Mr. Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report, hosted an Exceution Breakfast Briefing on the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2026 at the Hong Kong headquarters of Raffles Family Office on 22 September 2026. Mr. Leo Lai, Managing Director of Raffles Family Office and Founding President of Family Office Institute Hong Kong (FOIHK), and Ms. Chan Man Ching, Vice President of Raffles Family Office and Founding Secretary of FOIHK, were invited to attend.
Mr. Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report, hosted an Exceution Breakfast Briefing on the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2026 at the Hong Kong headquarters of Raffles Family Office on 22 September 2026. Mr. Leo Lai, Managing Director of Raffles Family Office and Founding President of Family Office Institute Hong Kong (FOIHK), and Ms. Chan Man Ching, Vice President of Raffles Family Office and Founding Secretary of FOIHK, were invited to attend.
In addition, there have been structural shifts in the latest data of the Hurun Rich List. He pointed out that ten years ago, property developers accounted for 30% of the top 100 names on the Rich List, while there are no property developers among the current top 100; tech entrepreneurs have become the core group of listed individuals.
In terms of wealth growth, the overall wealth of those on last year’s Hurun Rich List rose by 40%. 80% of this wealth increase was directly linked to the AI sector, and the semiconductor track produced more than 80 billion-dollar entrepreneurs. Most of the 200 newly listed individuals this year come from AI and robotics sectors, whereas the new entrants last year were largely from gold, consumer electronics, healthcare and other fields.
Regarding regional distribution, Shenzhen ranks first globally for the number of self-made billion-dollar entrepreneurs, with a small population of second-generation inheritors. The transmission of entrepreneurship is notable. In terms of cross-border mobility, many entrepreneurs who previously migrated to Singapore have gradually returned to Hong Kong in recent years. Some of the top names on Singapore’s local rich list are immigrants from China.
Mr. Hoogewerf then presented core data from the Global Unicorn Index. His general definition of a unicorn is “an unlisted enterprise valued at USD 1 billion”, and this definition has been adopted as a statistical standard by Chinese authorities and the Two Sessions.
Data shows that the total number of global unicorns stood at 500 seven years ago and has now grown to 1,600. The total valuation of global unicorns has reached USD 1 trillion, an increase of USD 904 billion from last year. The vast majority of valuation growth comes from AI-related sectors. Mr. Hoogewerf emphasized: “The past seven years represent the golden age of entrepreneurship in world history.”