Zong Qinghou Biography & Net Worth 

The successful Chinese businessman and entrepreneur Zong Qinghou is listed by Bloomberg Billionaire Index as one of the wealthiest people walking the surface of the earth today. His massive fortune has come from a number of business endeavors, primarily steered by Wahaha, a privately-held successful homegrown company in China that he chairs. In recent years, Mr. Zong has been cited as one of the biggest gainers on the list of the world’s billionaires after his wealth increased by 75 percent in 2017. His primary business, Wahaha, is a fast-growing producer of a mix of teas, bottled water, and other ready-to-drink concoctions. More details follow below.

Early Life

Zong was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, in October 1945, into a modest family who couldn’t do as much as pay for his education. Thus, he had little formal education. As soon as he finished secondary school, he took up work at the Zhoushan salt farm near their home.

Professional Life

In 1987, he began supplying milk to a mini-grocery in Shangcheng District. His business later expanded to sell soda, ice, and office supplies. It later became known as the Wahaha Group and forged on to register itself as the largest and most successful beverage supplier. The company entered into a collaboration with Group Danone, which involved the investment of $70 million in a number of joint venture companies in exchange for 51 percent Groupe Danone ownership in each company. He resigned as chairman of the joint venture in 2007 after he was accused of “operating parallel companies”.

Known for his simple wardrobe, for living on $20 a day, and for his gritty language from a youth spent during the peak of the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Zong is today, one of the wealthiest men in China. Many people recognize him for his role as the chief executive officer of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, and his lifestyle, as observed in recent times, provides insight into the work ethic responsible for the huge success of his company, and serves as an example for the flamboyance-prone business leaders around the world. The combination of humility and razor-sharp emphasis are key traits embodied by the businessman that all chief executive officers should prioritize. He credits his stripped-down lifestyle to his success in business and has retained his role as the leader of the Wahaha Company since its launch, and the sales and production divisions have been overseen by the same manager for at least 25 years.

Mr. Zong Qinghou, whose company has maintained a 60 percent annual growth rate since it started as a beverage maker, minimizes his distractions by limiting his choices. He sticks to a simple routine of tea and cigarettes as he proceeds through his day, managing an empire of 150 consumer products that recorded a profit of more than $8 billion in 2012. He also detests fancy meals and banquets and eats tofu and pickled vegetables every day, and makes it a theme to eat in his company’s staff cafeteria if he’s not away on a business trip.

Zong’s devotion to his businesses and duties clearly emerges from an unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. Even at 77, the businessman shows no signs of slowing down or relinquishing power to someone else. His 41-year-old daughter Kelly Zong, who currently assumes a senior role in the company, has been named by unverified sources to be his successor but the business magnate himself shows his awareness of the fact that he still has a while to go before retiring. He is hailed for this meek perspective and seems unfazed by his riches, which allows him to concentrate on the success of his company and not his social status.

His business records aside for a moment, Mr. Zong has been serving as a delegate to the Chinese National People’s Congress since 2002.

Personal Life

Ms. Shi Youzhen is the wife of this billionaire. She is the mother of his only child, their daughter, Fuli Kelly Zong. Shi works as the purchasing manager at Wahaha.

Mr. Zong formerly held permanent resident status in America, which he obtained to make his trips between China and the US easier so that he could look after his investments there better.

His daughter, Fuli, attended Pepperdine University in Southern California. She naturalized as a citizen of the United States but later moved back to China. The procedure to forfeit her US citizenship started in 2007.

Zong Qinghou Net Worth

This dedicated 77-year-old businessman, Zong Qinghou, is most noted for his diligent workaholic attitude and the keen attention he pays to every detail. Despite his declining age and stamina, he still hardly goes one day without monitoring his businesses. He is known for insisting on reviewing every office expense, lives on only $20 a day, and maintains a very modest lifestyle in which his only exercise is doing market research and his only hobbies are smoking and drinking tea. It is said that he sometimes sleeps in his office, and wakes up earlier than most other people for a new day’s work.

Although Zong Qinghou owns a net worth of $12 billion dollars, he remains a humble man and maintains a simple life. He never attended college, but today, he is one of the world’s wealthiest living billionaires, courtesy of his successful career, forged by hard work, resilience, and sheer brilliance.