Junjie Zhang, founder of Chagee milk tea brand. Photo from Chagee’s website
Junjie Zhang, 30, founder and CEO of Chinese tea chain Chagee, has become a billionaire with a net worth of US$2.1 billion after his firm debuted on the Nasdaq.
Chagee began trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $411 million in an initial public offering that priced its shares at the top of its marketed range, despite a sluggish U.S. IPO market and analysts’ skepticism over the future of Chinese stocks on U.S. exchanges, according to Bloomberg.
It secured a valuation of $6.2 billion, making it the largest IPO by a Chinese consumer company since vaping firm RLX Technology’s $1.4 billion offering in January 2021, Reuters reported.
Zhang holds nearly 54% of the company’s Class B shares, which carry 10 votes each, giving him control of 89% of the total voting power.
The 30-year-old’s fortune comes entirely from his stake in the company, which is valued at $2.1 billion based on Chagee shares’ closing price on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Founded by Zhang in 2017, Chagee focuses on milk-based drinks brewed with traditional Chinese teas such as green, black, and oolong.
It operated over 6,400 teahouses worldwide by the end of March, most of which are franchised and located in China. It has overseas stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The firm reported revenues of 29.5 billion yuan (US$4.03 billion) in 2024.
Zhang is part of a growing wave of Chinese entrepreneurs who have struck it rich amid the rapid rise of fresh tea chains.
Among them are the two brothers behind bubble tea chain Mixue, known for its $1 bubble tea, coffee, and ice cream. The pair amassed a combined fortune of around $8 billion following the company’s IPO in Hong Kong earlier this year.
