From Moving to Australia at 15 to a Global Bank: The Trajectory of Airwallex Founder Jack Zhang
Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, moved abroad at just 15 years old. After enduring grueling part-time jobs in lemon factories and gas stations, he built his wealth by launching various side businesses. Since founding Airwallex at the end of 2015, he has overcome three pivots and financial difficulties to acquire major clients like Shein. Today, he has grown the company to handle over $10 billion in annual transaction volume. This article explores Zhang's turbulent career and the growth process of Airwallex, incorporating specific episodes and quotes.
1. Starting from Adversity: Lemon Factories and Fast Food Restaurants
1-1. Study Abroad Life and Financial Hardship
Born and raised in China, Zhang moved to Australia at 15. When his family faced financial collapse at 16, he was forced to earn his own tuition of 24,000 Australian dollars (approximately 2 million yen). He recalls that returning to take university entrance exams was difficult, and he "had no choice but to work to survive."
1-2. By Train and Bus to the Mountain Peak: Grueling Labor at a Lemon Factory
During summer vacation, he spent several hours every day traveling to a lemon factory deep in the mountains.
“I spent 12 hours a day in 40-degree heat, carrying thousands of crates of lemons.”
Despite earning 14 Australian dollars (about 1,200 yen) per hour, he worked in a state of near-malnutrition, describing the hardship as “not even eating lunch and suddenly realizing it was evening.”
2. The Mental Strength Cultivated Through Diverse Part-Time Jobs
2-1. 16-Hour Workdays in Restaurants, Bars, and Gas Stations
Life remained difficult after entering university; he spent his days washing dishes and bartending, while working at a gas station from late night until early morning.
“16-hour workdays were the norm. University studies were just a ‘side gig.’”
This experience forged the toughness required to endure later hardships.
2-2. Overcoming “Financial Instability” Through Repeated Part-Time Work
“As my income fluctuated month by month, I desperately thought about how to pay for the next semester's tuition,” Zhang says. This ability to cope with “financial anxiety” was later applied to raising large amounts of capital and making management decisions.
3. First Entrepreneurial Experience: The Magazine Business in High School
At 13 or 14, he collaborated with classmates to launch a free paper called “Urban Exploration Magazine,” which was his first successful experience. The number of stores placing advertisements reached over 8,000, and the revenue was returned to the school as funding.
“Writing interesting articles was the key. When we distributed them for free outside of school, they went ‘viral’ in an instant.”
4. Multiple Side Businesses and Wealth Formation
4-1. From Algorithmic Trader to Import-Export Business
After graduating from university, he worked as an algorithmic trader at an investment bank while starting an import-export business for olive oil and wine. With a B2B model that simply “connected” suppliers and buyers, he generated millions of dollars in annual revenue.
4-2. Earning Millions of Dollars in Real Estate Development and Construction
He also entered the fields of construction project management and real estate development, delegating the development of 40 to 50-unit apartment buildings to external teams and achieving hundreds of millions in sales.
“By having multiple pillars of revenue, I built the stability to jump into entrepreneurship at any time.”
5. The Birth of Airwallex and Three Pivots
5-1. Meeting Co-founders and Initial Fundraising
He met three programming peers at the University of Melbourne and founded Airwallex in December 2015. Because he had a financial foundation built through side businesses, he immediately raised $1 million in seed funding.
5-2. Rejecting Stripe's Acquisition Proposal and the Decision-Making of Founding Members
In early 2017, despite receiving a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe, Jack and his team unanimously declined it to “pursue their vision.” They made the decision through discussions among the co-management team and employee voting, which ultimately strengthened the organization's sense of unity.
6. Financial Difficulties and the VC 'Near-death' Episode
6-1. Early Investor Lucy's $1 Million Turns into $1 Billion
Investor Lucy, whom he met shortly after founding the company, invested $1 million within an hour of their first meeting. It was an unusually fast angel investment, and the company eventually grew to a valuation of several billion dollars a few years later.
6-2. Negotiations with Matrix After the Term Sheet Was Withdrawn
Although a $10 million term sheet was issued by Matrix Partners, they had the bitter experience of it being withdrawn at the last minute. Ultimately, a Hong Kong VC and other VCs stepped in to provide support, allowing them to defend the company during its early stages.
7. Product-Market Fit and the Adoption of Shein
7-1. Transition to an API-Driven Model
After the initial P2P foreign exchange algorithm failed to function, they pivoted to a fiat currency interbank connection model. After three business transformations, including prototyping an invoice payment platform, they arrived at an enterprise-focused API model.
7-2. Signing the Contract with Shein and the 48-Hour Crisis Response
In January 2018, the rapidly growing Shein requested a $20 million transfer. However, an existing partner froze the payment, so they completed a new contract and system integration with a new partner within 48 hours. This allowed them to retain a key client, and their transaction volume suddenly exceeded $1 billion.
8. Global Expansion and the Formation of Organizational Culture
8-1. Failure and Reconstruction of International Expansion
Early expansion into the UK, the US, and other regions was a 'swing and a miss' before achieving product-market fit, but they remained there to maintain infrastructure. Ultimately, they succeeded by redesigning their approach to capture local needs.
8-2. Lessons Learned from Cultural Risks Caused by Hiring Mistakes
Prioritizing experience-based hiring, such as recruiting from major banks, resulted in a mix of talent that did not align with the speed of a startup. After conducting large-scale layoffs, the company shifted its hiring criteria to prioritize curiosity, decisiveness, and resilience.
9. Future Outlook: Building a Global Bank
Since 2022, the company has expanded into corporate card issuance and merchant payment services, accelerating its evolution into a 'global bank' in both name and reality. Zhang states that he aims to build a bank that surpasses HSBC and Citi in 10 years, and he continues to pursue that long-term vision alongside his employees.
Behind the 'success stories' told by many entrepreneurs, there are always failures and hardships. Jack Zhang's story is a rare case of building a global fintech company in just a few years by using adversity as a springboard for multifaceted challenges. The resilience and vision he has demonstrated will likely provide significant insights for the future of the Japanese startup world.
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