When rich list compilers wade through the holdings of China’s wealthiest men they encounter two types of billionaire: those who want to hide their wealth and those who want to appear as high on the list as possible.
Li Hejun, 47, the chairman of solar energy company Hanergy, is one of the latter. Hanergy presented researchers with an audited list of Mr Li’s China assets to make the case that its founder was indeed among the super-wealthy.
It was, though, the near-vertical rise in the value of Hanergy’s Hong Kong-listed unit, Hanergy Thin Film Power, that in March this year prompted Forbes magazine to give Mr Li the top ranking in its list of the richest mainland Chinese, with an estimated worth of more than $31bn. Mr Li’s net shareholding falls just short of the maximum 75 per cent allowed by the Hong Kong exchange. This spring, in a series of articles, the Financial Times had highlighted the unusual trading patterns in HTF shares and its reliance on its parent group as its biggest client.