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PRIVACY
Economic Development

Rich List 2017: No.1 - Guo Guangchang

The new owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers has topped the list on his debut entry - and has plans to get the club back in the top flight of football

Guo Guangchang the chairman of Fosun International Limited and owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers with Jeff Shi of Fosun International Limited and Wolverhampton Wanderers(Image: Sam Bagnall/AMA)

Football/Investment
2017: No.1 - £4.2bn
2016: - New Entry

Compared to some other drawn-out football club sales, Steve Morgan's £30 million disposal of to Guo Guangchang's Fosun International Group was a whirlwind affair.

The diversified Chinese company involved in healthcare, fashion, tourism and property investment completed the deal in July, following Steve Morgan's announcement last September that he was looking for a buyer for the club which he bought from the late Sir Jack Hayward for £10.

Steve Morgan invested heavily in the club, with new stands and facilities as well as community and youth facilities. He left it in good financial shape with £26.4 million turnover and a £731,000 pre-tax profit. Gate receipts reached £5.6 million.

Guo Guanchang runs the Fosun business which has investment assets in the Europe including holiday companies and Club Med, nursery brand Silver Cross and entertainment group Cirque de Soleil.

After the takeover Fosun promised to invest between £20 million and £30 million over the next two years to get the club into the as soon as possible.

But while the new owners are certainly not short of cash, they have shown themselves to be short of patience. Italian manager Walter Zenga was shown the door just 87 days into his managership after a run of defeats saw the team slide towards the relegation zone. Zenga was Kenny Jackett's replacement after he too left the club.

Fosun investment director Jeff Shi heads up a new four-man board at Wolves, representing Fosun chairman Guo Guanchang, 49.