Wu is chairman and largest shareholder of Longfor Properties, a Chinese developer of commercial and residential property. The Beijing-based company operates in 48 cities under brands including Paradise Walk, Starry Street and Moco. It reported revenue of 115.8 billion yuan ($17.5 billion) in 2018.
Wu Yajun's net worth of $10.8B can buy ...
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Wu's wealth is derived from a 44% stake in Longfor Properties. The Beijing-based developer, had revenue of 115.8 billion yuan ($17.5 billion) in 2018. It operates in 48 cities, according to its website.
In 2012, Wu Yajun and her husband, Cai Kui, split a jointly held 75.6% stake following their divorce. Wu was holding the 44% stake of Longfor through the Wu Family Trust, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing dated April 2, 2019. She transferred the entire stake to another trust set up by her daughter Cai Xinyi on Nov. 21, 2018, according to a company disclosure. The fortune is still attributed to Wu to reflect her status as founder of the business.
The value of her cash investments is based on dividends, insider transaction, taxes and market performance.
Zhang Tao, a spokesperson of Longfor, didn't respond to a request for comment on Wu's net worth.
Wu was born in Chongqing, China, in 1964. At age 16, she enrolled in the department of navigation engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province. Wu was assigned to work as a technician for a state-owned factory that made instruments and meters in her hometown, earning about $16 per month four years later.
Almost a decade after China's former leader Deng Xiaoping opened up the country for economic reforms, Wu quit her "iron rice bowl" job and started working for an industry newspaper affiliated with the Ministry of Construction in 1988. She spent six years as a journalist covering real estate.
Wu encountered a flurry of problems buying her first apartment -- an 80-square-meter flat in Chongqing. The closing was delayed for a year; natural gas wasn't available; the lighting was poor and the elevator service hours were limited. Inspired by the experience, she decided to build better homes in China, and founded the predecessor of Longfor Properties in 1994.
Longfor sold its first residential project, for $157 per square meter, more than double the average household income in China at the time, in 1997. Since then, Longfor has expanded Longfor into 27 Chinese cities, and employed over 17,100 people, according to its website. Longfor shares are publicly traded in Hong Kong.
Wu divorced Cai Kui and transferred about 40 percent of Longfor shares the couple used to own to Cai in 2012.