萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)董事長(zhǎng)王健林登上最新一期美國(guó)《財(cái)富》英文版雜志封面，他是近年來(lái)登上《財(cái)富》封面為數(shù)不多的中國(guó)企業(yè)家之一，這也意味著王健林和他打造的萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)的國(guó)際影響力越來(lái)越大。

《財(cái)富》在這篇名為“解密中國(guó)最富有的人之一”的文章中，用6個(gè)版的篇幅描述了王健林的創(chuàng)業(yè)歷程，特別是近幾年萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)國(guó)際化和文化旅游產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展情況。在《財(cái)富》看來(lái)，王健林是一位目標(biāo)遠(yuǎn)大、善于把握時(shí)機(jī)、熱衷慈善的企業(yè)家。王健林的目標(biāo)是使萬(wàn)達(dá)躋身世界一流企業(yè)行列，從而幫助提高中國(guó)國(guó)家實(shí)力，這就是他的中國(guó)夢(mèng)。為此，萬(wàn)達(dá)正在進(jìn)行從商業(yè)地產(chǎn)向文化旅游的大轉(zhuǎn)型，這將使萬(wàn)達(dá)從一家傳統(tǒng)不動(dòng)產(chǎn)企業(yè)變成以文化產(chǎn)業(yè)為主的企業(yè)。文章還介紹了王健林鮮為人知的一面，稱贊他擅長(zhǎng)中國(guó)西部民歌，是一流的男高音。

據(jù)悉，《財(cái)富》雜志對(duì)王健林的報(bào)道非常重視，特別派遣資深記者及攝影師到中國(guó)，對(duì)王健林進(jìn)行了長(zhǎng)達(dá)一周的跟蹤采訪，跟隨他出席各類活動(dòng)，最終呈現(xiàn)出一個(gè)真實(shí)、全面、生動(dòng)的王健林。《財(cái)富》雜志6月在成都主辦第12屆“財(cái)富全球論壇”，這期雜志也作為會(huì)刊發(fā)放給所有參會(huì)者。

2012年，萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)以26億美元收購(gòu)美國(guó)AMC公司100%股權(quán)，成為中國(guó)企業(yè)在美國(guó)最大一樁企業(yè)并購(gòu)，在美國(guó)和全世界引起極大反響，王健林因此成為受西方主流媒體關(guān)注的中國(guó)企業(yè)家之一。在登上《財(cái)富》雜志封面之前，《福布斯》、紐約時(shí)報(bào)、華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)等全球十幾家重要媒體已經(jīng)對(duì)王健林進(jìn)行過(guò)重點(diǎn)報(bào)道。現(xiàn)在，萬(wàn)達(dá)快速發(fā)展的國(guó)際化和對(duì)世界文化旅游產(chǎn)業(yè)的創(chuàng)新更加強(qiáng)烈地吸引著全球目光，人們非常期待萬(wàn)達(dá)給全球商業(yè)世界帶來(lái)的創(chuàng)新和改變。

中文譯作：

《財(cái)富》專訪王健林：解密中國(guó)最富有的人之一

王健林，萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)的創(chuàng)始人和董事長(zhǎng)，是中國(guó)最富有的人之一。他知道如何安排訪客的行程。今年四月，他用他的私人飛機(jī)把來(lái)訪的美國(guó)電影藝術(shù)與科學(xué)學(xué)院主席霍克·考奇先生從北京送去大連。王健林要在大連開(kāi)辦一個(gè)電影節(jié)，他希望把這個(gè)電影節(jié)與奧斯卡聯(lián)系起來(lái)。他向考奇展示了萬(wàn)達(dá)的后現(xiàn)代風(fēng)格的會(huì)展中心，鄰近就是五星級(jí)的希爾頓酒店，還有一系列萬(wàn)達(dá)的寫(xiě)字樓、購(gòu)物中心、公寓樓。當(dāng)晚回北京后，王健林堅(jiān)持邀請(qǐng)所有人去他的私人會(huì)所小聚。

王健林的夫人林寧是會(huì)所的所有者，VIP廳里有舞池、巨大的屏幕、沙發(fā)，各種小吃和紅酒，以及卡拉OK設(shè)備。考奇唱得還不錯(cuò)，但王健林的歌喉讓我大吃一驚，這位58歲的地產(chǎn)大亨是個(gè)一流的男高音，擅長(zhǎng)蒙古和西藏的民歌。我還沒(méi)有聽(tīng)過(guò)比他唱的《美麗的草原我的家》更動(dòng)聽(tīng)的版本。

王健林并不僅僅是個(gè)埋頭苦干的人。他很精明，善于抓住機(jī)會(huì)，非常雄心勃勃。盡管他是世界級(jí)的富翁，在中國(guó)之外卻很少人知道他。正如他同時(shí)代的中國(guó)商業(yè)巨頭那樣，王健林抓住了中國(guó)從落后的農(nóng)業(yè)國(guó)邁向城市經(jīng)濟(jì)大國(guó)的機(jī)遇（彭博社估計(jì)王健林的財(cái)富達(dá)到83億美元）。他的策略是從中國(guó)消費(fèi)者不斷增長(zhǎng)的需要中掙錢(qián)，先是蓋公寓樓，然后是寫(xiě)字樓、商場(chǎng)、電影院、KTV。他在中國(guó)有69個(gè)萬(wàn)達(dá)廣場(chǎng)，這里面有摩天大樓，是多功能自給自足的小城市。萬(wàn)達(dá)廣場(chǎng)幾乎每?jī)扇齻€(gè)星期就開(kāi)業(yè)一個(gè)。王健林說(shuō)，他有足夠多的萬(wàn)達(dá)廣場(chǎng)項(xiàng)目?jī)?chǔ)備，在未來(lái)3年內(nèi)，公司每年的增長(zhǎng)率能夠達(dá)到30%，2015年收入將達(dá)到500億美元。

王健林正在開(kāi)始一個(gè)新的篇章，這個(gè)勇敢和帶有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的擴(kuò)張計(jì)劃符合國(guó)家對(duì)萬(wàn)達(dá)的期待。他響應(yīng)政府鼓勵(lì)對(duì)外投資的號(hào)召，大舉向海外進(jìn)軍。去年他以27.5億美元買(mǎi)下AMC公司，這是中國(guó)民營(yíng)企業(yè)收購(gòu)美國(guó)公司付出的最高價(jià)格。一夜之間，萬(wàn)達(dá)擁有了全世界最多的電影屏幕。今年萬(wàn)達(dá)還將在倫敦和洛杉磯建造酒店，王健林計(jì)劃使萬(wàn)達(dá)的logo印在全世界大城市的豪華酒店。

王健林也向國(guó)內(nèi)的媒體、娛樂(lè)和旅游投入數(shù)十億美元的資金，中國(guó)的國(guó)內(nèi)消費(fèi)還將不斷增長(zhǎng)。去年萬(wàn)達(dá)在靠近朝鮮邊界的長(zhǎng)白山開(kāi)了一個(gè)滑雪場(chǎng)。在未來(lái)的幾年內(nèi)，萬(wàn)達(dá)還將在華南和華中建造3個(gè)旅游城，擁有豪華酒店，迪士尼式的主題公園和拉斯維加斯式的秀場(chǎng)。萬(wàn)達(dá)對(duì)影視行業(yè)的興趣也不斷增長(zhǎng)，還在大連將建造一個(gè)電影制作基地。

萬(wàn)達(dá)的目標(biāo)是什么？王健林說(shuō)，目標(biāo)是使萬(wàn)達(dá)躋身世界超一流公司的行列，同時(shí)也提高中國(guó)的實(shí)力。王健林說(shuō)，世界大國(guó)（如英國(guó)和美國(guó)）的力量和影響力來(lái)自這些國(guó)家擁有的偉大公司，這些公司促進(jìn)了國(guó)家的發(fā)展。王健林認(rèn)為，公司也將在中國(guó)的發(fā)展中發(fā)揮同樣的作用。對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)，這就是中國(guó)夢(mèng)的核心：像萬(wàn)達(dá)這樣的公司不斷聚集財(cái)富，擴(kuò)大影響力，為中國(guó)在國(guó)際舞臺(tái)上的主導(dǎo)地位鋪平道路。

王健林的創(chuàng)業(yè)故事雖然是中國(guó)式的，但也包含了美國(guó)白手起家獲得成功的經(jīng)典元素。王健林成長(zhǎng)在一個(gè)偏遠(yuǎn)的省份，謊報(bào)年齡從而在15歲就能參軍，通過(guò)函授課程在軍校學(xué)習(xí)，在30多歲時(shí)開(kāi)始經(jīng)商，25年后擁有了中國(guó)最大的商業(yè)地產(chǎn)公司，總資產(chǎn)達(dá)到600億美元。從持有物業(yè)面積來(lái)看，他已經(jīng)成為世界第二大不動(dòng)產(chǎn)業(yè)主。萬(wàn)達(dá)的發(fā)展計(jì)劃里目前包含大約72個(gè)在建項(xiàng)目，王健林預(yù)測(cè)萬(wàn)達(dá)在未來(lái)幾年中將超越美國(guó)的西蒙房地產(chǎn)公司，成為全球最大的不動(dòng)產(chǎn)企業(yè)。

2010年，王健林在北京獲得企業(yè)領(lǐng)袖終身成就獎(jiǎng)，頒獎(jiǎng)的是聯(lián)想主席柳傳志。柳傳志介紹時(shí)告訴觀眾，王健林的父親是打土豪的老紅軍，然后他轉(zhuǎn)身問(wèn)王健林：“我想問(wèn)你和父親在家里是怎樣交談的？他是討厭你還是喜歡你？”

根據(jù)微博的帖子，王健林當(dāng)時(shí)大吃一驚：“這不是柳主席原本為我準(zhǔn)備的問(wèn)題。”但他很快恢復(fù)了鎮(zhèn)定，解釋說(shuō)他已經(jīng)為年老的父母蓋了房子（在四川成都一個(gè)萬(wàn)達(dá)小區(qū)里），他的父母挺感謝的。“雖然在過(guò)去，他們的目標(biāo)是打倒富人階級(jí)，現(xiàn)在他們完全意識(shí)到，有錢(qián)比沒(méi)有錢(qián)好。”

王健林的父親已經(jīng)102歲了，曾經(jīng)在四川務(wù)農(nóng)，為了解決溫飽而參軍，經(jīng)歷了長(zhǎng)征、國(guó)共內(nèi)戰(zhàn)和抗日戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，還差一點(diǎn)參加了抗美援朝。最后他榮歸故里，在四川阿壩從事林業(yè)工作并結(jié)婚生子。他一共有五個(gè)孩子，都是男孩，王健林是長(zhǎng)子。

據(jù)王健林的母親回憶，王健林是“孩子王”。父母早上去上班后，他照顧幾個(gè)弟弟，晚上父母去參加政治會(huì)議，他就負(fù)責(zé)從村子的食堂打飯回家。作為戰(zhàn)斗英雄的長(zhǎng)子，他注定要參軍。在1969年，王健林入伍，表現(xiàn)出色，在27歲就成為了一名正團(tuán)職干部。軍隊(duì)孕育了王健林建功立業(yè)的決心，并且為他日后成為一名企業(yè)家打下基礎(chǔ)。

在1987年，為了響應(yīng)國(guó)家“百萬(wàn)裁軍”的號(hào)召，王健林告別了十多年的部隊(duì)生活。轉(zhuǎn)業(yè)后，王健林來(lái)到大連市西崗區(qū)區(qū)政府任辦公室主任。一年后，一個(gè)偶然的“機(jī)會(huì)”使得王健林的人生軌跡發(fā)生了重大轉(zhuǎn)變———負(fù)債數(shù)百萬(wàn)元的西崗區(qū)住宅開(kāi)發(fā)公司瀕臨破產(chǎn)，區(qū)政府為了拯救這個(gè)“爛攤子”，面向全區(qū)公開(kāi)招賢。王健林主動(dòng)請(qǐng)纓，自愿去擔(dān)任西崗住宅開(kāi)發(fā)公司經(jīng)理。自此，王健林踏入了地產(chǎn)圈。不過(guò)在期間王健林也感覺(jué)到了很多束縛——太多的行政干預(yù)，以及對(duì)補(bǔ)償和福利太多的管控。1992年8月，王健林爭(zhēng)取到了企業(yè)改制的機(jī)會(huì)，大連市西崗住宅開(kāi)發(fā)公司也正式改名為大連萬(wàn)達(dá)集團(tuán)股份有限公司，后來(lái)將總部遷至北京。萬(wàn)達(dá)由兩個(gè)漢字組成，寓意長(zhǎng)久、富足和繁榮。

雖然王健林已經(jīng)太富有了，但他的富有并未給他父母帶來(lái)困擾。他們知道他們的兒子給雅安地震的災(zāi)民捐了160萬(wàn)美元，每年他的名字接近中國(guó)慈善榜的榜首。盡管他的慈善主要用于幫助企業(yè)和教育事業(yè)，但兩年前，他給南京的一座古廟捐款1.56億美元用于修繕（王健林自稱不信宗教，只是比較推崇佛教）。王健林的母親說(shuō)：“曾經(jīng)有錢(qián)人總被認(rèn)為是壞人，但現(xiàn)在有錢(qián)人也可以變成圣人，只要你有這個(gè)心。”

王健林用軍隊(duì)的嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)和嚴(yán)格來(lái)管理萬(wàn)達(dá)。萬(wàn)達(dá)的高級(jí)職員基本都是男性。和王健林一樣，他們也都是黑頭發(fā)（特別黑，整齊地梳到后面），而且按照規(guī)定，他們?nèi)┖谖餮b、白襯衫，系深色領(lǐng)帶。萬(wàn)達(dá)的食堂在規(guī)定的時(shí)間內(nèi)為員工提供免費(fèi)的三餐，但嚴(yán)禁吃零食。王健林總是到得早，走得晚。他承認(rèn)一年只有一周假期，而且不是連著休的。他唯一的嗜好就是收藏和卡拉OK，他每年都在萬(wàn)達(dá)年會(huì)上獻(xiàn)歌。

每周六早上，王健林召開(kāi)審圖會(huì)。一般要持續(xù)一個(gè)小時(shí)，他坐著，其他人站著。他戴著金邊眼鏡看著圖紙，用一把白色塑料尺子量圖紙上的人行道，皺著眉頭重新把人行道畫(huà)了一遍，然后把圖紙掃到一邊，開(kāi)始研究地圖，隨后把地圖也掃到一邊，重新把圖紙拿過(guò)來(lái)研究直到他滿意。

王健林的方式有點(diǎn)太事必躬親了，不過(guò)這也是很有效率的一種方式，保證他新開(kāi)拓的業(yè)務(wù)能夠成功。從做規(guī)劃到買(mǎi)地到施工，萬(wàn)達(dá)的項(xiàng)目周期在18到24個(gè)月。王健林擁有一個(gè)專屬的軟件來(lái)幫助他做決策。萬(wàn)達(dá)的高管透露，萬(wàn)達(dá)從來(lái)沒(méi)發(fā)生過(guò)項(xiàng)目延期竣工或者超過(guò)預(yù)算的情況。每年都有幾十家公司來(lái)萬(wàn)達(dá)取經(jīng)。

至今王健林沒(méi)有被卷入任何丑聞中。在房地產(chǎn)行業(yè)，對(duì)于他這么一位富有又有影響力的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這是很不容易的。所有萬(wàn)達(dá)的項(xiàng)目都從土地開(kāi)始，而中國(guó)所有的土地都屬于政府所有，所以萬(wàn)達(dá)必須要和政府打交道才能開(kāi)展業(yè)務(wù)。政府工作人員很多都是想從商業(yè)項(xiàng)目中謀取私利的。

王健林說(shuō)，他從早年創(chuàng)業(yè)時(shí)就嚴(yán)禁貪污。他說(shuō)，賄賂政府官員有可能帶來(lái)短期的效益，但是這不是長(zhǎng)久之計(jì)。為了杜絕違反職業(yè)道德的行為，他通過(guò)集團(tuán)的監(jiān)管部門(mén)進(jìn)行嚴(yán)格管控。在萬(wàn)達(dá)每一筆支出都需要審批。

至今為止，王健林并不需要太多外界的資金。他偶爾會(huì)邀請(qǐng)企業(yè)家朋友們小聚并商討投資計(jì)劃。他說(shuō)：“大家經(jīng)常聚聚，討論討論，挺好的。”不過(guò)萬(wàn)達(dá)遲早要上市，應(yīng)該是在香港。今年春天萬(wàn)達(dá)購(gòu)買(mǎi)了恒力地產(chǎn)65%的股份用來(lái)借殼上市。消息一出，恒力當(dāng)日股價(jià)飆升了500%。

萬(wàn)達(dá)下一步的發(fā)展需要更多的外部人才和資金。萬(wàn)達(dá)主推的旅游文化產(chǎn)業(yè)中，最重要的是武漢中央文化區(qū)，這是一個(gè)大型娛樂(lè)休閑中心。武漢已經(jīng)有了一個(gè)萬(wàn)達(dá)廣場(chǎng)，接下來(lái)要打造高級(jí)酒店、主題公園、高科技舞臺(tái)表演等等。武漢中央文化區(qū)的合作伙伴包括全球舞臺(tái)藝術(shù)第一人——弗蘭克·德貢，他曾策劃導(dǎo)演美國(guó)拉斯維加斯“O秀”、“夢(mèng)秀”、澳門(mén)“水舞間”等著名舞臺(tái)節(jié)目，還有馬克·菲舍爾，曾擔(dān)任北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)、廣州亞運(yùn)會(huì)、倫敦奧運(yùn)會(huì)開(kāi)閉幕式藝術(shù)總監(jiān)。

德貢在今年四月的一個(gè)下午來(lái)向王健林匯報(bào)項(xiàng)目進(jìn)展，用視頻演示了舞臺(tái)秀的大致情況。看上去非常打動(dòng)人心：演員系著彈力繩，從八層樓高的平臺(tái)上縱身一躍；看臺(tái)是可伸縮的；各種特效眼花繚亂。德貢說(shuō)他要以詩(shī)般的意境展示中國(guó)的整個(gè)歷史。王健林的反饋有點(diǎn)讓人摸不著頭腦：“我們需要一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單故事把這些元素串起來(lái)，比如愛(ài)情故事。”

王健林回憶說(shuō)，上一次讓他感到特別興奮的事情是萬(wàn)達(dá)從住宅地產(chǎn)向商業(yè)地產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)型。現(xiàn)在面臨另一次轉(zhuǎn)型，但是規(guī)模更大。這次轉(zhuǎn)型不只是為了賺中國(guó)人和外國(guó)人的錢(qián)，而是想從地產(chǎn)行業(yè)的自然屬性中解放出來(lái)，轉(zhuǎn)向由迪斯尼和新聞集團(tuán)這樣的公司主導(dǎo)的娛樂(lè)文化行業(yè)中。王健林說(shuō)：“這是一次由商業(yè)地產(chǎn)向文化旅游行業(yè)的轉(zhuǎn)型。”

王健林近期訪問(wèn)了美國(guó)，意圖尋找地產(chǎn)投資的機(jī)會(huì)，同時(shí)也提升自身形象。他會(huì)見(jiàn)了紐約市長(zhǎng)布隆伯格和洛杉磯市長(zhǎng)安東尼奧·維拉戈沙，制片人哈維·韋恩斯坦和索尼影視娛樂(lè)有限公司CEO邁克爾·林頓，以及摩根大通CEO杰米·戴蒙。唯一的問(wèn)題是，他的私人飛機(jī)G550不能從北京直飛到紐約，必須要在安克雷奇加一次油。

這次加油事件似乎有寓意。王健林已經(jīng)通過(guò)建造住宅和寫(xiě)字樓在中國(guó)成為了富豪，現(xiàn)在他希望通過(guò)好萊塢將他的財(cái)富翻倍。他能走這么遠(yuǎn)嗎？現(xiàn)在他正想把他的飛機(jī)升級(jí)為G650，這樣他就能去到任何想去的地方了。

英文報(bào)道原文：

What's driving one of China's richest men?

Wang Jianlin , founder and chairman of closely held Wanda Group and one of the richest men in China, knows how to pack a visitor's itinerary. One day in April, he flies Hawk Koch, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, from Beijing to Dalian, a port city on the Yellow Sea, in his Gulfstream G550. Wang is launching an international film festival in Dalian, and he's hoping to co-brand it with the Oscars. He shows Koch the futuristic new waterfront convention center he built, the new five-star Hilton next door, and some of the many Wanda office buildings, retail complexes, and apartment towers he owns all over town -- Monopoly tokens in a real estate empire that stretches from northeast China to the Himalayas, and Inner Mongolia to the South China Sea. That evening the men join Dalian party officials for a dozen-course dinner, and later still, when they finally get back to Beijing, Wang insists that everyone, including me, accompany him to a private club.

Wang is just a member here, by the way; his wife, Lin Ning, owns it. In the VIP lounge are a dance floor and a giant videoscreen and comfortable couches. Coffee tables sag under platters of pineapple, watermelon, dried beef, and almonds, and goblets of red wine. Karaoke microphones await, charging in their stands.

The first surprise is that poor Koch, who arrived from LAX at 5:30 that morning, does not completely butcher "When Sonny Gets Blue." But nothing prepares me for Wang's performance. Turns out, the 58-year-old real estate mogul is also a first-class tenor with an exhaustive repertoire of folk songs from Mongolia and Tibet. I think I may never hear a more affecting rendition of "The Beautiful Grassland Is My Home."

Wang isn't just indefatigable. He's shrewd, opportunistic, hugely ambitious, and, despite his world-class wealth, almost unknown outside China. Like other Chinese oligarchs of his generation, Wang made his fortune tracking China's rapid ascent from rural backwater to urban economic powerhouse. (Exact numbers are elusive, but Bloomberg estimates Wang's wealth at $8.3 billion, a couple of billion behind China's richest man, beverage magnate Zong Qinghou.) His angle was to monetize the evolving needs of the Chinese consumer: First he built apartments, then offices, then stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and, yes, karaoke centers, and eventually everything together all at once. His iconic Wanda Plazas, of which there are 69, are high-rise, multipurpose, self-contained minicities. Every two or three weeks another one appears somewhere in China. Wang says he has enough Wanda Plazas in the pipeline to keep his top line growing at 30% annually for the next three years, which would make Wanda a $50 billion company by 2015.

Now Wang is embarking on a new chapter, a bold and risky expansion that once again aims to coincide with China's latest vision for its companies and its citizens. He is, in keeping with Beijing's desire to encourage outbound international investment, betting big beyond China. He started last year by buying Kansas City-based AMC Entertainment for $2.75 billion -- the highest price ever paid by a privately held Chinese company for an American company. Suddenly Wanda owns more movie screens than anyone else in the world. Later this year construction will begin on Wanda hotels in London and L.A., part of a plan to put the lighted Wanda mark, in English and in Chinese, on luxury hotels in major cities around the world.

He's also investing in the much-anticipated rise in domestic consumption, pouring billions into Chinese media, entertainment, and tourism. Last year Wanda opened a ski resort near the border with North Korea. Coming in the next few years: three more resorts in southern and central China, featuring luxury waterfront hotels, Disney-style theme parks, and Vegas-style shows; and in Dalian the world's largest film-production studio, an extension of Wanda's growing interest in movies and TV shows.

Wang's goal? He says it's to lift Wanda into what he calls, speaking through an interpreter, "the super-world-class top tier of companies" and, not least, to lift up his country too. Power and influence in great nations like the U.S. and the U.K., Wang says (channeling Calvin Coolidge), derive from the power and influence of great companies: They "raise the country up and make it a superpower." Wang thinks this is the moment when business can play the same role in the People's Republic. To him, that's the essence of the Chinese dream: companies like his building wealth, spreading influence, and paving the way to Chinese dominance on the global stage.

Wang's story, while distinctly Chinese, has elements of the classic American arc of the self-made man. He grew up in a distant province, lied about his age so that he could join the army at 15, did college work along the way at a military institute and through correspondence courses, went into business in his thirties, and 25 years later sits atop the biggest commercial real estate empire in China, with total assets worth $60 billion. By square footage he's already the second-biggest landlord in the world, and with nearly six dozen active construction projects in the development pipeline, Wang predicts he'll overcome the leader, U.S. mall developer Simon Property Group, sometime in the next few years.

In 2010, Wang picked up a lifetime-achievement award from a group of corporate leaders in Beijing. The presenter was Wang's longtime friend and occasional co-investor Liu Chuanzhi, founder and chairman of Lenovo. (For more, see "Can Lenovo Do It?") Liu began by informing the audience that Wang's father is a Red Army veteran who fought against the rich. Liu then turned to Wang: "I would like to ask how you and your father talk at home. Does he detest you or like you?"

According to a flurry of posts on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Wang seemed taken aback -- "This isn't the original question President Liu prepared for me" -- but he recovered and tried for levity. He explained that he had set up his aged parents with a house (in a gated Wanda community in the Sichuan city of Chengdu) and that they seemed grateful. "Although their goal in the past was to undermine the rich," he said, "now they wholly feel having money is better than not having it."

Wang's father, Wang Yiquan, is 102 years old and a former peasant from a remote part of Sichuan Province who joined the army because he thought it was his best shot at eating every day. He survived the Long March, fought the Kuomintang and the Japanese, and got out just before he would have had to fight the Americans in Korea. Eventually he landed in the Sichuan village of Aba, near Tibet, where he was assigned to the forestry service, and also assigned a wife, Qin Jialin. Together they raised five children, all boys. Jianlin is the oldest.

Wang was the "king of the children," Qin Jialin says through an interpreter. He took care of his brothers after his parents left for work in the morning and fetched dinner from the village canteen if his parents had to attend a political meeting at night. As the oldest son of a decorated war hero, Wang was destined for the army. He enlisted in 1969, quickly rose up the ranks (he was a regimental commander at 27), and in the process developed a taste for individual achievement and its rewards -- attributes that would serve him well in his future life as an entrepreneur.

In 1985, Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping called for a 1 million reduction in China's armed forces -- part of an effort to shift resources from a military buildup to economic development. Wang offered his resignation and took a post as office director with the Dalian municipal government. While he was working for the city, he learned of a struggling state-owned real estate development company in want of a savior. No initial investment required, that was the deal; just a willingness to take on the debt. Wang turned the company around but felt constrained -- too much government meddling in decision-making, too much control over compensation and incentives. In 1992 he applied for permission to participate in a pilot program to take companies private. He named the company Dalian Wanda Group, and later moved the headquarters to Beijing. Wanda combines two Chinese characters whose meanings suggest longevity, abundance, and prosperity.

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As for Liu's question, yes, even though Wang is filthy rich, his wealth doesn't bother his parents. They know their son has already pledged $1.6 million to help victims of an earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in April and that every year his name is near the top of the list of China's biggest charitable donors. Although his focus is on supporting entrepreneurship and education, two years ago Wang set a Chinese single-gift record when he gave $156 million to restore a 15th-century Buddhist temple in Nanjing. (Wang says he's "not religious"; he just got a little "carried away.") "In the past a rich man in many cases is a bad guy," Wang's mother explains. "But nowadays when you are rich, you can be a saint if you want."

Wang runs Wanda Group with military rigor and precision. His senior staff are nearly all men. Like Wang, they all have black hair (too-black hair, in Wang's case, combed straight back), and as a rule, they all wear black suits, white shirts, and dark ties. The company cafeteria at headquarters provides every Wanda employee with three free meals a day (at scheduled hours, with no grazing; this isn't Silicon Valley). Wang arrives early and stays late. He admits to just one week of (nonconsecutive) vacation days a year. His only indulgences are art collecting and karaoke, which he performs each year at the Wanda annual meeting.

Once a week, usually on Saturday mornings, Wang reviews every current Wanda project. The meeting can last for hours. Wang sits; the planners and architects come and go but remain standing. Plans are unrolled in front of him. He peers at one through gold-rimmed reading glasses, measures a pedestrian walkway with a white plastic ruler, frowns, redraws the walkway, sweeps the plan aside to study a map, sweeps the map aside to return to the plan, and when he's satisfied, gives it his blessing.

Wang's way may appear micromanagerial, but it has proved incredibly effective for Wanda -- and could be key to his success as he expands into new areas. Start to finish -- from planning to land acquisition to construction -- Wanda projects are an 18- to 24-month process. A proprietary software system analyzes data and helps Wang make the hundreds of decisions that go into a new building or complex. Wanda executives claim that the company has never once had a project come in late or over budget. Dozens of local companies trek to Wanda each year to learn how it's done.

So far, Wang's reputation is unmarred by scandal -- no mean feat for a man of his wealth and influence in today's China, particularly in the realm in which he operates. Every Wanda project starts with land, and all the land in China belongs to the government, meaning Wanda can't get to step one without the consent of bureaucrats, many of whom expect bribes for their cooperation on business deals. (Wanda's original base of operations was Dalian during the 1990s, when the mayor, and later provincial governor, was Bo Xilai. Once a rising star in the Chinese Communist Party, Bo and his wife, Gu Kailai, were implicated in the 2011 death of a British businessman. Bo has been banished from the party and is awaiting trial.)

Wang says he has been on guard against corruption since the early days of the company. He says that bribing government officials might bring short-term gain but it's no way to conduct a successful business in the long run. And he has put in place strict controls to discourage unethical behavior by underlings. For instance, there is no such thing as petty cash at Wanda. Every expenditure has a paper trail.

Wang has had little need for outside capital thus far. Occasionally, he says, he invites friends -- fellow entrepreneurs like Lenovo's Liu and Yifang Group founder Sun Xishuang -- to co-invest. "It's a great opportunity to get everyone together frequently to chat and discuss," Wang says. But sooner or later Wanda will go public, most likely in Hong Kong, where this spring Wanda opened a path to a backdoor listing by buying a 65% stake in a public company, Hengli Commercial Properties. The day following the announcement, Hengli's stock leaped nearly 500%.

The next stage of Wanda's development will require outside expertise as well as capital. The current centerpiece of Wanda's big push into tourism and entertainment is an $8 billion mega-entertainment complex in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, 500 miles west of Shanghai. There's already a big Wanda Plaza there; luxury hotels, a theme park, and a high-tech stage show will follow. Partners on the project include British architect Mark Fisher, whose studio designed the stage sets for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, and Belgian Franco Dragone, a Cirque du Soleil alumnus who bills himself as "the world's most spectacular showmaker."

Dragone comes to Wanda's boardroom one afternoon in April for a progress report. "It is my great pleasure to show you on video what we will show audiences in the future," he begins, and fires up his Mac laptop. It looks pretty thrilling: divers plunging from platforms eight stories high on invisible bungee cords, retractable grandstands, troupes of body-suited dancers, and all kinds of special effects. Dragone describes what he's after as a "poetic representation of China's whole history." Wang's response is difficult to read. "We need a simple story to tie the elements together," he says. "Maybe a love story."

Wang says the last time he was this excited about a project was back in the early days, when Wanda first made the leap from residential real estate to restaurants and shopping. This feels like a similar shift, he says, but on a grander scale. His new investments aren't just about appealing to deep-pocketed consumers in China and around the word. They're also about escaping the natural limits of real estate and entering a realm inhabited by global entertainment companies like Disney and News Corp., both of which he cites as models. "A transition from commercial retail to culture and tourism" is how he describes it.

Wang was in the U.S. recently, on a mission to scout for investment properties and raise his profile. He met with mayors (Michael Bloomberg in New York, Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles), entertainment types (producer Harvey Weinstein, Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton), and J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. The only problem? He discovered that his fully loaded G550 couldn't make it from Beijing to New York on a single tank of gas; he had to stop in Anchorage for refueling.

Some might see that as a metaphor. Here's a guy who made a fortune building apartments and office buildings in China. Now he thinks he can double his wealth by going Hollywood. Does he have that kind of range? He's looking to add a super-long-range G650 to his fleet. That should take him as far as he wants to go. For now.