China's surging stock markets plunged this week, wiping out more than $6 billion in one day from the collective fortunes of the country's 20 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The billionaires lost 2.2 percent of their personal fortunes in the market drop, which clipped 6.5 percent and 5.5 percent from the Shenzhen and Shanghai indexes, respectively. On Friday, the Shanghai Composite fell a further 0.2 percent while Shenzhen rebounded 1.3 percent. China has minted more than 50 new billionaires this year from industries ranging from electronics, baby milk powder and fertilizers, as the Shanghai Composite climbed 53 percent before Thursday's slide. The rising markets have also transformed the face of global wealth. A year ago, there were six Chinese billionaires among the world's 200 richest people. Today, there are 20. That group added almost $100 billion to their fortunes this year before the May 27 drop. As of Thursday, they are up $83 billion in 2015 and control a combined $277 billion. Wang Jianlin, chairman of the conglomerate Dalian Wanda, has added the most to his fortune this year, rising $18 billion. Zhou Qunfei followed with a $11.1 billion increase and is China's richest woman. Source: Bloomberg
