What is Zhang Chaoyang's Net Worth?
Zhang Chaoyang, also known internationally as Charles Zhang, is a Chinese businessman and investor with a net worth of $425 million. Born to humble physician parents near Xi'an, China, Zhang showed an early interest in science. He was admitted to the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he studied physics before moving to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a full scholarship. In 1993, Zhang graduated from MIT with a PhD in Experimental Physics.
Post-graduation, Zhang served as MIT's liaison officer for China. After nearly two years, he joined Internet Securities Inc. (ISI) in late 1995 and returned to Beijing to establish ISI's China operations. During his time at ISI, Zhang conceptualized his own Internet search engine company, culminating in the founding of Internet Technologies China (ITC) in 1996 with the help of venture capital, marking the first VC-funded Chinese Internet company.
The turning point for ITC came in May 1997 when Zhang met Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo. Inspired, Zhang rebranded ITC to Sohu. Sohu's search engine soon became a household name in China. To raise capital, Zhang orchestrated four mergers with other Chinese Internet companies, and on July 12, 2000, Sohu was listed on NASDAQ. Despite the dotcom crash in the early 2000s, Zhang's leadership helped Sohu survive and evolve into one of China's most recognized Internet stocks, with a market valuation of around $2 billion.
