Singapore — Zhang Yong, chairman of hot pot giant Haidilao, saw a S$6.9 billion drop in his net worth, following news of around 300 Haidilao outlets being closed or suspended due to poor performance.
In 2019, Forbes named the 47-year-old restaurant tycoon Singapore’s richest man, with US$13.8 billion (S$18.6 billion).
As of Tuesday (Nov 9), Mr Zhang’s net worth was at US$8.7 billion (S$11.7 billion). He currently stands at 75th in Forbes’ Billionaires 2021 list.
On Nov 8, Haidilao International Holding announced it would close or suspend around 300 outlets due to relatively low customer traffic following the company’s rapid expansion in the last two years.
The Hong Kong-listed company said it would not lay off employees and will properly settle the employees at such restaurants.
Haidilao was started with seed money among three friends, one of whom became Mr Zhang’s wife.
It was reported that Mr Zhang never finished high school and didn’t know how to prepare the Sichuan hotpot recipe when he started the business.
Mr Zhang initially ran the business himself, ensuring good customer service. Waiting customers are even offered free manicures while they waited for their table.
As of the end of June 2021, Haidilao has 1,597 restaurants, with 18 in Singapore.
The rapid expansion showed a 70 per cent jump from the 935 branches it had in 2020.
Haidilao did not reveal which markets specifically would be affected by the closure.
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In 2021, the co-founder of Sea Limited, Forrest Li, was named Singapore’s richest man.
Mr Li saw a 67 per cent increase in shares in 2021, leaving him with a net worth of S$20.3 billion.
Included in Sea Limited’s portfolio are Shopee – the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Garena – a Singaporean online game developer and publisher of free games. /TISG
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