Zhang Jindong

Chairman of Suning Appliances of Nanjing, China's largest electrical appliance retailer. Suning's business has benefitted from growth in spending on home appliances and gadgets by China's expanding middle class. Zhang's chain has also gotten boost from a struggle for board control at rival Gome of Beijing, whose founder Wong Kwong Yu is serving jail time. Another rival, Best Buy of the U.S., in February said it was shuttering its handful of flagship stores in the country. Suning has been looking beyond the mainland; last year it bought Citicall Retail Management in Hong Kong. Zhang, a Chinese language student in college, also has real estate investments. His elder brother Zhang Guiping is also a billionaire.