China’s Wang Jianlin buys £80m London home on Kensington Palace Gardens

Property tycoon Wang Jianlin – worth more than £20bn – bought ten-bedroom home on Kensington Palace Gardens
Unique London mansion boasts nine bathrooms, several grand entertaining rooms and an indoor swimming pool
Land Registry documents show the lease was agreed between The Crown Estate, The Queen and Mr Wang’s wife
Mansion, which needs fixing up, is likely to be worth up to £140million, or £7,000 per square foot when refurbished

Lydia Willgress for MailOnline

Published:
17:18 GMT, 18 December 2015

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Updated:
19:27 GMT, 18 December 2015

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China’s richest man has forked out a whopping £80million Grade II-listed home on London’s most desirable street.

Property tycoon Wang Jianlin, who is worth more than £20billion, has bought a ten-bedroom home on Kensington Palace Gardens, which is on the same super-secure street as Roman Abramovich and Tamara Ecclestone.

Wang, who owns Dorset-based Sunseeker Yachts, is now expected to spend tens of millions giving the mansion a makeover.

China’s richest man property tycoon Wang Jianlin has forked out a whopping £80million Grade II-listed home on London’s most desirable street

The property, which was previously the home of the Nigerian High Commissioner, boasts nine bathrooms, grand entertaining rooms and an indoor swimming pool.

When the mansion was originally sold in 1856, it cost Kensington gentleman Peter Carthew around £7,000.

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Fully refurbished, the mansion is likely to be worth up to £140m, or £7,000 per square foot.

The staggering deal was revealed by the London Evening Standard. Guiliana La Pera, the buying agency reported to have worked on the deal, declined to comment.

The ten-bedroom home on Kensington Palace Gardens is on the same super-secure street as Roman Abramovich and Tamara Ecclestone’s properties. Above, one of the mansion’s grand reception areas

An indoor swimming pool is one of the many features Wang will be able to enjoy, with the luxurious pool including Classical-themed architecture

The property’s pea green dining room boasts a massive table that can sit 21 people and windows that look out to the exclusive street

One of the bedrooms at 15A Kensington Palace Gardens has a pinky red theme to it, with curtains around the spacious bed

But documents from the Land Registry show a lease has been agreed between The Crown Estate, The Queen and Lin Ning, who is Mr Wang’s wife.

Property consultant Charles McDowell said the mansion was a unique buy.

He said: ‘It is not very often a house comes onto the market on Kensington Palace Gardens. This home has palatial dimensions, is very large and has a nice indoor swimming pool.

‘It is a very good home which in a good position on Kensington Palace Gardens but it does need to be modernised.

‘The road is a desirable place to live because it is secure, which is very important, is in a good location and is also a very attractive road.

Documents from the Land Registry show a lease has been agreed between The Crown Estate, The Queen and Lin Ning, who is Mr Wang’s wife

The property, which was previously the home of the Nigerian High Commissioner, has ten bedrooms including a beautifully-decorated double room

The master bathroom in the 10-bed mansion has a marble flooring and wooden touch to the bathing and washing areas

This picture shows the grand drawing room of 15A Kensington Palace Gardens, which is on Billionaires Row in London

‘Finding houses like this in London is difficult which makes Kensington Palace Gardens unique.’

The deal will see Wang, who is ranked by Forbes as one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men, pay a stamp duty bill of £9,513,750.

His wealth is said to have more than doubled in the past year after taking his property firm, Dalian Wanda Commercial, public.

Wang is the latest billionaire to move onto Kensington Palace Gardens, which is now known to many as Billionaires’ Row.

Neighbours include Lakshmi Mittal, Leonard Blavatnik and Foxtons founder Jon Hunt. The couple’s immediate next-door neighbour will be Roman Abramovich, who moved to the street in 2005 and is currently looking to extend his home.

He is now likely to be the richest individual on a street, which also includes the Russian, Nepalese, Israeli and Romanian embassies.

A 61-YEAR-OLD BUSINESSMAN WHO ROSE FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO BECOME THE RICHEST CHINESE PERSON IN THE WORLD

Wang Jianlin is thought to be the richest Chinese person in the world

Wang Jianlin is thought to be the richest Chinese person in the world.

The 61-year-old, who is the chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, was estimated by the Hurun Research Institute to be worth more than £20billion following the recent flotation of several assets.

The billionaire has previously been ranked by Forbes as the richest man in China and the 29th richest man in the world.

Wang, who was born in October 1954 in Sichuan, south west China, followed in the footsteps of his father by joining the People’s Liberation Army aged just 15.

After a period working in politics, he turned his hand to business.

In 1988, he founded Wanda Group in Dalian, eastern China, reportedly with just $80,000 (£53,000).

The conglomerate now owns hundreds of shopping malls, five-star hotels, cinemas and karaoke chains around the world.

Through the company, he has bought majority shares in Sunseeker International Ltd – a British yacht company that has previously made boats for James Bond films.

He also made land investments in Vauxhall, south London, where One Nine Elms has now been built.

The total value of these British investments in 2013 were estimated to be $1.6billion (£1.07bn).

At the time, the businessman was reported saying ‘land prices are much cheaper than in Beijing’.

Outside of the UK, Wang has also bought a large stake in Atlético Madrid as well as US cinema chain AMC.

Wang knocked internet mogul Jack Ma from the top spot on China’s richest list at the beginning of this year.

Former English teacher Ma shot into the rich list after a record-breaking $25billion initial public offering for his e-commerce Alibaba Group on the New York Stock Exchange.

The 51-year-old is now pushing into financial services, including a consumer money market fund and a private bank.

He also has more than a dozen other investments, from a stake in a soccer team to a film production studio.