Zhang Yong

Net worth over time

Biography

• Restaurateur Zhang Yong is chairman and CEO of Sichuan hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding, which went public in 2018.
• Haidilao has nearly 1,400 restaurants in Greater China. It is renowned for its spicy dishes and attentive customer service, including free manicures for waiting customers.
• It spun off its overseas business Super Hi, which went public in Hong Kong in 2022 and had a dual listing on Nasdaq in 2024. Super Hi has over 100 restaurants in international markets.
• Having never finished high school, the entrepreneur says he didn't even know how to prepare the typical Sichuan hotpot when he started.
• Three friends, including Shu Ping who became his wife, helped with seed money, but he ran the place. He stepped down as CEO in 2022 to focus on long-term strategies, but returned to the post in 2026 to address a slump in the company's business performance.
• Haidilao means deep-sea fishing, or literally "scooping the bottom of the ocean."
• Zhang often spent the night in his first restaurant on a foldaway bed. His worst memory was breaking a $100 aquarium he had saved up for to display fresh seafood.

Financial assets