Wanxiang Group

Lu was born into a peasant family, dropped out of school at 15, and worked as an ironsmith before co-founding a small factory with six other farmers in July 1969 to produce small agricultural machines.

Lu grew the original agricultural-machinery workshop into Wanxiang Group, a large manufacturing conglomerate and leading producer of automobile components, while also serving as a part-time EMBA professor at Zhejiang University.

33 on the Forbes China Rich List with an estimated 13.13 billion yuan (about $1.87 billion) -- and was reported as the richest person in Zhejiang Province.

Co-founded a small agricultural-machinery factory with six other farmers in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou in July 1969.

The factory developed into Wanxiang Group, a large manufacturing conglomerate and a leading global producer of automobile components, with Lu remaining president of the board until his death in 2017.