October 26, 2024 – 15:30
A true example of effort rewarded, how he managed to go from poverty to earning millions without help.
Zhang Xin He was born in Beijing on August 24, 1965. His parents were Burmese and moved to China in search of a better life. Both became foreign language translators. During the time of the Chinese cultural revolution, her parents separated and she went to live with her mother in Hong Kong in a modest room that barely fit 2 people.
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For 5 years, Xin worked in factories. First in garment industries and then in electronics factories. During that time he raised enough money to pay for his education abroad. At the age of 19 he was able to travel to London and stay there. He took an English course at the Secretariat School, Oxford.
Zhang Xin
From Poverty to the Top of China: Zhang Xin’s Story
In 1987 he obtained a scholarship that allowed him study economics at the University of Sussex. He graduated in 1992 with a master’s degree in Development Economics from the University of Cambridge. His thesis was on the privatization of China, which enabled him to get a job at Barings PLC, a company that was seeking students with knowledge in the area.
In 1993 that company was purchased by Goldman Sachs and it was transferred to New York City. There he helped take privatized Chinese companies public. In 1995 she returned to China and married Pan Shiyi, with whom she co-founded Hongshi, which later became Soho China. An important company in the real estate sector.
Ten years after the company was founded, they were already the largest real estate developer and Zhang Xin became known as “the woman who built Beijing”. In 2008 the couple were described as “China’s most visible and extravagant property tycoons”.
In 2011 the company expanded and diversified, also leasing space and acquiring a $600 million stake in Park Avenue Plaza, New York. Also, they bought 40% of General Motors in 2014. In that year, they launched the charitable initiative “SOHO Scholarships” to finance low-income Chinese students.
What is Zhang Xin’s net worth, according to Forbes
Currently, Zhang
