Chinese tycoon Huang Guangyu has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of bribery, insider trading and illegal business practices.
Huang, who was for a time the richest man in China, was also fined 600 million yuan ($88m; £59m), the official Xinhua news agency said.
He built a billion-dollar business from almost nothing, after dropping out of school nearly 30 years ago.
His business grew into a chain of more than 1,300 stores across China.
The Gome chain of domestic appliance shops was the second largest in the country.
The BBC’s southern China correspondent, Chris Hogg, says canny investments in property helped Mr Huang build a fortune estimated to be between $2.7bn (£1.72bn) and $6.3bn at the time of his arrest.
The case was the highest profile yet involving an entrepreneur in China.
In 2008 Mr Huang topped the Hurun Report’s China rich list.
A few months later he was arrested and he went on trial in Beijing last month.
He had been accused of manipulating share trading for two listed companies – Sanlian Commercial Co and Beijing Centergate Technologies Co, Xinhua reported before his trial.
Gome Appliances Co, a mainland subsidiary of the firm Mr Huang founded, was also accused of corporate bribery.
He stepped down as Gome’s chairman last year.
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