Entrepreneur Zong Qinghou, once China's richest man thanks to his food company, died on Sunday at the age of 79, his company announced.
Zong Qinghou was the founder of the Wahaha conglomerate, which specialized in mineral water, soft drinks, tea and other products.
He died on Sunday after “treatment for an illness proved ineffective,” the company said on the social network Weibo.
State media reported this week that the entrepreneur was hospitalized but did not provide any information about his illness.
Zong Qinghou started selling children's soft drinks at the age of 40. According to media reports, he was at times so short of money that he slept under a bridge in Beijing because he couldn't afford a hotel.
He founded Wahaha in 1987, which grew into a food giant whose drinks are ubiquitous in stores and kiosks across China.
A partnership with Danone in the form of a joint venture with Wahaha resulted in a violent court conflict that forced the French group to sell its shares in 2009.
In 2010, Zong Qinghou was named China's richest person by Forbes magazine with a fortune of $8 billion.
The same media ranked him 53rd among major Chinese fortunes last year with $5.9 billion.
The Chinese tycoon advocated tax cuts to boost investment and told reporters in 2013 that China's growing wealth inequality was not a problem.
“With egalitarianism […]“We wouldn’t have enough to eat,” Mr. Zong said at the time. “It is better to encourage people to create wealth.”
In recent years, Wahaha – whose name means “Laughing Child” in Chinese – has diversified into several other areas, including baby milk and clothing.
In 2021, Zong Qinghou resigned and appointed his daughter Zong Fuli as vice president and general manager of Wahaha.