Suning boss burns billion-dollar fortune as soured bet on Inter Milan delivers blow to founder’s ‘Walmart plus Amazon of China’ dream
- Oaktree’s takeover of Italian football club wiped out Zhang’s fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
- At its peak in 2015, Zhang Jindong’s wealth surpassed US$11 billion as his firm pushed to become the ‘Walmart plus Amazon of China’
Zhang Jindong was worth about US$6 billion when he bought almost 70 per cent of the club in 2016. His private company, Suning Holdings Group, lacked the name recognition of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding or Hui Ka Yan’s China Evergrande Group, but Zhang was close to both founders and no less ambitious.
Buying Inter Milan would “raise the standards of local football, and also raises Suning’s profile as it expands globally,” Zhang said when he announced the deal.
Zhang was borrowing heavily to fuel Suning’s expansion, making him vulnerable when China’s growth sputtered. Following a failed investment in an Evergrande subsidiary and slipping sales at its retail arm, Suning defaulted on a €395 million (US428 million) debt to Oaktree, leading the US investment firm to take over the club.
It wiped out Zhang’s fortune in the process, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. At its peak in 2015, his wealth surpassed US$11 billion.
Zhang was raised in China’s eastern city of Nanjing by an older brother after his parents died when he was a teenager. After graduating from university with a degree in Chinese literature, he started working as a clerk at a state-owned company and opened a cafe as a side gig.
