But it may be ambition more than money, at least so far, that motivates him. "I want this company to be the greatest media group - the greatest media company in the world," he said in an interview. "I want Focus Media in every part of the world." He said he worked 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. and did not feel tired. He said he had no time for anything else, including spending his enormous wealth. (来源：英语学习门户 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

He has upgraded to a nicer home in recent years, he said, but has little time for sports or anything else. He is single and works through lunchtime at his desk, buying a $2.50 takeout meal nearly every day. "I think this is typical," he said of successful entrepreneurs in China.

Analysts call people like Jiang the country's best hope for innovation. "These young 30-something-year-old entrepreneurs have become billionaires, and they've become role models for others," said Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at Yale University. "They have totally energized Chinese entrepreneurs."

Rupert Hoogewerf, publisher of the Hurun Report, said 6 of the 10 richest self-made women in the world were also from China, including Zhang Yin, the founder of Nine Dragons Paper, which collects recycled paper from the United States and turns it into boxes in China.

The richest person in China, since last April, is also a woman: Yang Huiyan of Country Garden, the real estate company. Yang, 26, who did not grant an interview, is No. 1 on both rich lists and easily the richest woman in Asia. A graduate of Ohio State University, she is worth about $16 billion, making her richer than George Soros, Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs. Her father, a real estate developer in southern China, gave her most of the family's fortune in stock, just before Country Garden's blockbuster initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Keeping with their reputation for discretion, of about 15 billionaires contacted recently, only one, Jiang, agreed to be interviewed. They tend to hide their billions, friends say, sometimes with offshore purchases. Some even boast that they still get a $2 haircut.

Their stories, though, are remarkable. Huang Guangyu, 38, grew up in a poor village in southern China, where he and his brother started out selling plastic bottles and newspapers. Now, he controls Gome, one of the most popular electronics stores in the country.

The rise of the Chinese billionaire is remarkable not just because of the speed with which it has happened - the country opened up to capitalism only 25 years ago - but because it happened without the help of a single global brand: no Sony or Toyota. (But Japan has only 24 billionaires.)

Indeed, China's wealthiest, largely real estate tycoons or manufacturers, appear singularly focused on making it inside China, not outside.

That is the billionaires' next challenge, and some are already embracing it. Shi Zhengrong studied physics and solar energy in Australia before returning to China in 2001 to start up Suntech Power. Six years later, Shi's solar energy company is valued at $9 billion, its stock price up over 300 percent since its public stock offering in December 2005.

In an interview this year at his Shanghai headquarters, Shi discussed the role of solar power in China's development. As he finished the meeting, he smiled and said, "Some day, this company will be as big as Microsoft."

By David Barboza
the International Herald Tribune