The Ledger / Zhang Yong
Zhang Yong
◼ Origin
Sichuan-born entrepreneur who co-founded Haidilao International Holding Ltd (HKEx: 6862) in Jianyang, Sichuan, in 1994 alongside his wife Shu Ping, with a single street-side hotpot stall; built Haidilao into the world's largest hotpot restaurant chain with 1,300+ locations across 40+ countries, known for its theatrical tableside service (hand-pulled noodle performances, manicures while waiting). Haidilao's 2018 Hong Kong IPO raised HK$7.4B; Zhang stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remains a major shareholder through his Singapore family office.
◼ Self-Made Verdict — YES
Co-founded Haidilao in 1994 from a single street-side hotpot stall with ¥8,000 in savings, without inherited capital or industry connection; built the world's largest hotpot chain through original service innovation and disciplined expansion.
◼ Documented marks
01
Founder of Haidilao International Holding (HKEx: 6862), the world's largest hotpot restaurant chain with 1,300+ locations across 40+ countries and HK$41B (~$5.2B) in 2023 revenue; Haidilao's competitive moat is its service culture — trained waitstaff perform noodle-pulling acrobatics tableside, offer manicures to waiting customers, and are compensated partly on customer satisfaction metrics.
02
In August 2017, Beijing Television broadcast undercover footage of Haidilao's Laobaixing and Beixinqiao locations in Beijing showing rat droppings in kitchens, live rats, cockroaches, and unclean food storage conditions; the Beijing Food and Drug Administration ordered the two restaurants to suspend operations. Haidilao's public apology — which acknowledged fault directly and pledged inspection access — was widely praised as a model crisis response, but the footage documented genuine food safety failures at restaurants with hundreds of daily customers.
03
Zhang Yong stepped down as Haidilao's CEO in November 2022 and transferred operational management to a professional team while retaining majority ownership through his Singapore family office; the transition came as Haidilao was contracting (reducing from 1,400+ locations at the pandemic peak to ~1,300) after over-expansion during 2020–2021 led to significant unit-level losses.
No inheritance, or primary accounts documented for this billionaire yet.
◼ List of charges
Total sentence
0–0 years
That is
0.0–0.0 life sentences
(using 78 years as one life)
These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.
More ledger entries