Asia's most expensive Divorce leads to the creation of a new Billionaire

A new female billionaire has emerged from one of Asia’s most-expensive breakups.

Du Weimin, the chairman of Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co., transferred 161.3 million shares of the vaccine maker to his ex-wife, Yuan Liping, according to a May 29 filing, immediately catapulting her into the ranks of the world’s richest.

As of Monday’s close, the stock was worth $3.2 billion.

Yuan Liping, 49 this year, owns the shares directly but signed an agreement delegating the voting rights to her ex-husband, the filing shows. The Canadian citizen, who resides in Shenzhen, served as a director of Kangtai between May 2011 & Aug 2018. She’s now the vice general manager of subsidiary Beijing Minhai Biotechnology Co. Yuan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Beijing’s University of International Business & Economics.

Kangtai shares have more than doubled in the past year & have continued their ascent since Feb when the company announced a plan to develop a vaccine to fight the coronavirus. They slipped for a second day Tuesday following news of the divorce terms, losing 3.1 per cent as of 9:43 a.m. in Hong Kong & bringing the company’s market value to $12.9 billion.

Du’s net worth has now dropped to about $3.1 billion from $6.5 billion before the split, excluding his pledged shares.

The 56-year-old was born into a farming family in China’s Jiangxi province. After studying chemistry in college, he began working in a clinic in 1987 & became a sales manager for a biotech company in 1995, according to the prospectus of Kangtai’s 2017 initial public offering. In 2009, Kangtai acquired Minhai, the company Du founded in 2004, & he became the chairman of the combined entity.

China’s rapidly growing economy has been an engine for the country’s richest, & Du is not the only tycoon who’s had to pay a steep price for a divorce. In 2012, Wu Yajun, at one point the nation’s richest woman, transferred a stake worth about $2.3 billion to her ex-husband, Cai Kui, who co-founded developer Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. In 2016, tech billionaire Zhou Yahui gave $1.1 billion of shares in his online gaming company, Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., to ex-wife Li Qiong after a civil court settlement.

Sometimes, a goodbye can be time-consuming too. South Korean tycoon Chey Tae-won’s wife filed a lawsuit in December asking for a 42.3 per cent  stake in SK Holdings Co. valued at $1.2 billion. That would make her the second-largest shareholder of the company should she win the case, which is still ongoing.

The most expensive divorce in history is that of Jeff & MacKenzie Bezos. The Amazon.com Inc. founder gave 4 per cent of the online retailer to Mackenzie, who now has a $48 billion fortune & is the world’s, fourth-richest woman.

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