Chinese businessman
Wang Sicong
(
Chinese
:
王思?
;
pinyin
:
Wang S?c?ng
; born 3 January 1988) is a Chinese businessman and the only son of Chinese
business magnate
Wang Jianlin
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Wang Sicong was born in
Dalian
,
Liaoning
, China, in 1988.
[4]
[5]
His father
Wang Jianlin
is the chairman of the
Dalian Wanda Group
, China's largest
real estate developer
, as well as the world's largest movie theater operator.
[6]
When Wang was young, he studied at
Swiss School in Singapore
and then entered
Winchester College
in United Kingdom. After graduating from Winchester College, he enrolled at the
University College London
(UCL) Department of Philosophy.
[7]
However, there is no evidence showing that he successfully obtained his BA degree from UCL.
Career
[
edit
]
Wang is the chairman of Prometheus Capital, a private equity company
[8]
he founded with CNY500 million that his father gave to him 'for trial and error'.
[4]
[9]
[10]
He is a director of the
Dalian Wanda Group
.
[4]
[11]
In 2011 Wang founded the professional esports organization
Invictus Gaming
(iG). IG went on to win
The International 2012
Dota 2
championship the next year, as well as the League of Legends Worlds Championship in 2018.
Wang reportedly spent US$516.7 million on the construction of the
Wanda Reign
seven-star hotel in Shanghai, which opened in June 2016.
[12]
[13]
The hotel was designed by the British architect
Norman Foster
.
[14]
Wang also founded the music management company Banana Culture in 2015. As of 2017 it was managing the Chinese promotions for
Korean pop
groups
T-ara
and
EXID
.
[15]
[16]
In 2021, the company was acquired by
VSPN
. Wang was given the function of "vice chairman of the company’s strategy committee" following the acquisition.
[17]
On November 27, 2023, Wang and the
Tai'an
Municipal Government signed a
cultural tourism
project with a total investment of approximately 3.7 billion
yuan
.
[18]
Panda TV
[
edit
]
In 2015, Sicong launched Panda TV, an
e-sports
streaming channel designed to compete with Amazon's
Twitch
.
[19]
[20]
[21]
In March 2019, CEO Zhang Juyuan announced that Panda TV would cease operations due to cash flow problems.
[22]
According to financial news sources in China, broadband server expenses and celebrity streamer salaries were too high to sustain operations.
[22]
Sicong had a 40% share in the company.
[22]
Tencent
took Panda TV's place as China's main game streaming platform.
[23]
Following the bankruptcy of Panda TV, a Beijing court shortly imposed spending limits on him as he paid back investors.
[24]
According to reporting by
21st Century Business Herald
, after the failure of Panda TV, his father refused to provide financial support to cover his losses, but his mother supported Wang with another 100 million RMB.
[10]
Public image
[
edit
]
Wang is frequently nicknamed online as "the people's husband", "China's most eligible bachelor", or "China's richest son".
[9]
[25]
Wang is considered an example of
fu'erdai
, known for throwing parties, posting pictures which flaunt his wealth, and speaking with celebrities.
[26]
[27]
[28]
He was widely criticized when stating the criteria of his potential partners, with one of the requirements being "
buxom
".
[29]
In 2021 he attracted controversy over abusive comments he made against a female celebrity after being romantically rejected.
[28]
External links
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Wang Sicong at it again, China's richest son blows 2.5 million RMB at KTV in single night"
.
Shanghaiist
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"王健林三得胡?榜首富 王思??人?富?60?"
.
?易
. ?易.
- ^
Huang, Zheping.
"China's newest viral app pays users to ask celebrities nosy questions"
.
Quartz.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Capital Markets Company Overview of Beijing-based Prometheus Capital"
.
Bloomberg
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
Levin, Ned.
"Wang Sicong's uncensored microblogging highlights succession challenges at Dalian Wanda"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
China Rich List
,
Forbes
- ^
"起底"?民老公"王思?留?履?(?)_新浪?育_新浪?"
. 18 July 2015. Archived from
the original
on 18 July 2015
. Retrieved
18 March
2019
.
- ^
Chan, Bernice.
"After IPO, Hong Kong's Dining Concepts CEO shares China growth plans"
.
South China Morning Post
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Gao, Jing.
"Wang Jianlin's son, "The People's Husband," is also an aspiring VC"
.
Allchinetech.com
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
新浪???合 (26 December 2019).
"王思?5?"零花?"?手却?了20? 母???1?"
.
finance.sina.com.cn
. Retrieved
16 June
2021
.
- ^
Xiang, Nina.
"Are China's Fuerdai Wisely Investing, Or Wasting Their Parents' Money?"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"Over-the-top: Shanghai's first 7-star hotel is a museum of antiques"
.
Hindustan Times
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"China's Richest Kid Spent Over $500 Million to Build Shanghai's First 7-Star Hotel"
.
Nextshark
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"Dalian Wanda scion opens ultra-luxurious hotel in Shanghai"
.
CNBC
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"Girl band T-ARA signs with Chinese magnate"
.
The Korea Times
. Retrieved
12 March
2017
.
- ^
"EXID signs with China showbiz agency"
.
The Korea Times
. Retrieved
12 March
2017
.
- ^
"Tencent-backed e-sports firm VSPN closes USD 60 million Series B+ round"
.
KrASIA
. 22 January 2021
. Retrieved
16 June
2021
.
- ^
"?市委???37?文旅?目,王思?要接班?万?:忙自己的事,基本不??万???"
.
The Paper
(in Chinese (China)). 1 December 2023.
- ^
Huifeng, He.
"Son of China's richest man to launch Panda TV e-sports streaming service to rival Amazon's Twitch"
.
South China Morning Post
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
"Watch out Amazon, China is launching a Twitch rival called Panda TV"
.
Venture Beat
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
Yuhong, Pang.
"China's Internet 'Stream Queens' Are Being Showered With Cash"
.
Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
Frater, Patrick (8 March 2019).
"China Live Streamer Panda TV to Close Down"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
18 February
2021
.
- ^
"Rise and fall of China's Twitch a cautionary tale for investors"
.
South China Morning Post
. 9 April 2019
. Retrieved
18 February
2021
.
- ^
hermesauto (27 December 2019).
"Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin's son settles with creditors"
.
The Straits Times
. Retrieved
16 June
2021
.
- ^
Zeng, Vivienne.
"Son of Asia's richest man, China's 'No.1 eligible bachelor', talks to BBC about freedom"
.
Hong Kong Free Press
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
Lau, Mimi.
"Son of China's richest man shows off eight iPhones he bought ? for his dog"
.
South China Morning Post
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
Zuo, Mandy; He, Huifeng.
"
'Buxomgate': Western schooling to blame for my son's gaffe, says tycoon Wang Jianlin"
.
South China Morning Post
. Retrieved
18 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"Scion of Dalian Wanda accused of sending abusive texts to online celebrity"
.
South China Morning Post
. 16 June 2021
. Retrieved
16 June
2021
.
- ^
"Lifestyles of the rich and infamous"
.
The Economist
. 2 July 2015.
ISSN
0013-0613
. Retrieved
30 May
2021
.