BEIJING: China’s richest man lost $3.6 billion in a single day after global stock markets tanked and Chinese markets erased all their gains for the year.

Wang Jianlin, chairman and founder of property and entertainment company Dalian Wanda, lost more than 10 per cent of his total wealth on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the world’s richest people.

Shanghai shares Monday collapsed by 8.49pc, the biggest daily loss since 2007, sparking a vast sell-off in global financial markets as concerns mounted that a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy could hurt global growth.

Shanghai fell an additional 7.63pc on Tuesday.

The close was the lowest since December 15 last year — and below the symbolically significant 3,000 point mark — while Bloomberg News said it marked the steepest four-day rout since 1996.

Wang was the biggest loser at the end of trading on Monday, according to the index, which updates at the end of each day. Figures for Tuesday were not immediately available.

Despite the loss, his wealth has increased by $6bn this year.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2015

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