A financer's venture into the cultural field
- By Liu Dong
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E-mail China Today, September 21, 2017
From "Black Sheep Financier" to "Father of Financial Literacy"
Looking back on the past decades, Wang himself is more surprised than anyone that his career has branched out to the enshrining and explaining of finance.
Born in 1958, Wang was among the first group of college students who had taken the reinstated college entrance examination after the "cultural revolution." He was enrolled by Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) and studied accounting. The university has been regarded as the illustrious Whampoa Military Academy of the Chinese financial sector. However few people at that time were familiar with the concept of "finance."
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Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto is invited to give a lecture at the Financial Museum Academy of the Chinese Museum of Finance. |
In 1982, one year after his graduation, Wang entered the Graduate School of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, and later worked for China Construction Bank and Bank of China. Owing to the scarcity of financial talents, the young and promising Wang stood out and was highly valued. But he had his own plans, having decided to broaden his horizons and enrich his experience by going abroad. He held a much envied post, and the bank's leaders also tried to dissuade him. But Wang opted not to play by the rules, and took unpaid leave to study in the U.S.
While studying abroad, Wang took successive internships and work-study programs at Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and the World Bank. He had frequent discussions with excellent overseas Chinese financial talents about the trend of Chinese economic development. After returning to China in 1992, Wang took a hand in the establishment of Southern Securities, and was later promoted to vice president. However, he chose to resign again and started his own business at the point when China's stock market was at its peak.
In May 1997, Wang set up the M&A Group which specialized in enterprise mergers and reorganization, and the corresponding financing and listing. But he was not content with simply going into business, and then set out to establish the China Mergers & Acquisitions Association with himself as the founding chairman, and at the same time published his works including Second Board Market and MBO: Management Buy-out. These books are considered classics, and widely influential in the financial investment sector. Wang also taught at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, where he called for formulating financial industry norms, so winning the epithet "Father of Merger and Acquisition in China." Wang also earned himself the reputation among insiders as a "black sheep financier" due to his unconventional experience.
When asked, "Why increase your financial and mental input in such a low-return business as a museum?"
Wang replied, "I'm an intellectual as well as a businessman. A person can't spend their entire life pursuing fame and wealth. Everyone has his own interests and passion which take no account of the returns they generate. Some may assume that I am aiming for greater fortunes in the future even though I'm not making profit at present. I feel neither the will nor the need to explain. I just laugh it off."
So it was for the sake of personal satisfaction that Wang began establishing museums; because it amused him, he said. "We have many adventures in our life and time is limited. I am lucky enough to have the means to pursue what I love."
Wang believes the museum has a positive social impact, but it signifies more than that to him. "By founding museums I have learned many knowledge that meant nothing to me before. These six museums are to me like six bachelor degrees that I have gained through finance-related majors. I could not be more satisfied with the result."
"If, in a few years' time, among the students who have undergone financial literacy education on the platform of our museum, someone stands out in the business world as excellent as Jack Ma, or wins a Nobel Prize, I will be proud enough to shed tears."
Wang believes there are tens of thousands of financial entrepreneurs like him in China; however, few are likely to establish a financial literacy program like the one the museum offers. Wang has consequently come to the conclusion, "I believe I have my own value and special meaning to the industry, which is also a matter of great pride." He is determined to stick to his guns in order to make known that financiers can also be intellectuals, of which he is living proof.
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