As the media and netizen are continuously stunned by the singing skills of China’s richest man, this week at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, quickly shifted his role from “showman” to “businessman”, bringing extra emphasis to his mission to turn the real estate giant into a film, sports and tourism-led conglomerate and expand its reach across the globe.
Wang Jianlin, the outspoken boss of Wanda Group, is known on Chinese social media for setting “small, achievable” goals. In 2016, Wang’s major goal was to flip The Group’s focus from real estate to a few key services sectors with a new and growing emphasis on entertainment, tourism and sports. The results were spectacular, with a total increase in assets of 21.4 percent in 2016, according to The Group’s annual report released on January 14th.
To march The Group’s transition, Wang even sang four songs at the annual gala, ranging from rock songs to Chinese local opera. Wang’s performance was widely covered by global media and was considered as a smart PR move, even though media believe that it’s always a risk for an executive to do something uncharacteristic in the public. The videos of Wang singing have gone beyond viral, reaching more than 1.5 billion people globally so far, among which more than 1/3 are outside of China.
