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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 724 Daniel D'Aniello|# 726 Richard Li ➡

# 725 Zhang Yong 

$4.38B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$37.3M (0.85%)

# 725 Zhang Yong 

$4.38B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$37.3M (0.85%)
OccupationFounder, Haidilao
Source of WealthRestaurants
Age54
ResidenceSingapore, Singapore
Marital StatusMarried
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$6.58B
Zhang Yong
Zhang Yong
Singapore
Net worth: $4.38B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Overview

Zhang Yong, a China-born Singaporean billionaire, is the chairman and founder of the Haidilao restaurant group.
He was born and raised in Jianyang, Sichuan, China, and started his career as a welder, never having dined out until the age of 19.
In 1994, he opened the first Haidilao restaurant with just 4 tables, co-founding it with his wife Shu Ping and another couple.
The restaurant rapidly expanded, becoming the largest hotpot restaurant in their town, followed by the opening of a second location in 1998.
Despite having no formal education beyond high school, Zhang Yong's business philosophy centers around the cultural significance of hot pot in reuniting qi and Dao.
In March 2022, Zhang stepped down as CEO to concentrate on long-term strategies for the company's growth.

Published Work

Zhang Yong authored 'Learn from Hai Di Lao' in 2011, a publication likely focusing on business insights and strategies from his experience with Haidilao.

Personal Life

Zhang Yong is married to Shu Ping, who is also a co-founder and non-executive director of Sichuan Haidilao Catering.
They have a son together.
In 2018, Zhang Yong and his family relocated to Singapore, where he later became a naturalized citizen.

Haidilao

History
Haidilao was established in March 1994 by Zhang Yong and three other founders with an initial investment of 8,000 Yuan.
The company prioritized customer service, leading to rapid growth beyond Sichuan province within five years.
In 2018, Haidilao served over 160 million customers, boasting an average daily table turnover rate of 5.0 and over 36 million VIP members.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Haidilao closed its stores in mainland China in January 2020, causing significant losses, but gradually reopened as cases decreased.
Haidilao expanded internationally, with over 180 chains globally, including in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and others.
To fund further expansion, Haidilao raised nearly US$1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO in 2018.

Operations
Haidilao enforces rigorous standards for selecting food suppliers, ensuring quality ingredients for their dishes.
Restaurants offer over 20 dipping sauces, side dishes like peanuts and cucumbers, and allow customers to select up to four different soup bases in one pot.
Some Haidilao outlets feature automated kitchens with robot chefs and food delivery robots to enhance efficiency.
The company introduced a 'Hi to send' delivery service in 2003, providing customers with an electromagnetic pan and induction cooker for at-home hotpot dining.
Every Haidilao restaurant provides a range of complimentary services, including nail salons, children's play areas, car washes, and free snacks and beverages.
During meals, staff offer aprons, mobile phone bags, and small hairpins for long-haired customers, along with special gifts for celebratory occasions.

How long would it take you to become as rich as Zhang Yong?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Zhang Yong's net worth of $4.38B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 52.22% compared to 16.62% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Zhang Yong is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Zhang Yong, Restaurants is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey