海底捞创始人成新加坡首富，身价138亿美元

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给心灵放个假吧

Founder and billionaire, 48-year-old Zhang Yong has been crowned 

Singapore's richest man in Forbes' latest Top 50 Richest list on Thursday (29 Aug)

《福布斯》最新全球50大富豪榜于本周四(8月29日)揭晓，48岁的海底捞创始人、亿万富翁张勇荣登新加坡榜首。

He toppled Eduardo Saverin of Facebook fame & the Ng brothers from Far East Organisation, thanks to a valuation of S$19.1 billion (US$13.8 billion).

凭借191亿新元(合138亿美元，)的估值，他击败了facebook联合创办人萨维林和来自远东机构的黄氏兄弟。

We can’t help but wonder how many hotpots were sold to achieve this wealth. But here’s the breakdown of this year’s billionaire ranking.

我们不禁想知道，到底卖出了多少火锅才换来了这么多财富。下图就是今年亿万富翁排行榜的明细。

Last year, Zhang Yong came in 3rd in the list with his US$6.8 billion net worth. One year later, his net worth more than doubled and soared to 1st this year.

去年，张勇以68亿美元的净资产排名第三。一年后，他的净资产翻了一番多，今年飙升至第一名。

榜单一出，不少网友大呼惊讶海底捞创始人张勇为何成了新加坡人？毕竟在大多数人的印象中，海底捞是本土品牌，张勇也是四川人。

但据海底捞招股书，至少在2018年9月，张勇、舒萍夫妇的国籍就已经变更为新加坡。

Zhang, who was featured previously among China’s richest, is now a naturalized Singapore citizen and resident. His company is also increasingly global in its expansion.

张以前登上的是中国的财富榜，现在则已经属于新加坡藉。他的公司在国际上的扩张程度也越来越大。

从焊工到火锅店老板

Despite the significant success Zhang enjoys today, he actually has very humble beginnings as a factory worker, earning just 93 yuan (~S$19) a month.

尽管张如今取得了巨大的成功，但并非出生如此，他是工厂工人的出身，曾经一个月的收入只有93元人民币(约合19美元)。

The high school dropout used to work as a welder in a government-run tractor factory in his hometown of Jianyang in Sichuan, China.

这名高中辍学生曾在家乡四川简阳的一家国营拖拉机厂当焊工。

He later quit the job when he was embroiled in a dispute over a company apartment for him and his fiancée Shu Ping, who is now his wife and the co-founder of Haidilao.

后来，他和当时的未婚妻舒萍因公司分房纠纷选择辞职。舒萍现在是他的妻子，也是海底捞的联合创始人。

Zhang said he never regretted his decision to quit, claiming that the “factory never made a profit” anyway.

张说，他从来没有后悔自己的辞职决定，声称“工厂从来没有盈利”。

In 1994, he opened the first Haidilao outlet, which was a small 400-square feet space with only four tables.

1994年，他开了第一家海底捞店，面积400平方英尺，只有四张桌子。

He didn’t have a cooking background or possess the basic knowledge in preparing a Sichuan hotpot, but dived into it anyway because he needed to “support [himself] … [and] eat”. 

他没有烹饪背景，也不具备制作四川火锅的基本知识，但不管怎样，他还是一头扎进去了，因为他需要“养活自己……吃饭”。

启动资金不足1万元

Haidilao was actually founded by two couples: Zhang Yong and wife Shu Ping, as well as Shi Yonghong and wife Li Haiyan. 

海底捞实际上是由两对夫妇创建的：张勇和舒萍夫妇，以及施永宏和李海燕夫妇。

Shu Ping is now Singapore’s 14th richest individual (she is also the only woman to have made it onto the list), while Shi Yonghong is the executive director of Haidilao with a US$3.5 billion stake.

舒萍在新加坡富豪榜排名第14（她也是唯一上榜的女性），而施永宏是海底捞的执行董事，拥有35亿美元的股份。

His three business partners are the ones who helped him with the early funding of Haidilao. 

这三个商业伙伴是帮助张勇获得海底捞早期资金的人。

2011年张勇接受采访时曾谈到：

I was penniless, so the others were the real investors. The entire investment was less than 10,000 yuan (~S$2,011).

我身无分文，所以他们几个才是真正的投资者。整个投资不到1万元人民币。

Though I didn’t contribute much in terms of start-up money, I assumed the position of general manager and promised the others that our assets  would grow to 150,000 yuan (~S$30,171) within five years.

虽然我在启动资金方面贡献不多，但我还是担任了总经理一职，并向其他人承诺，我们的资产将在五年内增长到15万元。

I swore that if I couldn’t manage it, I would compensate them. That was a huge amount of money for a group of twenty-somethings in the 1990s, so they were all a bit startled.

我发誓如果我做不到，我会补偿他们。对于20世纪90年代的一群20多岁的年轻人来说，这是一大笔钱，所以他们都有点吃惊。

Zhang invested all their money in the restaurant and within a few months, Haidilao became the “largest hotpot restaurant” in the Jianyang district.

He expanded the outlet by adding a whole new floor, and opened a second outlet in 1998. 

张把所有的钱都投在了这家餐厅，几个月之内，海底捞就成为了简阳市“最大的火锅餐厅”。1998年，他又开了一家分店。

海底捞第一次走出国门是在2012年，当时张勇将第一家海外分店开在了新加坡。7年来，海底捞陆续在新加坡开设了12家分店，是海底捞海外分店数量最多的国家。

I don't care about money. It's your view of the world that decides your attitude towards money. If you [want to expand], you view money as a resource for investment. That is how entrepreneurs think.

我不在乎钱。你对世界的看法决定了你对金钱的态度。如果你(想要扩张)，你会把钱视为一种投资资源。这就是企业家们的想法

In recent years, hotpot restaurants have become increasingly popular. Banking on this trend, Haidilao has expanded online to offer food delivery services on Alibaba's e-commerce platform and its own website.

近年来，火锅餐厅变得越来越受欢迎。凭借这一趋势，海底捞已将业务扩展到网上，在阿里巴巴的电子商务平台和自己的网站上提供外卖服务。

This is to accommodate to customers who want to have Haidilao hotpot in the comfort of their own homes.

这是为了迎合那些想在自己家里舒舒服服吃海底捞火锅的顾客。

A Haidilao staff will help set up the hotpot and after the customer is done, the staff will return to help tidy up and return the tableware.  

一名海底捞工作人员将帮助设置火锅，顾客用餐完毕，工作人员再返回帮助清理和送还餐具。

免费美甲、按摩服务

Zhang didn’t even eat in an actual restaurant until he was 19 years old.

To add on, his first dining experience was horrible — the rude staff and subpar hotpot meal left him feeling very unimpressed.

张勇第一次真正在餐馆吃饭是他19岁时。他的第一次就餐经历很糟糕——粗鲁的员工和味道不佳的火锅让他很不满意。

This is exactly why he is so determined to offer exceptional customer service in his restaurants.

这也他坚决要在他的餐厅提供优质服务的原因。

'I personally made sure that any guest who came through my door would return,' he told Forbes.

他在接受《福布斯》采访时表示:“我个人担保，任何来我家店里做客的客人都会回来。”

He added that he utilised strategies like discounts and free snacks, but also took customer feedback seriously.

他补充说，他使用了打折和免费零食等策略，也认真对待客户的反馈。

His restaurant does not depend on chefs to prepare the food, so Zhang turns to good service and entertainment to keep customers coming back for more. 

他的餐馆不依赖厨师来准备食物，所以他转向良好的服务和娱乐来吸引更多的顾客。

It offers complimentary drinks and snacks, card and board games, manicure services, and even shoulder massages to waiting customers.

餐厅还会为等位的顾客提供免费饮料、零食、纸牌，桌游，美甲甚至肩部按摩等服务。

Beyond that, hot face towels, bib covers, protective bags for mobile phones are also offered to customers prior to dining.

除此之外，餐厅还提供热毛巾，围裙，手机保护袋等保证客人的用餐体验。

Those dining solo are offered a teddy bear to accompany them. 

那些单独用餐的客人还可以得到泰迪熊的陪伴。

Diners also get to enjoy a live noodle-pulling performance and Sichuan’s traditional mask dance, in which the performer changes his or her mask so quickly that it appears instantaneous.

食客们还可以欣赏到现场拉面表演和四川传统的面具舞，表演者很快就会更换面具，就像变戏法一样。

Such exemplary service has brought a novel approach to the dining experience, and has been the key competitive advantage that sets Haidilao apart from its competitors. 

这种典范式的服务带来了一种全新的用餐体验，也是海底捞区别于竞争对手的关键优势。

2013年，张勇接受《华尔街日报》采访时表示，

I'm from the countryside, where rural people believe that if you take money from other people and you don’t bring benefit to them, then you are a liar.

我来自农村，那里的农村人认为，如果你从别人那里拿钱，却没有给他们带来好处，那么你就是一个骗子。

晋升方式公平

除了以客户为中心的理念，张还将公司的成功归功于他的员工。

Most of Haidilao's employees tick the same boxes as Zhang when he first started out: young, with limited education, and from small towns or rural areas.

海底捞的大多数员工都和张勇刚开始创业时一样：年轻，受教育程度有限，来自小城镇或农村地区。

This is why the core philosophy of Haidilao is that 'you can change your life using your own hands'.

这也是海底捞用“你可以用自己的双手改变你的人生”作为核心理念的原因。

For one, Haidilao makes it a point to only promote from within.

首先，海底捞强调，职位晋升只从内部员工挑选。

As such, employees are motivated to work harder to get promoted. There is no glass ceiling — everyone has a fair opportunity to rise through the ranks regardless of their background.

因此，员工为了升职，会更有动力去工作。没有外部领导空降，每个人不论背景如何，机会都是均等的。

A living example is the person who runs Haidilao's US business, who started off a restaurant doorman. 

一个活生生的例子就是，目前海底捞美国业务的负责人曾经只是一个餐厅的门童。

2018年张勇接受《福布斯》采访时称，

Putting faith in my staff has paid off for me. Giving them responsibility and autonomy is how you show trust.

对员工的信任让我得到了回报。给他们责任和自主权是你表达信任的方式。

每三天就有一家海底捞开业

In September 2018, Haidilao raised US$963 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) in a bid to take the brand global.

2018年9月，海底捞在香港首次公开募股(IPO)中融资9.63亿美元，试图将该品牌推向全球。

The IPO has valued the company at US$12 billion, making it the first Asia F&B chain to surpass US$10 billion in market value.

此次IPO使该公司估值达到120亿美元，成为亚洲首家市值超过100亿美元的餐饮连锁企业。

The funds raised are slated to help finance the chain’s rapid expansion and implement new AI technology to automate its supply chain.   

筹集的资金将用于为该连锁店的快速扩张提供资金，并实施新的人工智能技术，使其供应链实现自动化。

In an interview with Forbes, Zhang said that Haidilao has been opening a new restaurant every three days.

在接受《福布斯》采访时，张表示，海底捞每三天就会开一家新餐厅。

He added that new locations break even within one to three months.

Foreigners are to thank for this, he said, for they have a huge curiosity for Chinese culture.

他补充说，新的门店在一到三个月内就能实现盈亏平衡。他说，外国人中国文化很感兴趣，他们应该会很开心。

'Much of our history and customs can be learned through food,' he told Forbes.

他在接受《福布斯》采访时表示:“我们的很多历史和习俗都可以通过食物来了解。”

As such, Zhang emphasised that overseas expansion is a “must” for Haidilao.

因此，张强调，海外扩张对海底捞来说是“必须”的。

It's better to scale fast and be everywhere, instead of having a single towering presence.

最好是迅速扩张，遍布全球，而不是集中在小范围内。

Sharing about business expansion plans, Zhang said that he plans to enter new markets where Chinese migrants live.

在分享企业扩张计划时，张表示，他计划进入中国移民居住的新市场。

New Haidilao destinations include England, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia.

新的海底捞目的地包括英国、澳大利亚、加拿大、马来西亚、泰国以及其他东南亚国家和地区。

英文来源：Vulcan Post，Forbes