China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, has his sights on the Hollywood movie industry.
62-year-old Wang is the CEO of the Dalian Wanda group (AKA Wanda), which recently acquired Dick Clark Productions for $1 billion. The company produces the Golden Globe Awards, Billboard Music Awards and the American Music Awards, for $1 billion.
Wang is also the largest real estate developer in China and is worth $33 billion according to Forbes.
In January, Wanda bought independent movie studio Legendary Entertainment – the production company behind blockbusters such as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, Jurrasic World and Godzilla – for $3.5 billion.
The billionaire has a desire to own one of the big six Hollywood studios – Sony, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Disney or Warner Bros.
Talks of Wanda wanting to buy a 49% stake in Paramount were reported in July.
“I might as well start from wherever I can, such as through investment with all six [studios],” Wang said this week. “We will continue to work on a potential acquisition. But it won’t hurt to start by doing what we can. Participating via investment seems like a wise choice for the time being.”
Wanda also bought a 20% stake in Spanish football team Atletico Madrid in 2015. Wang himself has over 1000 pieces of artwork valued at $1 billion in his private collection that includes a $28.2 million Picasso.
Wang also revealed that he his a huge fan of actress Nicole Kidman. “Honestly, my muse is Nicole Kidman. When I was young, I adored her. She’s very beautiful, and she’s also a big name here in China.”