Fame over fortune
In 1999, Wang resigned as Vanke's president and handed power to Yu Liang, becoming the board chairman.
After the resignation, Wang became a lifestyle icon and started climbing mountains, becoming the oldest Chinese person to reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma.
In 2011, he started studying at the top universities in the West.
Wang again took center stage at Vanke when Baoneng emerged to threaten the broad ownership strategy that Wang had long pursued for his company.
In December 2015, Shenzhen Jushenghua Co and Foresea Life Insurance Co, two units of Baoneng, quietly bought up Vanke's shares with leveraged capital, increasing their stake in Vanke to 24.29 percent and overtaking the State-backed China Resources as the largest shareholder.
The conflict between Vanke's management - led by Wang - and major shareholders escalated when Wang's plan to bring in a new major shareholder hit the news, upsetting the company's current owners.
Wang's lack of communication with major shareholders was to blame, Hua Sheng, one of Vanke's four independent directors, wrote in a letter published in the Shanghai Securities News on June 24.
"When State-owned China Resources, the company you trusted and relied on, has publicly aligned with a hostile bidder you are trying to stop ... It's like a storm that is about to break or your mom is going to remarry. What can you say?" Wang wrote in a post on a personal social media account on June 26, after China Resources openly opposed his restructuring plan.
For many years, China Resources, the biggest shareholder before Baoneng, never held more than 20 percent of the company and didn't interfere much with Vanke's operations.
However, media reports have said that the relationship between the two companies has cooled since China Resources appointed a new chairman, Fu Yuning.
Wang had been good friends with China Resources's previous chairman Song Lin, who was sacked in August 2014 for serious violation of disciplines, which is a euphemism for corruption.
Many also attributed the awkward situation to Wang's arrogance toward Baoneng.
He openly said in social media that he didn't welcome Baoneng, which lacks credibility and may have a negative impact on Vanke's corporate culture.
But perhaps the most deeply rooted mistake should be dated back to 1988 when Vanke underwent a joint-stock reform.
In his book, Wang said under the 1988 stock reform, about 10 percent or about 500,000 shares could be held by the management. But Wang and his management team chose to give up those shares.
It was dangerous to suddenly have such a large sum of wealth back then. "You have to pick one from fame and fortune," Wang said, according to a report on guba.eastmoney.com in June.
He picked fame, and applied a highly dispersed shareholding structure in Vanke, which he said allowed him to be a professional manager.
"I believe I can control and manage the company through my ability, not a controlling stake," he said.
