engine for the country’s richest, and Du is not the only tycoon who has had to pay a steep price for a divorce.
In 2012, Wu Yajun (吳亞軍), at one point the nation’s richest woman, transferred a stake worth about US$2.3 billion to her ex-husband, Cai Kui (蔡奎), who cofounded developer Longfor Group Holdings Ltd (龍湖地產).
In 2016, tech billionaire Zhou Yahui (周亞輝) gave US$1.1 billion of shares in his online gaming company, Beijing Kunlun Tech Co (北京崑崙萬維科技), to ex-wife Li Qiong (李瓊) after a civil court settlement.
Sometimes, a goodbye can be time-consuming too. South Korean tycoon Chey Tae-won’s wife filed a lawsuit in December last year asking for a 42.3 percent stake in SK Holdings Co valued at US$1.2 billion. That would make her the second-largest shareholder of the company should she win the case, which is still ongoing.
The most expensive divorce in history is that of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos.
The Amazon.com Inc founder gave 4 percent of the online retailer to MacKenzie, who now has a US$48 billion fortune and is the world’s fourth-richest woman.
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