No 2 Dong Mingzhu

Age 59

President of Gree Electric Appliances

Dong Mingzhu has been working at Gree for more than 20 years and has made the company the biggest air-conditioner retail firm in the world.

The company reported a 19.9 percent year-on-year increase in sales to more than $19.58 billion in 2013. Dong's next goal is for the company to increase at least 20 billion yuan ($3.26 billion) in sales by 2014.

Dong Mingzhu, president of Gree Electric Appliances, gives a speech in a university in Wuhan, Hubei province, on June 9, 2014.[Photo/IC]