Immigrants of the Day: How Two Chinese Immigrants Built a Billion-Dollar Fast-Food Empire
NextShark brought to my attention our two immigrants of the day. Panda Express, the beloved fast-casual restaurant, was founded by Chinese immigrants who believe treating their employees right is the key. The fast food chain made $2 billion in sales in 2015. According to Business Insider, Panda Express has no franchises and operates with 1,800 outlets in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Panda Express, headquartered in Rosemead, California, is solely owned by the same family that founded it back in the 1970’s. That couple, Andrew and Peggy Cherng, who are both 67, have an estimated net worth of $3 billion today.
Andrew’s father worked at a restaurant in Taiwan after leaving Yangzhou, China in 1947. The family eventually moved to Japan where his father worked as a chef. Andrew received a scholarship and moved to Kansas where he met his future wife and co-CEO Peggy at Baker University.
Peggy, also a Chinese immigrant, was raised off the mainland in Burma. After Kansas, she transferred to the University of Missouri where she studied computer science and eventually earned her PhD. Andrew moved to Missouri to be reunited with Peggy and earned his master’s in applied mathematics.
KJ