#623

Peggy Cherng

Source of wealth: Fast food

78 years female Food & Beverage 🇺🇸 US

Net Worth

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Earnings per second

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The scale of their wealth

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Health

The price of life

Let's compare Peggy Cherng's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country

Peggy Cherng could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 2.9 years.

But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country

On the other end, Peggy Cherng could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 1.3 years.

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Education

Buying the future

Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country

Peggy Cherng could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 1.9 years.

And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country

But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Peggy Cherng could pay for it entirely for 2.6 years.

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Research

The monopoly on progress

Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country

Peggy Cherng could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 11.0 years.

And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide

But even if we compare the total wealth of Peggy Cherng with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.2 years.

While billions of people struggle to access basic healthcare, education, and research, a single individual could fund entire national systems for centuries.

Gold

Everyday luxuries

Peggy Cherng's fortune is equivalent to 45 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.

A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.

Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.

Peggy Cherng could buy 11,900,031 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!

And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 2 trucks to transport them. Although Peggy Cherng will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.

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Biography

Peggy Cherng is cofounder and co-CEO of Panda Express, the $6.7 billion (est. sales) Chinese fast-food chain with some 2,600 locations.

Born in Myanmar, Cherng got a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in the U.S., then went to work for 3M and McDonnell Douglas, where she helped design battlefield simulators for the U.S. Navy.

She left her engineering career to help her husband, Andrew Cherng, open Panda Express' first location in a Glendale, California, shopping mall in 1983.

She implemented the company's sales and analytics software, earlier than many other restaurants, helping make Panda Express the dominant player among Asian limited-service chains in America.

In 2018, the Cherngs invested in a group that bought the Mandarin Oriental hotel, now the Waldorf Astoria, in Las Vegas for $214 million.