She used to work at a factory. Now she’s China’s richest woman

Zhou Qunfei was today crowned China’s richest woman. With a fortune estimated to be worth over US$7.4 billion, it’s a spectacular rise for the 45-year-old businesswoman who started out on the factory floor at a company that made glass for watches.

She was born in a poor, small village in central China’s Hunan province, but like so many youngsters since the 1980s, she left the countryside for the southern city of Shenzhen where assembly line jobs in factories are plentiful.

Later she dabbled in her own ventures and in 2003 formed Lens Technology, which is headquartered in her Hunan hometown. Inspired by what she learned at her first job, her business makes glass for gadgets such as smartphones, computers, and cameras. Now it counts Apple and Samsung among its many clients. Her company makes the glass for the upcoming Apple Watch.

IPO boost

Zhou’s wealth skyrocketed this year after Lens Technology IPO’d on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in mid-March. Shortly after the listing, the firm’s market cap valued Zhou’s stake at over US$3 billion. Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and today it has more than doubled to US$7.4 billion. That’s enough to propel Zhou past real estate investor Chan Laiwa to become China’s richest women, says Forbes.

While Zhou’s wealth is enough to buy her 2,200 McLaren P1 GTR supercars (priced at US$3.36 million each), she’s still eclipsed by China’s top techies. Last year’s Alibaba IPO lifted Jack Ma to the top of the Forbes’ China Rich List for the first time in October, pegging his wealth at US$19.5 billion. However, Ma’s net worth has dropped since then as Alibaba’s shares tumbled.

Zhou still holds an 88 percent stake in her company after the IPO. The company’s market cap at today’s share price is RMB 52.58 billion (US$8.51 billion).

(Sources: Forbes and Xinhua)