Zhang Congyuan Net Worth

Zhang Congyuan has an estimated net worth of $6.6 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Zhang Congyuan profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is down from a peak of $11.7 billion.

Zhang Congyuan is a Taiwanese businessman and the founder and chairman of Huali Industrial Group, a shoemaker that produces sneakers and boots for some of the best known brands in the world. He was born in 1948 into a farming family in the Taiwanese countryside, and in 2022 he was the richest person in Taiwan.

After graduating from a junior agricultural college, Zhang went to work at a women's shoe factory. That experience convinced him to open his own sneaker business, and he went on to spend his whole career in footwear. His rise from farm boy to factory worker to factory owner is one of the great self-made stories in Taiwanese business.

He shares his fortune with his wife and children. Unlike many consumer billionaires, his name is almost unknown to shoppers, because Huali makes shoes for famous brands rather than selling under its own label.

How Zhang Congyuan made his money

Zhang set up his first factory in the 1980s. He was so short of money that he rented land on a pig farm to build it. The business soon boomed, and he opened more factories in Taiwan, Guangdong and Vietnam. He also co-founded the Hong Kong listed shoemaker Symphony Holdings, but he later sold his stake and left that company.

In 2004 he founded Huali Industrial Group. It now has factories in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Dominica and Myanmar and supplies dozens of brands, including Nike, Puma, UGG and Vans. Zhang's fortune is tied to the family's ownership of Huali, so it tracks orders from the global sportswear brands that rely on its factories. With plants in five countries, Huali has grown far beyond the single factory Zhang once built on a rented pig farm.

How Forbes has valued Zhang Congyuan

Forbes first listed Zhang in 2022 with a net worth of $11.7 billion, which made him Taiwan's richest person that year. His figure fell to $7.8 billion in 2023, then recovered to $8.6 billion in 2024 and $10.2 billion in 2025.

On the 2026 World's Billionaires List he was valued at $8.3 billion. As of October 20, 2026, the Forbes real-time billionaires tracker showed $6.6 billion. His figure has swung with the value of Huali and with demand from the big athletic shoe brands. Even after those swings, he remains one of the richest people in Taiwan.