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Li Weizhu, the chairman of Zhou Liu Fu Jewellery, joined the billionaire ranks after shares of his Shenzhen-based gold jewelry retailer soared 67% over their first two trading days on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday.
Li, 47, is Zhou Liu Fu’s largest shareholder with a 57% stake through wholly-owned investment vehicles. Based on his stake, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $1.2 billion. Li’s older brother Weipeng, who is Zhou Liu Fu’s cofounder and vice chairman, has a fortune of $522 million based on his 24% ownership, Forbes estimates.
Li entered the three-comma club a day after Zhou Liu Fu made its debut on the Hong Kong bourse on Thursday. The company raised HK$1.3 billion ($164.6 million) in its initial public offering. Zhou Liu Fu didn’t respond to a comment request.
Zhou Liu Fu is widely considered a clone of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng, and Luk Fook Holdings, another Hong Kong-listed jeweler, due to its name’s similarity to those of its more established rivals. The “Zhou” in Zhou Liu Fu is the Mandarin spelling of “Chow” in Chow Tai Fook, while “Liu Fu” is the Mandarin equivalent of “Luk Fook” in Luk Fook Holdings.
Zhou Liu Fu said in its prospectus that it was named as a co-defendant in seven legal disputes. Among them was a 2023 case in which Zhou Liu Fu and one of its franchisees were sued for product trademark infringement. The case was settled after Zhou Liu Fu agreed to stop selling the disputed products and paid off all related fees to the plaintiff. Meanwhile, the company has in turn also been suing smaller rivals for trademark infringement. Zhou Liu Fu said in its prospectus that it was the plaintiff in 25 ongoing legal disputes, many of which involved trademark infringement claims.
Zhou Liu Fu applied to list on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2019, but got turned down by regulators, who cited concerns over the company’s trademark ownership disputes and its heavy reliance on revenue from franchised stores. The regulators eventually greenlighted Zhou Liu Fu’s Shenzhen IPO application in 2022, but the company later opted to switch to Hong Kong amid a revival in the city’s IPO market.
Formally known as Zhou Tian Fu, the company was established by Weipeng and a friend in 2004, when China further opened up its jewelry industry by launching a massive trading center in Shenzhen’s Shuibei area and turning it into one of the world’s biggest retail markets for gold. Weizhu, who had a brief stint at a bank after graduating from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies with a finance degree, joined Zhou Liu Fu simultaneously as a general manager. In 2004, he acquired all of the stake from his brother’s friend.
Like many other Chinese gold jewelers, Zhou Liu Fu over the years expanded aggressively through the franchise model. Focusing on the mass market segment of the jewelry industry, the company is China’s fifth largest jewelry chain by store count in 2024, citing consultant Frost & Sullivan. It boasts 4,125 stores in the country, nearly 98% of them are franchisees and more than half are located in third-tier cities or below. Zhou Liu Fu also has four overseas shops in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
Despite China’s consumption slowdown, Zhou Liu Fu saw its 2024 net profit rise 7% to 706.3 million yuan ($98.5 million) on revenue that climbed 11% to 5.7 billion yuan. The company attributed the growth to the expanded franchise network.
Zhou Liu Fu’s IPO follows the Hong Kong debut of younger rival Laopu Gold last June. Shares of Laopu Gold have since then skyrocketed more than 1,100%, propelling its founder Xu Gaoming into the ranks of the world’s richest. The Beijing-based company defied China’s broader retail downturn through its premium position. Its intricately crafted gold jewelry priced independently of daily gold market fluctuations has become a craze with Chinese consumers seeking a safe-heaven asset.
In response, Zhou Liu Fu has in recent years sought to elevate its brand image, opening stores at high-end malls and launching products that incorporate traditional Chinese gold craftsmanship techniques.
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