The assets of "hero" Kim Dung
In the 1990s, Kim Dung was on the list of Hong Kong millionaires with a fortune of 153 million USD.
SheetThe Beijing NewsKim Dung is considered a master of martial arts novels, the cultural legacy he left behind cannot be evaluated by money. In his career of publishing newspapers and writing novels, with his talent, he built a huge fortune.
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Novelist Kim Dung. |
In 1959, Kim Dung founded the company.Ming Pao(published the newspaper of the same name), Since he published his work onMing Pao, this newspaper had a stable readership. In July 1962, the circulation of this newspaper exceeded 30,000 copies per day. In 1963, the average daily circulation of the newspaper was 50,000 copies. When it went public, Kim Dung's company was valued at 870 million HKD (110 million USD), in which the writer held 60% of the shares. Since 1992, Kim Dung began selling his shares. According to statistics from a magazine in the same year, Kim Dung ranked 64th on the list of Hong Kong's richest people with assets of 1.2 billion HKD (about 153 million USD).
After withdrawing the positions atMing PaoEven though he stopped writing novels, Jin Yong still had a large amount of royalties. In 2010, the writer earned 3.5 million yuan (446 thousand USD, or 11.7 billion VND) in copyright for publishing books in China. In 2011, this figure was 2.2 million yuan. In 2015, he earned 8.5 million yuan in royalties.
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In early 2018, MacLehose Press (UK) published "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". This publishing house plans to translate and publish two more books, "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber". |
In addition, Kim Dung also acquired the copyright to adapt novels into movies and games. Over the past decade, almost every year there has been an adaptation, this year there are at least two movies being filmed.The Condor HeroandThe Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
An intellectual property lawyer said that according to market prices and Kim Dung's influence, video games adapted from novelsDemi-Gods and Semi-Devils, copyright could exceed 100 million yuan ($14.3 million).
The writer's team focuses on copyright protection. In August, the Chinese author Jiang Nan was ordered by a court to compensate Jin Yong 1.88 million yuan (nearly 270 thousand USD, equivalent to 6.3 billion VND) for using the names Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Qiao Feng... as the names of students in his works.
Industries originating from Kim Dung's stories also include tourism.Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province has a Jin Yong-themed tourist attraction, with an entrance fee of 60 yuan. A Jin Yong-themed martial arts theme park is being built in Zhejiang Province, where the writer was born.
According toSeehuaIn 2007, Kim Dung bought a property in Hong Kong for 5.58 million HKD. The current market value of this property is nearly 12 million HKD (1.5 million USD). Meanwhile, his wife - Lam Nhac Di - owns many properties with a total value of more than 600 million HKD (76 million USD).
The writer passed away at a hospital in Hong Kong on October 30. Many artists such as Lee Ruotong (who played Little Dragon Girl), Lu Tung Hien (Linghu Chong)... expressed that without Jin Yong, they would not have been able to gain fame. Billionaire Jack Ma wrote on his personal page: "If it weren't for you, I don't know if there would be Alibaba. You gave me the two words "Thien Hanh", I will remember it for the rest of my life." Action star Jackie Chan wrote: "Great hero Kim Dung, rest in peace. It's a pity that I never played your character, but I always looked forward to your martial arts world. Your great master spirit is an asset to be left to future generations. I bid you farewell."
