Wealthiest working actress in the world enters billionaires club

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June 8, 2015 12:09 PM

Zhao “Vicki” Wei (赵薇) has turned her TV and movie acting salaries, her hefty endorsement fees, and her smart investment moves into a personal fortune.

Richest working actress in the world, Zhao Wei.

Reports reveal that the world’s wealthiest working actress is a former kindergarten teacher with such keen investing acumen that she’s been nicknamed “China’s show-business Buffett” by her country’s media.

Zhao“Vicki”Wei has turned her TV and movie acting salaries, her hefty endorsement fees, and her smart investment moves into a personal fortune, shared with her husband Huang Youlong, that recently zoomed past the billion-dollar mark.

As one of China’s biggest stars, Zhao has earned millions from her acting roles, and even more from a very long range of brand endorsements, sources say. She’s endorsed over 120 products ranging from Chinese health and beauty supplies to wines to motorcycles, as well as western brands like Mercedes Benz, DeBeers, Versace, Zegna, Dior, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Motorola and others.

Successful investments in real estate, a French winery, and a Singapore jewelry retailer have further boosted her fortune.

Sources reveal that Zhao’s biggest and most lucrative investment has been her December, 2014 investment in close friend Jack Ma’s Alibaba Pictures Group. Back in June, 2014, Ma had acquired a 61 percent stake in a money losing movie operation, then called ChinaVision, at a valuation of $10.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (USD 1.3 billion). To boost the stock market value of his investment, Ma, a novice in the film business, asked Zhao Wei to bring a touch of celebrity to the film unit.

According to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing, Zhao purchased a 9.18 percent stake in Alibaba Pictures for HKD 3.1 billion (U.S. $400 million) through Gold Ocean Media, an investment company she owns with her husband Huang. Six months later, after a frenzied rise in Hong Kong stock prices, Alibaba Pictures’ market cap has soared to HKD 74.3 billion ($9.6 billion), leaving the couple with a stake (reduced by the sale of some shares in April) worth $762 million. Combining that windfall with their other holdings, the couple’s net worth has now topped $1 billion.

Beyond acting, Zhao’s talents also extend into other artistic fields. She had a successful career as a singer, recording seven albums between 1999 and 2009, scoring numerous top 10 hits on the Chinese music charts and an MTV Asia award as Favourite Artist from Mainland China.

In 2013, Zhao made her movie directorial debut with the youth romance So Young. The film became a big box office hit, earning USD 118 million at mainland multiplexes which made it the fifth highest grossing film in Chinese box office history at the time.

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