Yang Huiyan is China's Richest Person

The Forbes list of China's 40 richest people is out today. Topping the list is Yang Huiyan, a resident of the Guangdong Provence, is reportedly worth US $16.2 billion dollars. At a mere 26 years old, Yang Huiyan might be pegged as a successful dotcom billionaire. Apparently she got rich the old fashioned way, inheriting shares in Country Garden, a real estate company publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Yang's father, Yang Guoqiang, the chairman of Country Garden, turned over shares in the company to his daughter in 2005. Back in April, Country Garden was off to a soaring start, debuting with a 37% increase in share price on opening day. After the first day of trading, Yang Huiyan was already worth US $9 billion, estimated to be the richest woman in China. Trailing further down the list at #21, Robin Li, co-founder of Baidu, is worth a mere US $2.35 billion. Country Garden 4 other people to the list of 40 richest people in China, including Yang Erzhu at #14, Ou Xueming at #37, Su Rubo at #38, and Zhang Yaoyuan at #39.