China-watchers have been quick to point out that, before running afoul of the law, what all four had in common was a flamboyant style, and a willingness to display their new-found wealth before the media.
The arrests sent out a clear message from the Chinese authorities: while it is now okay to get rich, flaunting it will get you in to hot water. That makes the rich list a potential problem for those seeking to quietly generate enormous wealth.
When Forbes Magazine recently released a list of China's highest earning celebrities, several stars publicly denied the income attributed to them.
Construction magnate, Du Sha, listed eighth on this year's rich list, publicly declared that his money is "clean", stressing to Chinese media that he had "never bribed anyone or done anything filthy".
Others ranked on the rich list have pleaded with compiler Hoogewerf to be omitted from his rankings.
But China's richest individual, Huang Guangyu, says he has a clean financial record, and little to fear from the authorities.
"The rich list doesn't mean a great deal to me," he said. "I just want to do a good job of running my company."
