Wang Jian

Wang Jian (; 1961 – 3 July 2018) was a Chinese entrepreneur and billionaire. Together with Chen Feng, he was co-founder and co-chairman of Hainan Airlines and the conglomerate HNA Group, with assets worth US$230 billion as of 2018.

Wang died after a fall while traveling in Bonnieux, France, in July 2018. Despite widespread speculation and conspiracy theories, French police concluded that the death was accidental.

Biography Wang was born in Tianjin in 1961. He graduated from Civil Aviation University of China in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in aviation business management, and worked for the Civil Aviation Administration of China afterwards. He later received training at Japan Airlines on a scholarship from the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS), and earned an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands in 1995.

In 1990, Wang participated in the establishment of Hainan Airlines, based in Hainan province, and became the new company's chief executive. Together with partner Chen Feng, Wang also founded the conglomerate HNA Group, which grew to become the world's 170th largest company according to Fortune Global 500, with total revenue of US$53 billion in 2017.

Chen acted as the public face of the company, while Wang was a hands-on manager with a lower public profile. Both men were instrumental in HNA's phenomenal transformation from a small airline to a global conglomerate with assets worth US$230 billion, including major stakes in Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Deutsche Bank, NH Hotel Group, and ownership of Ingram Micro.

Death In July 2018, Wang made a business trip in France. On 3 July, he took a sightseeing detour with his colleagues in Bonnieux, a hilltop village in the region of Provence. He climbed onto a low wall above a cliff to have his picture taken, but lost his balance and fell backward, landing on rocks about below. He was pronounced dead a few hours later. and the prices of the company's dollar bonds fell after his death was confirmed. Hainan Airlines along with other airlines from HNA Group changed its website to a gray color scheme to honour his death.