Owners of Shenzhen-based logistics firm SF Holding Co., Ltd., and founders of SF Express, often referred to as the “FedEx of China”. The Wang family’s estimated net worth is around $16 billion.
Wang Wei began his courier business when he was in his early 20s by making deliveries from his car in Hong Kong during the 1990s. At the time, the practice of shuttling packages through the special economic zone that existed between British-ruled Hong Kong and Shenzhen was considered illegal. Wang founded SF Express in 1993 with six employees and one delivery van. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, his company continued deliveries while others had ceased, establishing SF Express as China’s most reliable delivery service.
Today, SF’s network covers 200 countries with more than 15,000 vehicles, including a fleet of 35 aircraft, thanks in part to Alibaba, the “Amazon of China”. In 2018, the company obtained China’s first drone delivery license. Wang Wei owns just over 60 per cent of SF Express’s shares and is considered the 11th richest person in China by Forbes.
