A former factory girl is set to become China 's richest woman - worth nearly £4.9 billion . Zhou Qunfei , 45 , will top the rich list after her company LENS Technology went public on the Growth Enterprise Market , reports The People 's Daily . Shares for the company , which supplies protective window glass used in Apple devices , have rocketed since the Initial Public Offering ( IPO ) on March 5 . Rich : Zhou Qunfei , who launched Lens Technology , is one of richest women in China . Having risen to 45 times their value , the rise is certain to propel Zhou , who owns nearly 98 per cent of the company , to become China 's richest woman . Her husband , Zheng Junlong , has 1.4 per cent of company shares , taking their combined ownership to more than 99 per cent . Microsoft owner Bill Gates : £45.5 billion . Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg : £17 billion . Britain 's richest person , landlord Gerald Grosvenor : £7.7 billion . Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich : £5.4 billion . Virgin founder Richard Branson : £3 billion . Film director Steven Spielberg : £2 billion . American business tycoon Donald Trump : 2.7 million . Designer Ralph Lauren : £4.2 billion . Originally a 'factory girl ' in Shenzhen , her growth in the industry has earned her the nickname 'Queen of mobile phone glass , ' commanding an annual salary of more than £1.5 million . According to company sources , Zhou worked at Bai En for many years and left before founding Lens Technology - which is now the company 's biggest competitor - in 2003 . Born in the Hunan province , she relocated to Guangdong where she learned how to make glass for watches before later moving onto the multimedia , consumer electronics and the mobile device screen market she would later dominate . Big earner : Richard Branson was worth £3 billion last year . Shortly after establishing the company - which specialises in the production of protective window glass , used in mobile phones , tablet PCs , notebook PCs , and consumer electronic products - she moved the factory to her home town of Hunan . Brokers estimate that Lens Technology 's market value could reach 53 billion yuan with Zhou 's personal worth climbing to 46.6 billion yuan , or £4.87 billion . It shipped 476 billion pieces of protective glass in 2013 , including 451 million for mobile phones and 25.5 million for table PCs , with a market share of 23.37 per cent . Humble beginnings : Zhou Qunfei started her working life in a factory and is now thought to be the richest woman in China worth nearly £5 billion ( stock image )
Her company LENS Technology supplies window glass for Apple devices . 45-year-old started work as factory girl at rival glassmaker Bai En . Initial Public Offering has seen shares rocket to 45 times value .