China's most capable rich kid crushes Wang Sicong in ability, now a director of Inter Milan
Zhang Kangyang, born on December 21, 1991 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, son of Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holding Group, currently responsible for Suning's international business development and vice president of Suning International, one of the nine directors of the Italian football club Inter Milan.
Zhang Kangyang attended Nanjing Foreign Language School for middle school. At 15, he went to Mercersburg Academy, a traditional elite high school in Pennsylvania, USA. During his time there, he won multiple science and engineering awards, including second place in the "National Robotics Competition", and also received the "Presidential Education Program Award". He was selected by the school as an honorary graduate and received invitations from many prestigious universities such as MIT and Duke University. In the end, Zhang Kangyang chose the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, and earned a bachelor's degree in economics.
In 2015, Zhang Kangyang returned to China and joined Suning's president's office to learn and work. It was also around this time that Suning began heavily investing in the sports industry, taking over Shuntian and then causing a huge stir in the transfer market at the beginning of the year, until finally acquiring Inter Milan. His once-active Facebook account was almost completely cleared, leaving only a photo of him with a Lamborghini. He was widely praised for being low-key and modest.
At the beginning of 2016, Zhang Kangyang joined Suning and was responsible for Suning's international business development. Before joining Suning, he had worked at multiple financial institutions and investment banks, such as the Capital Markets Department of Morgan Stanley and the Investment Banking Department of JPMorgan Chase. During this period, he was mainly responsible for corporate IPOs, investment mergers and acquisitions, and financing in the Hong Kong, China and US markets.
On June 28, 2016, Suning held its first shareholders' meeting and new board meeting after taking a stake in Inter Milan. At this meeting, the 5 senior executives selected by Suning entered Inter Milan's 9-member board of directors, and Inter Milan, a powerhouse of Serie A, officially entered the Suning era. The Suning members newly joining Inter Milan's board of directors, these five senior executives, included the main heads of Suning's retail, culture, sports and investment business segments: Ren Jun, Mi Xin, Yang Yang, Liu Jun and Zhang Kangyang.
On November 27, 2016, as Mr. Zhang Kangyang, director of the Inter Milan football club, Mr. Liu Jun, vice president of Suning Sports Group, and Mr. Zanetti, vice president of the Inter Milan football club, jointly pressed the button symbolizing "a great opening", the Suning Sports Olympic Sports Center official flagship store officially opened.
A Suning delegation once visited Milan. When former Inter Milan chairman Moratti hosted the Suning group at his private residence in Inbersago, he took a liking to the young man Zhang Kangyang, and the two subsequently maintained close contact. Massimo Moratti: "He is a quick-thinking, fast-reacting, capable and gentle young man. I have a very good impression of him. I very much hope he can enter Inter Milan's board of directors. If he shares major responsibilities there, it will be extremely beneficial to his own professional development and will also lay a good foundation for him to manage other types of enterprises in the future. You should know that managing a football club is much harder than an ordinary enterprise." Moratti's care for Zhang Kangyang is well known to all. Although Zhang Kangyang does not reside permanently in Milan, he goes to Milan at least 2 times every month. Every time he goes, he has to "report in" at Moratti's place, and Moratti imparts all the experience he gained from managing the club back then.
Zhang Kangyang can be said to be China's most capable rich kid. Compared with careers in gaming and livestreaming, his ability crushes Wang Sicong by more than ten times.