

Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, karaoke king and Disney crusader recently allowed Chinese television viewers to have a peek into his daily life and thoughts. Netizens weren’t exactly impressed with what they heard.

During his interview with Chinese talk show host Chen Luyu earlier this month, the billionaire founder and chairman of Dalian Wanda Group gave out some free financial advice to those young people looking to become wealthy, saying that they should plan ahead and not to try to earn it all at once:

“You shouldn’t be that ambitious. Set a small target first, like earning 100 million yuan ($15 million).”

While $15 million might seem like a “small” target to someone who is worth an estimated $33.3 billion, it turns out that it’s quite a large target for everyone else. Wang’s comments went viral on Weibo, where netizens were shocked at how out of touch that the multi-billionaire had become.

“100 million yuan? No sweat. That will only take me 10,000 years,” one Weibo user joked.

Of course, Wang would just say that this netizen lacks motivation. “How long does it take you to make 100 million yuan? Ask yourself. Then go on and say you want to be the richest person,” Wang said. “In order to achieve that, think of what your strength is and how to get there.”

“Now I understand, Wang’s wealth of 170 billion yuan is actually made up of 1,700 small targets,” wrote another netizen after taking in Wang’s sage wisdom, according to ECNS.



While dining, Wang also again attacked his archenemy — Mickey Mouse. Back in May, Wang promised to crush Shanghai Disneyland under the weight of all the less expensive theme parks he was planning to open across the country by 2020.

“They [Disney] shouldn’t have entered China. We have a [saying]: one tiger is no match for a pack of wolves. Shanghai has one Disney, while Wanda, across the nation, will open 15 to 20,” Wang said at the time. “Disneyland is fully built on American culture. We place importance on local culture.”

Despite some serious setbacks — his $572 million flagship movie theme park being closed for “renovations’ just 18 months after opening and Captain America and Snow White showing up in front of his newly opened theme park in Nanchang — Wang still seems confident in his ultimate mission, telling Chen Luyu that his parks would make Shanghai Disney “unprofitable in the coming two decades.”

According to Quartz, Wang said that he was out to “change the world where rules are set by foreigners” and lashed out against Chinese people who visit Disneyland, saying that “the once-glorified Disneyland is part of the past.”

These comments also went viral, with Wang surprising netizens with his fervent nationalism bordering on xenophobia.



Wang served in the People’s Liberation Army from 1970 to 1986 before making most of his fortune in real estate. Lately, he has been expanding out by buying all things — particularly those things that deal with entertainment. Earlier this year, his company acquired a Hollywood studio; last month it bought two of Europe’s largest cinema chains.

Meanwhile, Wang’s son, Wang Sicong, has been busy buying Apple Watches for his dog and building 7-star hotels in Shanghai.

You can watch Wang’s full interview with “China’s Oprah Winfrey” below:





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