Using the exogenous event that the actual controllers of listed companies are listed on the “Hurun Rich List”，this paper empirically studies the two paths that the listing affects audit fees：（1） Earnings management path. After the companies are on the list，downward earnings management is conducted to avoid political costs，which results in a decline in the quality of corporate accounting information and an increase in audit risk， which ultimately leads to an increase in audit fees.（2）Media attention path. After they are on the list，the companies receive more attention from the media and the risk of business elevates，which lead to the increase of audit risk，thus more audit fees are needed.This paper studies the impact of the external factors of the rich list on audit fees，which provides a new perspective for the research of audit fees，and makes us further understand the economic consequences of the actual controllers of listed companies on the rich list.