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China’s ‘Warren Buffett’ ordered to pay ex-wife $75 million in 15-year-long divorce battle
A legal battle ended with a Chinese tycoon’s ex-wife receiving US$75 million in company shares.
A 15-year-long divorce case in China has finally ended, with a court ordering a well-known investor to pay his ex-wife about 536 million yuan (US$75 million or ₹664.7 crore).
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the case involves 63-year-old Zhao Bingxian, often called “China’s Warren Buffett” for his success in financial investments, and his ex-wife Lu Juan.
The Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court ruled that the couple must evenly split their shares in Beijing Zhongzheng Wanrong Investment Group, an investment company they co-founded.
Zhao will now pay Lu her half based on the current value of their jointly owned shares, SCMP reported.
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Zhao and Lu’s investment journey:
The ruling came after years of legal battles. The company Shandong Wohua Pharmaceutical, listed in Shenzhen, revealed the judgment on November 4, noting that Zhongzheng Wanrong is its parent company and Zhao is Wohua’s chairman.
Zhao, who earned a master’s degree in finance from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the 1980s, met Lu while serving in the People’s Liberation Army in 1986. They married two years later.
Lu came from a Shanghai family with a background in investing. Her grandfather traded shares even before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Guided by him, the couple began share trading in the early 1990s and made large profits.
Later, they founded Zhongzheng Wanrong, where Lu managed finances and Zhao handled capital operations. Their company helped many mainland Chinese firms list on stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
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Court ends 15-year dispute:
In 1997, Zhao published a popular book on capital operations, which became a top-10 bestseller in China that year. Since then, the media has called him “China’s Buffett.”
Lu filed for divorce in 2010, accusing Zhao of domestic violence and asking for a fair division of their assets. Zhao delayed the proceedings several times and even accused Lu of theft after she removed company property. She was detained for 37 days but was later released due to a lack of evidence.
After many delays, the case was heard again in 2023 and finally settled in 2025.
