With a net worth today of US$1.3 billion, she made her first million yuan (US$145,000) when she was still in university after going into business with Jack Wang Qicheng, who later became her husband. The growth in her company as well as her positive image over the years has made her one of the most admired self-made CEOs born after 1980.
Here is all you need to know about this mega-successful young businesswoman.
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She studied in Hangzhou
While Wu was working on her master‘s degree in advertising from Zhejiang University, she and Wang discovered a business opportunity and they started a company together. It was 2001, right at the dawn of broadband services, and they sold fibre-optic transceivers as an essential device for telecommunication companies.
She was planning to sell the start-up
The couple were rejected by several telecommunication companies, until they resorted to approaching the poorest regions in Zhejiang where they managed to ink a deal, making their first million. However, things took a turn when the telecommunication companies took over the purchase internally, leaving them locked out of the business.
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Quality was key
In 2002, Wu and Wang founded Hakim Unique Internet Co. Attending networking events, she contacted more than 100 real estate companies, looking for any available business. They offered their experience and service at a cheaper price than others in the market.
Thanks to their well-written proposals, they were able to secure three big deals. Since each project usually ran for two years, the then-rapid drops in prices of electronic products allowed them to achieve a high average gross margin of more than 50 per cent on many jobs.
Elegant as well as entrepreneurial
Later, Wu invited Tsai Fu-yi, a local property developer in Hangzhou, to join the company as chairperson. She felt people did not trust a young woman like her so he would make a better legal representative for the company. Despite that, Tsai was never ultimately responsible for any business, with Wu controlling the company all along.
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By 2010, when the company was launched on the stock market, Wu took over as chair. In 2012, Hakim was listed on the Shenzhen Exchange with a market capitalisation of nearly 400 million yuan (US$57.8 million). By 2015, Wu was ranked seventh in a list of the top 10 richest Asian millennials – today few would bet against her raising still higher.
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