Wang Jianlin’s ‘Wanda Plaza’ shopping centers are a familiar sight all over China. One of the first people in China to buy a private jet, the 58-year old former People’s Liberation Army soldier reportedly has penchant for quality (he regularly flies to Paris to buy his clothes, he said in one interview), discipline (he starts his work days at 7 am ), and soccer.
After leaving the army in the 1980s, he invested in the redevelopment of a shanty town in Dalian, a port city in China’s northeast. The redevelopment led to the foundation of his Wanda Group, now one of China’s largest property developers. In May, he acquired AMC, America’s second-largest chain of movie theaters, which, when merged with his own brand, put Wang in charge of the world’s largest cinema chain.