HNA Group co-founder and chairman Wang Jian has died in a fall in France.
The 57-year-old was touring Provence when he climbed on a high parapet to take photos outside Bonnieux, the BBC reported police as saying.
Wang helped turn HNA into a huge conglomerate, with aviation, tourism and finance interests alongside shipping.
It has a major stake in Deutsche Bank and owns 24 bulkers and boxships, plus four tankers on order in China.