Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Profile of Xu Rongmao - Shimao Group

But for all his reserve, Xu, a former textile factory worker, is one of China’s wealthiest entrepreneurs and a prime example of the mainland’s first generation of real estate tycoons.

The growth has helped propel Xu to No. 9 on Forbes’s list of the richest people in China. With $1 billion in assets, he runs two publicly listed real estate companies and a collection of private, offshore companies and is now overseeing $9 billion in projects. Shimao Group is expected to complete building about 13.5 million square meters, or 145 million square feet, of property by 2010.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/28/business/titans.php