You is the founder of Huafon Group, China's largest producer of polyurethane products. The Wenzhou, Zhejiang-based group had revenue of 60.1 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in 2024 and controls three publicly-traded units. They include Huafon Chemical, which had revenue of 26.9 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in 2024.
The majority of You's fortune is derived from his controlling stake in Huafon Group, a conglomerate of industrial manufacturing companies. The group reported revenue of 60.1 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in 2024, according to the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce's top 500 companies list. It's the largest maker of polyurethane products in China, according to its website.
You, with his two brothers and two sons, control all of the Wenzhou, Zhejiang-based group, according to filings to China's business registry. The three publicly-traded units of Huafon Group are valued separately in this analysis, and the group's other businesses are valued using reported financial results and the average enterprise value-to-sales and price-to-earnings multiples of three publicly traded peers: Tangshan Sanyou Chemical Industries Co Ltd, Shanghai Huayi Group Co Ltd and Innovation New Material Technology Co Ltd.
Through Huafon Group and family members, You controls 67% of Shenzhen-traded Huafon Chemical, based on its 2025 semi-annual report. They also hold a 28% stake in Huafon Microfibre Shanghai Technology, another unit that trades in Shenzhen, according to its 2025 semi-annual report.
The family own 72% of Shanghai Huafon Aluminium, according to the 2025 semi-annual report filed to the city's stock exchange.
Cash holdings are based on an analysis of insider transactions, dividends, market performance and taxes.
Chu Yuxi, a spokesperson for Huafon Group, didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
You was born in January 1958 in Wenzhou, a city in southeast China. He obtained a degree in economics from the China University of Geosciences.
At the age of 15, he started working in a state-owned plastics factory and became its director after 18 years. You learnt about polyurethane, a relatively new material in China, from a field trip. He proposed the introduction of a new production line for the material but was rejected by the factory's management.
You founded his own factory in 1991 and started making plastic woven bags before expanding to polyurethane production. In 2006, he listed the company's chemical unit, Huafon Chemical, on the Shenzhen stock exchange; it was the first Wenzhou-based company to be publicly traded in China.
Huafon Group later listed two other units, Huafon Microfibre and Shanghai Huafon Aluminium, in 2011 and 2020 respectively.
Huafon Group's businesses span trading, energy, finance and logistics sectors.