Until recently, China’s budget retail billionaire Ye Guofu had been on a roll, building his fortune as his stores proved a hit in the nation’s slowing economy.
Then his Miniso Group Holding Ltd. announced a surprise bid to acquire a majority stake in struggling mega-supermarket Yonghui Superstores Co. for 6.27 billion yuan.
Ye’s fortune tumbled US$593 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after the move spooked investors and sent its New York-listed stock down a record 17 per cent on Sept 23 and a further 2.3 per cent on Sept 24.
That came even as markets on the mainland and in Hong Kong soared on massive stimulus announced by Chinese officials.
“The Chinese economy and the Chinese consumer isn’t exactly on the front foot,” said Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData. “So I think there’s just a lot of doubts swirling about exactly how they’re gonna generate a return over this.”
That left Ye, 46, with a net worth of US$2.9 billion, a roughly US$4 billion drop from his peak in Febuary 2021. Back then, owners of budget stores in Asia like Ye amassed billions of dollars in wealth as customers looking for bargains flocked to their stores.
The majority of his fortune comes from his stake in Miniso, a retail chain that sells low-cost household goods and electronic gadgets. The Guangzhou-based company is listed in New York and had revenue of 11.5 billion yuan in the year to June 2023.
Ye’s first name means “rich” in Mandarin. He became inspired by budget shops in Japan during a business trip and brought the concept to China, enlisting Japanese designer Miyake Junya to help. The company started trading in New York through an initial public offering in October 2020 and since then has been expanding overseas rapidly.
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