49-yr-old Canada's 3rd richest woman after divorcing Chinese businessman

Ottawa: One of Asia’s costliest breakups has created Canada’s third-richest woman.

A few weeks ago, Yuan Liping received 24% of publicly traded Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co. after divorcing Du Weimin, the company’s chairman. With shares of the Chinese vaccine maker surging 39% over the past month, the stake is now worth $4.7 billion, propelling Yuan into the ranks of the world’s 500 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

China’s stock market has been on a roll, adding $1.7 trillion in value in just a month as the CSI 300 Index climbed 20%. Drugmakers like Kangtai have been among investors’ favorites. The stock closed at a peak on Wednesday after more than doubling since December, pushing the company’s market value to more than $19 billion.

With a $9.5 billion fortune, Sherry Brydson is Canada’s richest woman, followed by Taylor Thomson, who’s worth $5.9 billion. The majority of their wealth comes from Thomson Reuters Corp. stakes they inherited.

Yuan, 49 this year, holds a Canadian passport and resides in Shenzhen. She owns the Kangtai shares directly but signed an agreement delegating the voting rights to her ex-husband, according to a May 29 filing disclosing the division of assets.

She serves as the vice general manager of Beijing Minhai Biotechnology Co., a Kangtai subsidiary, and was a Kangtai director between May 2011 and August 2018, the filing shows.

Her ex-husband Du, who owns about 27% of Kangtai, is worth $4.6 billion after excluding the value of the shares he pledged, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.