After losing 93 billion yuan in five years, the former richest man in Hunan encounters a wealth "Waterloo"

In the newly released "2026 New Fortune 500 Wealth Creation List", Chen Bang, the former richest man in Hunan who heads Aier Eye Hospital, made the list again with a fortune of 4.398 billion US dollars.

Compared with his fortune of up to 13.7 billion US dollars when he made the list in 2021, the net worth of this private eye care tycoon has shrunk by about 9.3 billion US dollars in just five years.

As the founder of Aier Eye Hospital, Chen Bang seized the opportunity of relaxed policies in his early years and stepped into the field of eye treatment. Under his leadership, the market value of Aier Eye Hospital once approached 40 billion US dollars. However, as of the close on June 25, the latest market value of Aier Eye Hospital was only 7.7214 billion US dollars.

As the company's market value has shrunk significantly, Aier Eye Hospital is also facing certain pressure at the performance level. In 2025, the company's revenue increased slightly by 6.53%; the net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by 8.88% year - on - year, which was the first annual decline of this indicator since the company went public.

Private eye care tycoon Chen Bang's fortune shrinks by 930 million US dollars in five years

On June 23, Aier Eye Hospital issued an "Announcement on the Supplementary Pledge of Some Shares of the Company's Actual Controller", stating that the company recently received a notice from its actual controller, Chen Bang, and learned that Chen Bang had handled the supplementary pledge business for some of his shares in the company.

The announcement shows that the number of shares Chen Bang pledged this time is 14 million, accounting for 0.97% of his total shares and 0.15% of the company's total share capital. The pledge start date is June 22, 2026, and the pledge due date is January 19, 2027.

As of the date of the announcement, the cumulative number of shares pledged by Chen Bang is 261 million, accounting for 18.08% of his total shares and 2.8% of the company's total share capital.

Aier Eye Hospital emphasized that as of the date of the announcement, there is no risk of forced liquidation or margin call for the shares pledged by the company's controlling shareholder, actual controller and their concerted parties, which will not have a substantial impact on the production, operation and corporate governance of the listed company.

Aier Eye Hospital also said that the company will continue to monitor the changes and risks of the pledges and fulfill its information disclosure obligations as required. Investors are advised to pay attention to investment risks.

Leida Finance noticed that just one week before handling the supplementary pledge business, Chen Bang made it onto the "2026 New Fortune 500 Wealth Creation List" with a stock market value of 4.398 billion US dollars, ranking 84th on the list.

Tianyancha shows that Aier Eye Hospital Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as Aier Eye Hospital) was registered and established in January 2003, and its actual controller is Chen Bang.

As of the end of last year, Aier Medical Investment Group Co., Ltd. held 34.33% of the shares in Aier Eye Hospital. Chen Bang held 79.99% of the former and directly held 15.48% of the shares in Aier Eye Hospital.

Meanwhile, Li Li, who also made the list thanks to Aier Eye Hospital like Chen Bang, ranked 437th on the list with a fortune of 1.058 billion US dollars.

However, compared with their peak in 2021, both of their fortunes have shrunk significantly. On the "New Fortune 500 Wealth Creation List" announced that year, the fortunes of Chen Bang and Li Li were 13.7 billion US dollars and 3.264 billion US dollars respectively.

Based on this rough calculation, in just five years, the fortunes of Chen Bang and Li Li have shrunk by 9.302 billion US dollars and 2.206 billion US dollars respectively.

According to the 2025 annual report disclosed by Aier Eye Hospital, Chen Bang currently serves as the company's chairman, and Li Li serves as the vice - chairman and general manager. Last year, the total pre - tax remuneration of both of them from the company was 1.4878 million US dollars.

The once "Eye King" stock price has fallen from grace, and now it is making an impact on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

As the helmsman of Aier Eye Hospital, Chen Bang's entrepreneurial experience is deeply intertwined with the development of China's private medical industry.

According to public information, Chen Bang was born in September 1965 and had a military career in his early years. Later, due to red - green color blindness, Chen Bang was unable to enter a military academy and entered a state - owned enterprise to work.

However, Chen Bang, who was not content with a stable life, resolutely quit his "iron rice bowl" and ventured into business. He successively tried diversified businesses such as decoration, trade, and beverage agency.

In the 1990s, Chen Bang once accumulated huge wealth through the real estate business in Hainan, but then fell into the trough when the real estate bubble burst.

Facing adversity, Chen Bang actively looked for opportunities to turn the tables. As the policy window for the medical industry to open to social capital appeared, Chen Bang resolutely seized the opportunity and entered the then - niche eye care medical industry.

Leida Finance learned from the company's official website that in 2002, the Aier Eye Hospital brand was officially launched. In the same year, the first wholly - owned hospital of Aier, Changsha Aier Eye Hospital, was established.

In 2004, Aier Eye Hospital established the "graded chain" development model. Since then, with a good reputation, Aier Eye Hospital has continued to grow and expand.

In October 2009, Aier Eye Hospital successfully listed on the Growth Enterprise Market, becoming the first private medical institution in China to enter the capital market.

As a professional chain eye care medical institution, Aier Eye Hospital is mainly engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of various eye diseases, surgical services, and medical optometry and glasses fitting.

As of now, Aier Eye Hospital's medical network has spread across the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and other places, thus laying the strategic pattern for global development.

The financial report shows that as of December 31, 2025, Aier Eye Hospital had 391 domestic hospitals, 272 outpatient departments/clinics, and 179 eye centers and clinics had been established overseas, gradually forming a global medical service network.

After Aier Eye Hospital went public, its market value once approached 40 billion US dollars, and it was thus given the title of "Eye King" by the outside world. Benefiting from this, Chen Bang also once sat on the throne of the richest man in Hunan.

However, as of the close on June 25, the stock price of Aier Eye Hospital closed at 8.28 US dollars per share, and the latest market value was 7.7214 billion US dollars. As the stock price of Aier Eye Hospital declined, Chen Bang was also doomed to experience a "waterloo" in his fortune.

It is worth mentioning that in April this year, Aier Eye Hospital issued a "Prompt Announcement on Planning to Issue H - shares and List on the Stock Exchange". On May 27, Aier Eye Hospital officially submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Aier Eye Hospital said that listing in Hong Kong aims to promote the company's globalization strategy, build an international platform, and achieve the coordinated development of the industrial layout and capital structure.

It is worth noting that just one week before submitting the prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Aier Eye Hospital issued an announcement stating that after a self - inspection, the company needed to pay an additional tax of 348 million US dollars and a late - payment fine of 176 million US dollars, and at the same time increase the corporate income tax settlement and payment declaration amount for 2025 by 232 million US dollars.

The 7.7 - billion - US - dollar eye care giant faces challenges in performance

Although Aier Eye Hospital has been developing rapidly in recent years, it is facing certain challenges at the performance level.

Data from Flush iFinD shows that from 2009 when it went public to 2021, Aier Eye Hospital's revenue maintained a long - term high - speed growth trend in double - digits.

However, since 2022, except for a brief return to double - digit growth in 2023, the revenue growth rate of Aier Eye Hospital has dropped to single - digits in other years. Among them, Aier Eye Hospital achieved an annual revenue of 2.2353 billion US dollars last year, a year - on - year increase of 6.53%.

In terms of profitability, Aier Eye Hospital's performance was also disappointing. In 2023, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Aier Eye Hospital was 335.9 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 33.07%. In 2024, although the company's net profit attributable to the parent company increased to 355.6 million US dollars, the year - on - year growth rate dropped to 5.87%.

In 2025, the profit performance of Aier Eye Hospital was further under pressure. The company recorded a net profit attributable to the parent company of 324 million US dollars for the whole year, a year - on - year decrease of 8.88%. This was the first time that the annual net profit attributable to the parent company had a negative growth since the company went public in 2009.

Regarding last year's performance, Aier Eye Hospital explained that in 2025, affected by factors such as a reduction in government subsidies, a decline in fair - value change gains, and an increase in fixed costs such as depreciation and amortization due to the transfer of construction - in - progress projects to fixed assets after the new and relocated hospitals were put into operation, the company's net profit attributable to the parent company declined.

In 2025, Aier Eye Hospital's comprehensive gross profit margin was 47.11%, hitting a new low since 2019.

Looking at different business segments, the refractive project, as the revenue pillar of Aier Eye Hospital, saw its revenue increase by 10.26% year - on - year last year, but its gross profit margin decreased by 0.1 percentage points. Before that, in 2024, the gross profit margin of this business had already decreased by 2.28 percentage points.

As for the optometry service project, which ranked second in terms of revenue share, its revenue increased by 9.64% year - on - year last year, but its gross profit margin decreased by 2.57 percentage points.

The revenue of the cataract project even declined directly last year, a year - on - year decrease of 0.31%, and its gross profit margin also decreased by 1.24 percentage points.

In addition, the gross profit margins of Aier Eye Hospital's anterior - segment project, posterior - segment project, and other projects also decreased to varying degrees last year.

However, in the first quarter of this year, Aier Eye Hospital's performance improved. Its single - quarter revenue increased by 6.15% to 639.6 million US dollars, and the net profit attributable to the parent company increased by 12.46% to 118.1 million US dollars.

It is worth noting that the sharp increase in the number of institutions brought about by the rapid expansion has also brought considerable challenges to Aier Eye Hospital's operation and management.

According to the company's annual report, in 2025, medical disputes between Aier Eye Hospital's subsidiaries and patients led to the recognition of a provision for expected liabilities of about 2.55 million US dollars.

Where will Chen Bang, whose fortune has shrunk significantly from its peak, lead Aier Eye Hospital in the future? Leida Finance will continue to follow up.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Leida Finance". Author: Zhou Hui, Editor: Shen Hai. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.