HURUN FINDS 19 EDUCATION BILLIONAIRES IN THE WORLD. FIRST LIST OF ITS KIND

CHINA LED WITH 12 OF THE 19 EDUCATION BILLIONAIRES, 7 OF THE TOP 10 AND ALL OF THE TOP 3. WITH 3 EDUCATION BILLIONAIRES, INDIA IN SECOND SPOT.

USA AND UK, DESPITE HAVING SOME OF THE WORLD’S TOP UNIVERSITIES, DO NOT HAVE ONE EDUCATION BILLIONAIRE.

PROPELLED BY MANDATORY SOCIAL DISTANCING, EDUCATION SECTOR UNDERGOING TECTONIC SHIFT FROM ONLINE TUTORING BEING A ‘NICE TO HAVE’ TO A ‘MUST HAVE’. THIS TREND IS HERE TO STAY.

LI YONGXIN, 44, AND MOTHER LU ZHONGFANG, 78, OF CHINESE CIVIL SERVICE EXAM TEST PREP PLATFORM OFFCN ARE WORLD NUMBER 1 EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURS WITH WEALTH ALMOST TRIPLING TO US$13BN

TOM ZHANG BANGXIN, 39, OF HOME TUTORING PLATFORM TAL, 2^ND WITH US$8.9BN, UP 70%

PEKING UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ARE WORLD’S TOP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURS, WITH 6. STANFORD AND HARVARD ALUMNI DON’T MAKE LIST

CHEN XIANGXUE, 49, OF ONLINE EDUCATION GIANT GENSHUIXUE 3^RD WITH US$4.5BN.

LANGUAGE TRAINERS BERTIL HULT, 78, OF EF EDUCATION AND MICHAEL YU MINHONG, 58, OF NEW ORIENTAL 4^TH AND 6^TH WITH US$4BN AND US$2.9BN

WU JUNBAO, 54, OF XINHUA EDUCATION, BEST-KNOWN FOR ITS COOKING COURSES, 7^TH WITH US$2.1BN

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK DROVE UP SHARE PRICES OF OFFCN BY 30% AND GENSHUIXUE BY 25%

VALUATION OF TRADITIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS WITNESSED A STEEP DROP COMPARED TO A SWIFT RISE IN EDTECH VALUATIONS

BY SECTOR, VOCATIONAL TRAINING LED WAY, FOLLOWED BY HOME TUTORING, UNIVERSITIES, LANGUAGE TRAINING AND K12 SCHOOLS

17 SELF-MADE, 2 INHERITED

4 ARE 40YRS OR UNDER

ONLY 2 ARE WOMEN: LU ZHONGFANG, 78, OF OFFCN AND LI HUA, 33, OF YUHUA EDUCATION

BEIJING IS WORLD CAPITAL OF EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURS, WITH 6 LIVING THERE, FOLLOWED BY HEFEI WITH 3, AND HONG KONG AND BANGALORE WITH 2 EACH

3 COMPANIES DONATED US$20MN+ BETWEEN THEM DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, LED BY TAL

3 EDUCATION COMPANIES HAVE MARKET VALUE OF US$10BN, LED BY TAL WITH JUST UNDER US$30BN

WORLD’S LARGEST RICH LIST PROVIDER RELEASES HURUN GLOBAL EDUCATION RICH LIST 2020

l  China has the most education billionaires in the world, with 12, accounting for 63%. Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said, “Although China is well-known for the emphasis it places on education, it came as a surprise to me to find that two thirds of the world’s known education billionaires were from China and that there were none from places like the USA and the UK, which are so well-known for their higher education.”

l  Li Yongxin, 44, and his mother Lu Zhongfang, 78, of Chinese civil service exam test prep platform Offcn are the richest education entrepreneurs in the world with US$13bn, up a staggering US$8.3bn on last year. Offcn’s second shareholder, Wang Zhendong, 44, also made the Top 5 with US$3.3bn. The wealth of TAL’s Zhang Bangxin rose 68% to take him to 2^nd with US$8.9bn. Genshuixue’s Chen Xiangdong ranked 3^rd with US$4.5bn.

l  By sector, vocational training led with 5 billionaires, followed by home tutoring and universities, with 4 each.

l  2 female entrepreneurs on the list, accounting for 9.1%, lower than the 15.7% proportion of female entrepreneurs on the Hurun Global Rich List 2020.

l  Educational entrepreneurs have relatively high academic qualifications. 3 have doctorates, 4 masters and 7 bachelors.

l  Most valuable companies, led by TAL with US$29bn, Offcn with US$21bn and New Oriental with US$17.5bn. Genshuixue was fourth with US$9.6bn. 60% are public companies, mainly listed in Hong Kong or on the New York Stock Exchange.

(26 March 2020, Shanghai) The Hurun Research Institute and Hurun Education today jointly released the Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020 a ranking of the billionaires in the world, whose main business is in education. Wealth calculations are a snapshot of 20 March 2020.

The Hurun Research Institute found 19 dollar billionaires from the field of education, from 10 cities and 7 countries. They came from 15 companies, with a total wealth of US$55bn and an average wealth of US$2.9bn. The average age was 55.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said, “Who would have thought that the richest education entrepreneur in the world would have made his money from helping people prepare for the Chinese civil service exams. It takes the term mandarin to a new level.”

Hoogewerf said, “The coronavirus outbreak has forced the mainstream education system to offer distance learning online for the first time in the world. I hope this list will encourage more entrepreneurs to solve the world’s education problems. The stories of the entrepreneurs on this list represent the story of today's global education industry.”

“Five of the Top 10 education billionaires graduated from Peking University, led by the founders of the world’s three largest education businesses: TAL, Offcn and New Oriental,” Hoogewerf added.

“Although Hurun Report worked hard to find the most successful education entrepreneurs in the world, we recognize that for every one we have found, we have probably missed one if not more, so that the total number of education billionaires ought probably be more than 40,” said Hoogewerf.

This is a brief English language summary of the full Chinese press release which can be found atwww.hurun.net. For media enquiries please contact our public relations team whose contact details can be found at the end of this report.

Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020

Li Yongxin and his mother Lu Zhongfang ranked 1^st with US$13bn, almost triple their wealth this time last year of US$4.7bn. In the past two months, over the coronavirus outbreak in China, the share price of Offcn was up 30%, on the back of better than expected financial results, and a drive to go online during the coronavirus. The core business of Offcn is the recruitment examination training for civil servants, public institutions and teachers. The teaching network covers more than 300 prefecture-level cities in China. It has more than 1,000 directly-operated outlets and provides comprehensive vocational training services for more than 100 categories.

The 39-year-old Zhang Bangxin's wealth rose nearly 70% over last year, ranked 2^nd with US$8.9bn. TAL today has a market cap of just under US$30bn, and has five major business groups: smart education, cloud, content and future education, K12 and comprehensive capabilities, and international and lifelong education. At present, its business has 800 teaching centers in 70 cities across the country. In the first three quarters of last year, net income increased by 36% year-on-year to US$2.5bn.

Chen Xiangdong, 49, ranked 3^rd with US$4.5bn. Genshuixue's stock price has risen 280% since its listing in June last year and has risen 25% in the last two months during the coronavirus outbreak in China. Genshuixue focuses on online tutoring. In the large class mode, it adopts the "live broadcast + tutoring" dual teacher system. Each class has one lecturer and multiple instructors. To date, Genshuixue has 13 million registered students. According to its financial report, the net income in 2019 reached US$300mn, an increase of 432% over the same period of the previous year, mainly due to the increase in the number of paying K12 regular-priced courses.

EF Education First's 78-year-old Sweden-born Bertil Hult ranked 4^th with US$4bn. Hult founded EF Education First at the age of 23, providing a variety of educational courses such as English courses for young children aged 3-18, for adults over 18 years old and online English courses, and study abroad programs. EF Education has 460 schools across the world and 50,000 employees. Hult is now focusing on the Hult International Business School in London. His sons Philip and Eddie are currently running EF.

Michael Yu Minhong, 58, ranked 6th with US$2.9bn, up 53% from last year. With its core of language training, New Oriental has been integrating its offline education with online courses. Its subsidiary Koolearn Technology was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March last year, offering university, K12 and pre-school online courses. In the first half of fiscal 2020, New Oriental achieved net income of US$1.9bn, a year-on-year increase of 27.5%; net profit was US$257mn, a year-on-year increase of 169%, mainly on the back of its continued acceleration of K12 business development. The market values of New Oriental and Koolearn Technology were US$17.5bn and US$3.6bn, respectively.

Bengaluru-based Ranjan Pai, 44, was 7^th with US$2.1bn and is the richest man in India's education sector. Manipal Education & Medical has 6 universities with 30,000 students. The group has overseas campuses in Malaysia, Antigua, Dubai and Nepal. Pai in 2015 received a US$125mn investment from PremjiInvest, a fund set up by Azim Premji of Wipro.

Wu Junbao, 54, was 7^th with US$2.1bn. Eastern Education and Xinhua Education, two of Wu’s companies, were listed in Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019. Wu is best-known in China for New East Cuisine Education, Wontone Automobile Maintenance Institute, and its Xinhua Computer School. During the coronavirus outbreak in China, Eastern Education developed its online education services through short videos and live streaming with ecommerce giant Kuaishou.

Dubai-based Sunny Varkey, 62, ranked 9^th with US$2bn. Gems Education owns and operates 48 schools in the Middle East, including the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and has trained more than 120,000 students. Led by CVC Capital last July, a financial consortium acquired 30% of Gems Education from Fajr Capital, Blackstone and Bahrain Assets.

The wealth of Li Guangyu & Li Hua rose nearly 40% from half a year ago, ranked 10^th with US$1.6bn. Yuhua Education’s main business is in Henan Province, where it has 29 schools from kindergarten to university, with 130,000 students. The 2019 financial report shows that the group achieved operating income of US$243mn with profits of US$86mn.

Cyprus-based Suat Gunsel, 67, ranked 14^th with US$1.2bn. Gunsel is a Turkish real estate developer who owns Near East University, the largest educational institution in Northern Cyprus, with 20,000 students. In 2013, Gunsel opened a second university on the north coast of Cyprus, focusing on naval and aviation education.

HK-based Xie Ketao, 56, and Yu Guo, 58, are ranked 17^th with US$1bn each. China Education is a leading domestic higher education and vocational education group, currently operating 10 schools in China and Australia with 180,000 students. In 2019, China Education continued to expand, taking over the Chongqing Nanfang Translators College. As of August 2019, the Group achieved revenue of US$279mn, an increase of 51% over the same period last year and realized a net profit of US$120mn, an increase of 24% over the same period last year.

Auckland-based Soichiro Fukutake, 74, of Benesse ranked 17^th with US$1bn. Japan-headquartered Benesse was founded in 1955 by Soichiro’s father, and has grown to become Japan's largest distance learning company. Its business includes K12, preschool education, and language training, including the Berlitz School brand.

By Residence

China led with 12. India was second with 3, of which 2 reside in India and 1 in the UAE.

Source: Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020

By Sector

Source: Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020

Stock price changes of listed education companies during the COVID-19 epidemic (20 January to 20 March)

Offcn and Genshuixue saw their share prices rise fastest, up 30% and 25% respectively. Companies, whose main business was offline, saw their share prices drop.

Source: Hurun Research Institute

Where Listed

The educational entrepreneurs on the list come from 15 companies, of which 9 are listed companies, led by HK and New York.

Source: Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020

Top Education companies by market value

Source: Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020

* Market value calculation as of 20 March 2020

China education entrepreneurs not on the list

Billionaires that are involved in education, but not as a main source of wealth, include:

Source: Hurun Research Institute

About Hurun Education

Hurun Education is the education platform of Hurun Report Inc. Hurun Education started out in 2008, with the launch of the Best of British Education, the first of the Schools Guide series, targeting Chinese parents who were thinking of sending their children to study abroad.  The series expanded to cover the US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as the Best of Cultural and Creative Arts.

Hurun Education is best-known for its rankings, putting out definitive rankings.  Its flagship is the Top International Schools in China, a ranking of the 100 best-regarded international schools in mainland China, as chosen by 300+ headmasters and other senior representatives from China’s international school system.

Other lists include a universities ranking, based on the alumni that produce the most individuals from the Hurun Rich List, as well as the most successful education entrepreneurs and donors to the education sector.

About Hurun Report Inc.

Promoting Entrepreneurship through Quality Lists and Research

Hurun Report generated 300 million views globally every month last year, through putting out quality lists and research.

Established in 1999, Hurun Report Inc. has grown into a leading research platform based in Shanghai and Mumbai, best-known for its China and India rich lists, and with 150 employees today.

Hurun Research Institute ‘World’s Largest Rich List Provider’

These past twenty years have seen the fastest wealth creating period in the history of the world.

Other lists Hurun puts out include: Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World has been highlighting for over ten years the fact that over 70% of the world’s most successful women in business herald from China, ie Chinese are completely dominant in the world of women in business. This has changed the way the world looks at Chinese women in business.

The Hurun China Philanthropy List ranks the most generous individuals in China and is now in its 15th anniversary.  With no inheritance tax, Chinese give much more generously than many have previously understood.

Two recent lists with an impact include the Hurun China Unicorn Index, ranking the most dynamic businesses with a valuation of US$1bn or more in China; and the Hurun Most Successful University Alumni.

In India, Hurun Research has launched the Hurun India Rich List for the seventh time last year, and has an active events business there.

‘World Authority on the Chinese High Net Worth Individual’

Recent research partners include financial institutions (PingAn, Bank of China, Taikang Life, Minsheng, Citic), local government (Shanghai, Changbaishan) and Global 500 multinationals (Marriott, Country Garden, Agile, Audi, Volvo).

Three breakthrough lists this past year: Hurun Good Doctors’ List, a ranking of the 9500 most respected doctors in China, broken down by region and speciality; Hurun Best International Schools List; and Hurun Creative Works Intellectual Property List, in Search of the Harry Potter of China, ranking those online novels with the most valuable IPs.

The Hurun Art List ranks the top artists alive today in China for the 12th year and has become a household name amongst artists.

Media and Events ‘The Hurun brand gets 300 million views a month in China’

The Hurun brand has become one of the few media brands to become a household name across China and India.

Hurun Media monetizes 2 million views a month in China, through its wechat, weibo, website and legacy magazine.

Recent themed events include blockchain, fintech and 30 under 30, with industry-respected awards. We deliver 100+ events a year in China, with 200 entrepreneurs from the Hurun China Rich List attending.

Hurun Report does events across the world.  In the last year, Hurun Report has held events in Toronto, New York, LA, London, Paris, Istanbul, Luxembourg, Sydney and Singapore. Hurun Report’s mission is to create the world's largest platform of China gatekeepers.

Investments

Hurun Investments has a portfolio of 20 companies with a market value of US$50 million, with investments into tech, media, design, education as well as a vintage car race and a tailor.

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Hurun Global Education Rich List ENG 200326.docx

新闻稿：《2020胡润百学·全球教育企业家榜》 200326.docx