Zhang Yong (restaurateur)


Zhang Yong is a Singaporean Chinese billionaire who is the founder of the Haidilao International Holding Ltd restaurant group, best known for its Hai Di Lao chain of hot pot restaurants. At the end of 2018, Haidilao Hot Pot had 466 direct-operated stores in operation in more than a hundred cities. Zhang also holds majority stake in Haidilao Catering< Hai Di Lao International Holding and Yihai International.

Biography

Zhang Yong was born and grew up in Jianyang, Sichuan, China. He started work as a welder, and did not eat in a restaurant until he was 19.
In 1994, he quit his job in a tractor factory and opened a restaurant with 4 tables to seat customers, the first Hai Di Lao, which was cofounded by the couples Zhang Yong and wife Shu Ping, and Shi Yonghong and wife Li Haiyan.
The restaurant quickly became the largest hotpot restaurant in town. A second restaurant, Lou Wai Lou, opened in 1998. In 2010, the company opened its own training school of restaurant management.
In 2013, Hai Di Lao opened for the first time in the US, in Los Angeles.

Published work

As of September 2019, Forbes estimated his net worth at $15.1 billion, making him China's richest restaurateur. He ranked #224 on Forbes' 2019 Billionaires list, 3rd richest man in Singapore.

Personal life

Zhang is married to Shu Ping, a co-founder and non-executive director of Sichuan Haidilao Catering, and they live in Singapore. They are naturalised Singaporean citizens, and have a son.