Click the image for details Introduction Today is Valentine's Day, the season of showing off love that comes twice a year, once for two years. February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day, originated in early 15th-century Western culture and has become one of the favorite festivals among Chinese youth. It's bound to be a day filled with gifts, flowers, and food flooding social media. Before the cold dog food (a Chinese internet slang for public displays of affection) hits our faces, I can't help but start showing off love too. Today, I present to you the heartwarming love stories of business tycoons. Let's see what kind of love these business elites experienced.
Li Ka-shing: Overcoming Obstacles to Marry His Beloved Li Ka-shing and his wife, Chong Yuet-ming, overcame numerous obstacles and twists to finally be together. Their love story has become a legend in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's Ming Pao Weekly once published an article titled "The Love Story of Li Ka-shing and Chong Yuet-ming," which began: "In Hong Kong's Chaozhou community, there circulates a beautiful tale: a well-born cousin, despite her father's strong opposition, fell in love and married her poor cousin. With her full support (both spiritual and practical) and encouragement, the cousin worked hard and eventually achieved success. Afterward, his career flourished, making him a local tycoon." In the winter of 1940, to escape the war, Li Ka-shing's parents took the family to seek refuge with his maternal uncle, Chong Ching-ngan. At the age of 11, Li Ka-shing met his cousin, who was four years younger. Chong Yuet-ming was the apple of her father's eye, intelligent and clever from a young age. After graduating with excellent grades from Ying Wa Girls' School, she entered the University of Hong Kong and later studied abroad at Meiji University in Japan. Her life was full of sunshine and flowers. But she never looked down on her cousin. Their innocent childhood friendship grew into passionate love as they aged, and Chong Yuet-ming always cared for her cousin who was striving in Hong Kong. After Li Ka-shing started his working life, whether as a waiter in a teahouse or an apprentice in a watch company, Chong Yuet-ming provided spiritual comfort and support, encouraging him to overcome one difficulty after another. In 1950, at just 22, Li Ka-shing founded Cheung Kong Plastic Factory, which experienced quality issues in its early days. In times of crisis, Chong Yuet-ming's unwavering devotion remained. The power of love made Li Ka-shing even more resilient in the face of difficulties. In 1958, Li Ka-shing ventured into real estate, building his first industrial building in North Point, Hong Kong; in 1960, he built a second in Chai Wan, and his career began to flourish. At this point, Li Ka-shing's love with Chong Yuet-ming should have come to fruition, but by worldly standards, they were not well-matched. Chong Yuet-ming came from a wealthy and prestigious family, had received higher education, and was both talented and beautiful; Li Ka-shing came from a humble background, had only a junior high school education, and though his career was starting to succeed, the future was uncertain. Moreover, Chong Ching-ngan and Li Ka-shing's mother, Chong Bik-kam, also opposed the union. It wasn't until 1963, when Li Ka-shing was 35 and Chong Yuet-ming was 31, that their persistence and sincerity in love moved both sets of parents. Amid blessings, Li Ka-shing held Chong Yuet-ming's hand and happily walked down the red carpet. After marriage, Li Ka-shing spent HK$630,000 to buy a garden house. At that time, he wasn't yet a billionaire, and coming up with that sum wasn't easy, but to ensure his beloved wife's comfort, he resolutely made the purchase. On the night of December 31, 1989, Li Ka-shing and his wife attended a New Year's Eve party at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, becoming the most photographed couple. The next afternoon, Chong Yuet-ming suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away at the hospital at the age of 58.
Li Kaifu: One Love in a Lifetime, His Wife Is His First Love Li Kaifu's wife, Xie Xianling, was introduced to him through a blind date. She is his first love and the only love of his life. In 1982, Li Kaifu was a junior at an American university. When he returned to Taiwan for summer vacation in June, his family had already begun arranging his "marriage matters." Li Kaifu's father and Xie Xianling's father were colleagues. At that time, their mutual friend, Uncle Feng, acted as a matchmaker and organized a family gathering to introduce the two young people. Perhaps due to nervousness on first meeting, Li Kaifu and Xie Xianling didn't speak a word during the meal. Their impressions of each other were very poor, and neither intended to continue the relationship, but they didn't say so at the time. The word "fate" may sound mystical, but sometimes it's magical. After the gathering, Uncle Feng told Li Kaifu, "The Xie family's daughter thinks you're quite good." Li Kaifu was delighted and decided to pursue the relationship seriously. It wasn't until 25 years after their marriage that Li Kaifu learned that Uncle Feng had told Xie Xianling, "His son really likes you!" It's easy to imagine that without Uncle Feng, the two might have missed each other. In 1983, after dating for a year, they married before Li Kaifu began his doctoral studies. Now, 33 years later, Li Kaifu regards this "one-time success" marriage as his stable support and motivation to move forward.
Jack Ma: Zhang Ying Is Both "Means of Production" and "Means of Livelihood" Jack Ma and his wife, Zhang Ying, are both from Zhejiang. Zhang Ying met her senior, Jack Ma, while studying at Hangzhou Normal University. After graduation, Ma was assigned to teach at Hangzhou Institute of Electronic Engineering, and Zhang Ying married "Teacher Ma" shortly after graduating from Hangzhou Normal University. In 1995, Ma began his first entrepreneurial venture. During a trip to the U.S., he encountered the internet for the first time. Feeling curious and excited, he returned to China and founded "China Pages," which is considered China's first e-commerce website. That year, Zhang Ying resigned from her government job to start a business with Ma. In September 2004, to move the company in a more professional direction, Alibaba needed a large-scale personnel adjustment. After nearly a decade of working together, Ma began to hope that his wife would stay home to take care of their son, avoiding regrets from both being busy with work. At the end of 2004, Zhang Ying stepped down from her position as General Manager of Alibaba's China Business Unit and returned to a life of supporting her husband and raising their child. Unexpectedly, after resigning, Zhang Ying was more content than when she was a general manager, and she managed household affairs in an orderly manner. Once, when Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was chatting with Ma, he asked about Zhang Ying. Ma mentioned, "Zhang Ying used to be my business partner. I wouldn't be where I am today without her hard work. I always regarded her as a means of production. But now I think, as a wife, she is more suitable as a means of livelihood."
Robin Li: My Wife Is the Source of My Courage Robin Li and his wife, Ma Dongmin's love story is quite romantic and even involves "love at first sight." In 1995, Robin Li met Ma Dongmin at a gathering of Chinese students in New York. At the time, Ma Dongmin was pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at a university in New Jersey. The moment he saw her, Robin Li thought of "love at first sight." Six months later, he successfully won her heart and made her his bride. This "female Ph.D." wife has given Robin Li unlimited spiritual support and help in both life and career. On the day Baidu went public on NASDAQ, at a grand celebration party in Manhattan, when countless cameras and microphones focused on the wealth elite Robin Li, he warmly pulled his wife Ma Dongmin to the front. Raising his glass, he said affectionately, "There is a spirit in Baidu called courage, and my wife, Dr. Ma Dongmin, is the source of that courage. She always calmly offers the bravest suggestions at critical moments." Before Robin Li returned to China to start his business, Ma Dongmin made a decision: let her husband go back to China while she stayed in the U.S. to continue her career. "That way, even if his startup fails, my income can still support the family." In 2001, when China's internet bubble burst, Baidu faced its first winter since its founding. Under immense pressure, Robin Li called his wife across the ocean with a hoarse voice, and his pessimism about the future made him want to test her limits: "If we really end up without a house or a car, can you bear it?" Robin Li didn't get an answer; the phone line went dead. But just as he was feeling disheartened, unknown to him, within minutes of hanging up, his wife had already bought a ticket back to Beijing. Standing at the airport, Robin Li stared in disbelief at his wife, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, his heart filled with sweetness. In the past year, Baidu faced setbacks such as the Wei Zexi incident and the hemophilia bar incident. On January 17, 2017, Ma Dongmin decided to return to Baidu, taking on the role of "Special Assistant to the Chairman" to help her husband start a new chapter for Baidu.
Liu Qiangdong: Xiao Tian Is the Most Innocent and Kind Person I've Ever Met In 2013, JD.com was on the rise, and Zhang Zetian had been famous online since she was 16 for four years. Liu Qiangdong, studying at Columbia University, and Zhang Zetian, an exchange student at Columbia, met and got to know each other. One of the beautiful aspects of love might be, "Oh, I've heard of you before," and then we happen to like each other. On January 24, 2014, Zhang Zetian posted JD.com's Spring Festival Gala ad on Weibo and praised Liu Qiangdong's kindness, humility, calmness, and persistence: "Last semester, I had the chance to communicate with CEO Dong, who was studying at Columbia. Kind, humble, calm, persistent, and loves life. I believe the leader's spirit is the team's spirit." In March 2014, Tsinghua University's internal forum revealed that "milk tea sister" Zhang Zetian and Liu Qiangdong were dating. This relationship, with a 19-year age difference, drew criticism when it was exposed, and netizens' comments on their Weibo became increasingly sharp. On January 13, 2015, Zhang Zetian deleted all her Weibo posts, leaving only one and stopping updates, which read: "It seems that no matter what I do, how I do it, or even if I do nothing, it's wrong. So today I break the protective circle I built to defend my most basic rights as an adult, looking forward to a normal life for a 21-year-old girl." Liu Qiangdong also stepped up to defend his beloved: "Xiao Tian is the most innocent and kind person I've ever met. I regret that I couldn't protect her well." During the National Day holiday in 2015, Liu Qiangdong and Zhang Zetian got their marriage certificate at the Chaoyang District Civil Affairs Bureau and held a grand wedding in Australia. Recently, when Liu Qiangdong was interviewed by CCTV and asked about Zhang Zetian's beauty, he said, "I have face blindness. I'm not with her because she's pretty, because I simply don't know if she's pretty or not." In the interview, Liu Qiangdong also mentioned that apart from JD.com matters, he leaves family decisions to "milk tea sister." Although he praised the post-90s generation, his words were full of admiration for Zhang Zetian, and his eyes were full of sweetness. This dog food is truly well-served.
Zhou Hongyi: The Best Choice in Life Is My Wife When asked what his best choice was, Zhou Hongyi replied that it was choosing his wife. In October 1998, when Zhou Hongyi resigned from Founder to start his own business, he hesitated. Zhou later told the media: "At that time, internet companies were like that. If you said you could make money immediately, venture capitalists would think you were an idiot." In that era, the most popular activity for internet companies was burning cash. Zhou envied those who had money to burn, but he didn't intend to burn a single cent more—the startup fund for Guofeng Yingte Software was all the savings of Zhou and his partners, plus a significant debt. Zhou and his partners once joked that they had "pawned their cotton trousers" to start the business. When he decided to start the business, his wife told him, "Go ahead and do it. I'll work and earn money to feed you." Her words were firm, and Zhou never doubted her. At that time, Zhou and his wife rented a three-bedroom apartment in the southern part of Beijing, living in only one room while employees occupied the others. But his wife didn't complain; instead, she gave Zhou tremendous support and understanding. With food and clothing secured and worries eliminated, Zhou could focus all his energy on entrepreneurship. "My wife has been a huge help to my career," Zhou said. For a long time after starting the business, Zhou had no income and relied almost entirely on his wife's earnings. Mrs. Zhou had her own firm belief: "We will never fail to make money. At worst, we can go work for someone else."
Pan Shiyi: Decided on Marriage After Just 4 Days with Zhang Xin Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin's marriage is a true "flash marriage." They were together for only four days before deciding they were meant to be together for life. In April 1994, Pan Shiyi met Zhang Xin. At the time, Zhang Xin was working at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street and was looking for investment opportunities in mainland China. On their first meeting, Pan Shiyi wore a lilac suit, a tie with a large flower pattern, big glasses, and had thinning hair combed to one side, looking very thin and small. Pan Shiyi was born in a rural area of Gansu, lived in poverty as a child, graduated from the Petroleum Pipeline Institute in Hebei, and had been divorced twice; Zhang Xin moved to Hong Kong at 14, studied in the UK, earned a master's degree from Cambridge, and had an annual salary of over a million. By all accounts, Zhang Xin's conditions seemed far better than Pan Shiyi's. Everyone around them disapproved of their union. When Zhang Xin's sister learned about it, she flew over to see Pan Shiyi, and after meeting him, she expressed her disappointment with a song: "No flower fragrance, no tree height, he is an unknown little grass." However, Zhang Xin remained steadfast in her belief that her choice was right. She greatly admired Pan Shiyi's innate confidence, simple qualities, and unique way of thinking. When he proposed, there were no flowers or ring; he simply said, "Let's get married." Zhang Xin immediately replied, "Okay." Isn't that heartwarming?
Additionally, many other entrepreneurs keep their love lives low-key, but the details reveal romance. For example, Ma Huateng once said he met his wife on QQ, but at the time, she didn't know he was an engineer, let alone the creator of QQ. The fact that his own product was linked to his life's major event is something he could talk about for a lifetime. Wang Jianlin, in the program "Lu Yu You Yue: A Day with a Big Shot," showed Lu Yu around his office, where a careful look revealed few items on his desk, but photos of his wife Lin Ning and son Wang Sicong were displayed, radiating warmth. Dong Mingzhu once said that the biggest turning point in her life was her husband's death. Although she appears strong to outsiders, this strong woman also needs care. She once said, "If it weren't for this incident, I wouldn't have taken this path. If he were still here, he wouldn't have agreed to me coming to Zhuhai."
It's too much; I'm already stuffed with dog food. The love stories of entrepreneurs in their youth are comparable to idol dramas. Having said all this, careful readers might notice that in all these beautiful love stories, both the male and female leads are exceptionally outstanding individuals. So what I want to say is that truly beautiful love isn't just about one-sided effort, flattery, or moral self-感动. To maintain a comfortable and lasting state, the most important thing is mutual compatibility and attraction.
Finally, I wish everyone can hold hands with their loved one tomorrow! And I hope all single dogs won't see history repeat itself in Valentine's Day 2018! -END-