One Of China’s Richest Women Gives $3.8 Bln Of Shares To Husband

One of China’s richest women is worth a few billion dollars less this week after switching a stake in a flagship business to her husband.

Fan Hongwei, CEO of chemical fiber maker Hengli Petrochemical, transferred ownership of an investment company, Hengneng Investment (Dalian), that previously held the equivalent of $3.8 billion of its shares to her husband, fellow billionaire Chen Jianhua, according to a registration document dated last Friday.

Chen, who chairs Suzhou-headquartered Hengli Group, a Hengli Petrochemical holding company, is now worth an estimated $8.3 billion, including a discount for collateralized shares.

After the transfer, Fan is still one of the world’s richest women with a fortune of approximately $4.4 billion.

Hengli Group, founded in 1994, currently has three publicly traded companies — Hengli Petrochemical, Guangdong Songfa Ceramics, and Suzhou Wujiang Tongli Lake.

Hengli didn’t give a reason for the change.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal, is the richest woman in the world with a fortune worth $63.3 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today.

China is home to the world’s second-largest number of billionaires after the United States.

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