At the beginning of last month, Forbes magazine's 2023 various selection lists were released in the spotlight, and Singapore's "Queen of Hotels" Zhu Mei and her father Zhu Zhangyuan were both on the list.
Among them, the 70-year-old chairman of Universal Hotels Group, Chu Zhangyuan, is on the list of the world's billionaires, ranking 10th in Singapore with a net worth of US$2.9 billion.
As for her daughter Zhu Mei, she is on the list of "The Most Influential Female Business People in the Asia-Pacific Region", and she is also the only Singaporean female billionaire on the list except for Ma Cuiwei, one of the co-founders of Hillhouse Capital.
"Come back and help Daddy!"
After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the tourism industry in various countries suddenly cooled, and the capital chain of the Universal Hotel Group had a big problem.
In desperation, Zhu Zhangyuan, who was anxious, had to open his mouth to his only daughter and recall her back to the family business to help.
Zhu Mei, who was only 25 years old at the time, lived up to her father's expectations, resolutely resigned from her job in the bank, carried out a drastic reform of the group's finances, and started her own road to "hotel queen".
Zhu Mei and her father Zhu Zhangyuan can be regarded as a very peculiar pair of business partners.
Zhu Zhangyuan is not without a son, such a huge family business "passes on to women but not to men", which is very rare in the Chinese world.
He dropped out of school in the third grade of primary school because of playfulness, and Zhu Zhangyuan couldn't read a few big characters in his life, which also led to his lack of education during his later business days:
"I never buy newspapers because I can only read pictures.
So there are a lot of things I don't know, I can only listen to them. ”
Because of this, he attaches great importance to the education of his children, and his three sons and one daughter have all grown up under his training.
Among the four brothers and sisters, daughter Zhu Mei is not the most educated, but she is the one with the best work ability.
I was admitted to Nanyang Polytechnic by my own ability, and I got an offer from the bank after graduation and I relied on my own interview.
What is rare is that although Zhu Zhangyuan has not received systematic education, he does not have the traditional East Asian concept of "preferring sons over women", and has always advocated "selecting the best and standing up".
In 2002, at the age of 25, Zhu Mei became the financial director of the family group, and since then she has gradually taken over various businesses, and now she is the unshakable second-generation head of the family.
Of course, her achievements now also prove that her father's choice was not wrong.
Speaking of Zhu Zhangyuan, he is very similar to Chen Shouting in the TV series "The Great Dyeing Workshop", he didn't go to school much, he didn't know a few big characters, but he was very business-minded.
Their learning model is also very similar: open their eyes to learn from workers, employees, and customers......
In short, while doing business, I also ask for knowledge from society.
After the age of 30, Zhu Zhangyuan, who finally realized the importance of culture, also invited teachers to learn Chinese characters and English to facilitate communication with customers from all over the world.
What's the matter, the brain doesn't become flexible with age, Lao Zhu is really not the material for learning, and he can't learn at all.
But not being able to learn the knowledge in books does not prevent Zhu Zhangyuan from doing business.
Later, Zhu Zhangyuan finally became enlightened:
"I don't put my mind in books, so the teacher teaches today, and I forget tomorrow.
However, my mind is on business, and business is fine. ”
A philosopher once said that living a life is like farming, where time and energy are spent, and where the harvest is.
(The philosopher is the author's old father.) ）
After dropping out of school in the third grade, Zhu Zhangyuan, who was only 10 years old, started selling ice cream, and all he thought about in his little head was how to make more money, so that he could study well?
It's not that "reading is useless", but that people are born different.
It is a blessing to be able to receive a complete school education, but it is not necessarily impossible to go any other way.
Zhu Zhangyuan's brain is very flexible, and he can always find business opportunities at a glance.
The small business before adulthood has a low cost of trial and error, so he is never limited to one road, and does whatever he sees to make money.
In addition to selling cold drinks, he also sold fish and touched the textile business, no matter how much he earned, he was more valuable than accumulating experience.
At the age of 21, Zhu Zhangyuan used his savings to buy his first shop, which soon increased in value, which also made him firm in his thoughts: to buy more land.
As he progressed to prominence, he bought the title deed of a shop in the Mall of Singapore, and throughout his life he lived by one principle:
"You have to have a freehold right to buy and hold it for a long time."
This was one of the most important factors in his subsequent entrepreneurial success.
After making money in business, Zhu Zhangyuan has a hobby: buying shops.
In the past 10 years, he has won a lot of shops in excellent locations in Singapore, and there are properties for rent in high-value locations such as City Mall and Sultan Mall.
These shops that were won by buying the bottom also earned Zhu Zhangyuan the first pot of gold, bringing a huge "after-sleep income".
However, it was the hotel industry that really catapulted him to the top 10 richest people in Singapore.
In the early 90s, when he and his wife traveled to Japan, they stayed in a local budget hotel.
Although the fees of these hotels are not high, they have the ultimate and comfortable accommodation experience, which has touched him very much.
"I see that even a small hotel can do well."
He has always "acted when he moves", and as soon as he returned to Singapore, he immediately began to plan to open a budget hotel.
In 1995, he opened his first store at Hotel 81 in Lorong 16 Geylang.
Why did you choose the number 81? This contains Zhu Zhangyuan's original intention of opening an economic hotel:
"Feel at home, 81 is the house number of my house, and I hope that my hotel will give every traveler [the feeling of home]."
At the time, budget hotels were still new in Singapore, but they were very popular after opening, and with their excellent service and low prices, Hotel 81 grew quickly and soon expanded to 28 chains.
Since then, he has developed 5 different brands of hotels, but all of them are mainly budget hotels.
Octagon Hotel under the Universal Group
When the time came, Zhu Zhangyuan integrated all its brands and founded Universal Hotel Group.
With 38 hotels and more than 6,500 rooms under his name, Zhu Zhangyuan had become a tycoon in Singapore's hotel industry at that time.
In addition to being well-managed, his iron investment rules are also the cornerstone of his step-by-step success:
"If you see it, you will do it, as long as the price, location, room type and other conditions are suitable, then buy it back!"
When he makes money, he buys land and shops, which makes him buy a lot of high-quality real estate during the economic downturn, and he also has a long-term philosophy for the properties he buys and rarely sells them.
"He never sold a hotel during a recession or a financial crisis."
This has allowed him to make a lot of profit in real estate investment.
With the development of the group, Zhu Zhangyuan's vision is no longer limited to Singapore:
"If you want to continue to grow, you have to go global, and Singapore is too small."
位于新加坡芽笼8巷(Geylang Lorong 8)的Hotel 81 Orchid的外部
Since then, Zhu Zhangyuan has successively opened up his own market in Australia, Malaysia and other countries.
However, as the industry became bigger and bigger, Zhu Zhangyuan gradually became a little overwhelmed.
Especially in the face of increasingly complex financial reporting, it is really difficult to read and write.
With the advent of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Singapore's hotel business was also greatly impacted, and Zhu Zhangyuan's Global Hotel Group bore the brunt of the financial and financial pressure.
After some thought, Zhu Zhangyuan made a decision to urgently recall his daughter Zhu Mei, who was doing a good job in the bank.
Zhu Mei is Zhu Zhangyuan's only daughter, the second in the family, the eldest brother and the second brother, both of whom returned to the family early to take up their posts.
Therefore, after completing her studies, Zhu Mei did not return to work in the family group as soon as possible, but went to work in the banking industry and sought development on her own.
Who would have thought that in the end, she would take over her father's mantle.
Like her father, Zhu Mei is a workaholic, and although she is a rich second generation, she is quite practical.
After only 3 years in the bank, she has shined in her job with her strong personal ability.
Initially, Zhu Mei was mainly responsible for the housing loan business, and was recognized by banks and customers for her ability to provide reasonable advice and advice, and was soon promoted to a regional office, reaching high-end customers in the financial field.
Therefore, according to Zhu Mei herself, she did struggle in her heart when she received her father's call at that time.
But in the end, Zhu Mei resigned and went home, immediately joined the accounting department, and took over the hot position of financial director.
Three years of banking work were not in vain, and after Zhu Mei's return, she quickly discovered the group's problems and carried out reforms with vigor.
"The top priority of the group is to sort out the accounting relationship and establish a financial foundation."
Zhu Zhangyuan also saw the financial problems, but due to his lack of professional ability, he could not come up with a good solution.
He was very pleased that his daughter was able to grasp the key issues at a glance.
With the financial and treasury experience accumulated in the bank, Zhu Mei began to reform and rebuild the group's financial system.
However, the financial work of the hotel group and the financial business of the bank are common to deal with, but not much.
Moreover, her father urgently recalled her, not just to make her a financial director.
Not only does she have to focus on finances, but she also stands tall and acts from the perspective and thinking of a leader.
My father doesn't know financial expertise, but he has rich experience in hotel management, and with Zhu Zhangyuan, a senior think tank, Zhu Mei has gradually become handy in adapting to her new role and work.
"My father was a very clear thinker, and he knew exactly what he wanted.
His strategic vision is also unmatched. ”
Speaking of her father, Zhu Mei looked proud.
As early as when the group only had more than 2,000 rooms, Zhu Zhangyuan insisted on building a large laundry factory with a total area of more than 60,000 square meters, and after Zhu Mei developed the group to more than 6,500 rooms, his own laundry factory was completely digestible.
It is no wonder that Zhu Mei sighed that her father was not only far-sighted, but also unique and detail-oriented, laying a solid foundation for the development of the group.
My father's trust and support, coupled with his own professional ability, is undoubtedly the king of "practical experience" + "financial theory".
Soon, Zhu Mei not only solved the original problems of the group, but also became a strong driver of the group's development.
She kept pace with the times, expanding her hotel business from economy to mid-market, and inherited her father's global ambitions to gradually expand overseas.
In 2018, Zhu Mei, who joined the company at the latest, "came first", surpassing the eldest brother in charge of human resources and the two younger brothers in charge of sales to become the president, which also marked the completion of the rudder change of the global group.
In 2019, Zhu Zhangyuan appeared on the Forbes Global Billionaires list for the first time, and has been on the list since then.
Among them, Zhu Mei contributed a lot.
The 70-year-old Zhu Zhangyuan has publicly stated:
At present, the main business of the group has been handed over to my daughter.
If she can solve it, I will let it go, and if it can't be solved, I will try to help a little, after all, I have been doing this business for a long time. ”
The father is willing to let go, the daughter is capable, and the development of the global group is naturally thriving.
Now, Zhu Zhangyuan has retreated behind the scenes, giving up the position of president to his daughter Zhu Mei, and even laughed in an interview:
"As long as my daughter doesn't fire me, I'll be 100 years old and come to my office every day."
Zhu Mei on the side also smiled:
"It's not okay, it's all my father's decision."
The family affection, tacit understanding and harmony between father and daughter are permeated in every word and deed.
Last year, with the support of her father, Jumei completed the largest hotel asset transaction in Singapore's history:
She has expanded the size of Universal Hotels Group's suite of rooms by buying the Parkroyal Hotel, formerly owned by Pan Pacific Hotels Group, for US$525 million.
Such a large amount of money shows that it is ambitious.
This young and energetic "hotel queen" of Singapore may open a new chapter in the development of the global group.
I'll wait for the visitors, just wait and see.
Resources:
Singapore Know-it-all: "Singapore's beautiful student inherits her father's business: she resigned at the age of 25 to join the family business, and became the CEO of Global Group in 10 years! 》
Financial Gossip Female Channel: "The daughter of a rich family was ordered to become a hotel boss at the age of 25, who said that they would only fight for their father?" 》
Jack-of-all-trades Singapore: "The Legendary Business Journey of a Kampung Man Who Didn't Graduate from Primary School: From Geylang to $2.7 Billion in 45 Hotels"
Livable Properties in Singapore: A Local Hotelier with Global Ambitions
Xingjia Poyan: "Among the most influential female entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region, these two Singaporeans are on the list! 》
Uncle Yuzu intensive reading: "The daughter of a rich family was ordered to become a hotel boss at the age of 25, who said that they would only fight for their father?" 》
Author: Sun Nier
Editor: Lu Yao