Billionaire Wanda Jianlin’s son arrested in China for assault

(Representational image)

The only son of property billionaire Wang Jianlin — once Asia’s richest man — was detained for attacking a person in Shanghai, according to media outlet Beijing News.

Wang Sicong was one of the four people detained by police in Shanghai’s Jing’an district after beating up an individual on Wednesday for allegedly taking photos of them, the report said, citing unidentified sources.

The person they attacked was actually waiting for a vehicle on the sidewalk, said the police statement detailing the incident, which didn’t identify Wang by his full name. The victim suffered minor injuries, including a broken nose and several scratches on the face, it said.

Multiple phone calls to Dalian Wanda Group Co. and the Jing’an district police were not answered.

The police will detain the four people for five to seven days with a fine of 500 yuan ($74.5) each, pending a decision on their appeals, according to the statement.

It’s the latest controversy for the younger Wang, 35, who is known for his flamboyant personality and lavish lifestyle. He first shot to fame for a 2015 social media post boasting that he had bought two gold Apple Watches — then retailing for as much as $17,000 each — for his pet dog.

Besides running Prometheus Capital, founded in 2012 as a family fund, Wang Sichong has launched a variety of businesses, none of which have reached the heights of success of his father’s ventures. In 2019, Wang was declared a debtor by a court in Beijing for owing 151 million yuan and barred from making unnecessary purchases such as property and first class tickets. He later settled with creditors.

He remains influential on social media. In April last year, shares of traditional Chinese medicine maker Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co. plunged 10% in one day after Wang reposted a video on social media that questioned whether the World Health Organization had ever recommended the firm’s drug as Covid-19 treatment, after the city of Shanghai distributed the medicine to residents.

Wang Jianlin, 68, has seen his wealth shrink from a peak of $46 billion in 2015 to $6.6 billion now, according to Bloomberg data. He once aspired to make Dalian Wanda an entertainment conglomerate like Walt Disney Co., a goal that was derailed by China’s crackdown on debt-fueled expansion around 2017, which forced the company to dispose of trophy assets like Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid.