Chinese billionaires are watching their fortunes sink drastically as the country's stock market continues to slide.

The collective fortune of all billionaires declined by US$32.9 billion on July 6, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Chinese billionaires, whose personal assets largely lie in shares in mainland or Hong Kong stock exchanges, took the biggest hit.

Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group Wang Jianlin's fortune fell by US$1.7 billion in just one day. Wang is ranked as China's richest individual, and he is listed as the 11th richest person in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of US$37.9 billion.

Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma lost US$647.3 million. Pony Ma, founder of Chinese technology giant Tencent, saw his net worth fall by US$1.2 billion to US$18.5 billion on Monday. The two ranked 18th and 43rd, respectively, on Bloomberg's list on July 6.

Chinese shares continue to dive Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunging 6.97 percent to open at 3,467.4. The Shenzhen Component Index opened 4.44 percent lower at 10,870.14. The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board tracking high-growth enterprises, opened 2.01 percent lower at 2,304.76 points.

Ten minutes after opening, not one stock on the Shanghai index had risen, and only three had gained in Shenzhen. More than 1,000 share prices on the two bourses sank by the daily limit of 10 percent.

More than half of the approximately 2,800 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges had suspended trading of their shares to avoid further losses.

Change in the net wealth of Chinese billionaires on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of July 6, 2015

Related

• Tokyo stocks fall 1.52 pct. in morning
• Urgent: Hong Kong stocks plummet more than 4 pct
• Trading halts ease stocks' fall
• U.S. stocks trade lower on Greek debt crisis

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)