Building on success in overseas markets

While participating in a series of major infrastructure projects such as Beijing-Shanghai Highway, Nanjing Metro and Nanjing Airport Express, Yan also found a shortcut for expansion - to purchase the poorly performing building enterprises owned by the government.

Since 2002, Yan has purchased 31 large SOEs nationwide. By bringing these companies back to life and providing job opportunities to local society, Yan has built up a close relationship with local authorities and ensured that he gets a steady stream of contracts.

Another reason that made Yan popular with local governments was his Build-Transfer model. Pacific Construction invests its own cash into the projects in the early stage and then sells it back to the government when complete. This model has helped ease the financial strains for some local governments, especially cash-strapped governments in less-developed provinces.

With China's massive infrastructure investment in the first decade of 21st century, the expansion of Pacific Construction also seems unstoppable.

Along with his business success, Yan's personal fortune also swelled. From 2004 to 2005, Yan's fortune grew from 1 billion yuan to 12.5 billion yuan, which put him in the second place on Hurun Rich List 2005, a ranking for China's richest people.

However, what came with fame and fortune were more questions about Yan's belligerent attitude and his BT business model. In 2006, rumors about funding problems saw lenders calling in their loans and a 30 percent depreciation in Yan's personal wealth.

Yan overcame the funding crisis and improved his personal wealth to $3 billion. However, in 2011 he decided to take a back seat and entrust Pacific Construction's chairmanship to his son - Yan Hao. The 28-year-old is now in charge of a company with total assets of $30 billion. The only comparable rival of the same generation might be 30-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, which has total assets of around $17.8 billion.

Unlike his father, Yan Hao never speaks in a high voice, though he is much bigger in size. He strictly follows the script when speaking, different from the senior Yan who is known for his inspirational speeches.

"I will not be 'mad' anymore, I have my own path to follow," Yan Hao said.

But when you can dine with a former US president in your 20s and have a Nobel laureate as the chief witness at your wedding ceremony, the path is pretty much determined.

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