At 10:30 a.m. on February 25, 2024, Zong Qinghou, the founder of Wahaha, passed away due to illness at the age of 79, causing countless netizens to sigh.
"I've been drinking Wahaha since I was a child, and I've been with me throughout my growth, full of memories. ”
"Wahaha conscience enterprise, Grandpa Zong has gone all the way. ”
The magazine "Zheshang" once reported that Zong Qinghou was diagnosed with lung cancer several years ago, but because of the timely operation, the postoperative recovery is actually very good, and it is no different from ordinary healthy people.
After being hospitalized in January this year, Zong Qinghou spent the Spring Festival in the ward, and on the eve of the Spring Festival in previous years, he always invited the employees in Hangzhou to have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner together to wish Wahaha growth.
But even in poor physical condition, he kept working and moved his computer and printer to the ward. When talking about the problem of work, he said:"Wahaha is like my child, and I can't rest assured of him. ”
Since the reform and opening up, China's economy has come out of countless legendary stories and legendary figures, and countless of them have improved their family life with firm will like Zong Qinghou, but none of them can be like Zong Qinghou, who is still easy-going and kind-hearted after becoming the richest man.
Hangzhou citizens recalled that in the morning, Zong Qinghou always liked to wear an ordinary shirt and trousers to walk on the street, carrying fried dough sticks and baked cakes in his hands, and there was no rich man at all, and he looked very easy-going.
Although the ancestors were broad, when it came to Zong Qinghou's parents' generation, the life of the Zong family was not easy, and the living conditions were very poor. Just finished junior high school, Zong Qinghou dropped out of school because of his family's embarrassment and started a small business of trading.
From the age of 17 to 38, Zong Qinghou worked hard in many industries, worked as a farmer in a farm tea farm, worked as a worker in a factory, and also took his mother's position as a primary school teacher.
Zong Qinghou is a person who does not change his original intention, and he has always retained the simplicity, courage and kindness of the last century, so that after pedaling three wheels to create a business empire in the 80s, he still looks like a happy street uncle.
After becoming a wealthy man for many years, Zong Qinghou still maintains a simple living habit, he once said that his annual living expenses generally do not exceed 50,000 yuan, and he comes to work in the morning when he buys a fritter on the street, which is no different from many people.
In the past, when a reporter interviewed Zong Qinghou, he could occasionally get an ordinary cigarette handed over by him, but since he had health problems in his lungs, Zong Qinghou quit smoking, and the cost was less.
What many people know is that Zong Qinghou is an "old smoker" with a 30-year smoking history, and he can smoke two packs of cigarettes a day when he is addicted to anxiety, which accounts for most of his life consumption.
Zong Qinghou's lung cancer is inseparable from his years of high-intensity smoking, and the Shanghai Cancer Association and Fudan Affiliated Cancer Hospital have released a relevant screening and prevention report, which mentions that people who have smoked for more than 20 years are high-risk groups for lung cancer.
As for dressing up, Zong Qinghou doesn't care about the low price, he said:"Anyway, no matter how cheap I dress, some people will think that it is a luxury, a brand product, a very expensive thing. ”
But who can know that after Zong Qinghou, a pair of ordinary cloth shoes will be worn for a year or two, and the quartz watch in his hand will still be given by someone else's activity, 500 yuan a piece?
The most worrying thing in the workplace is probably the inexplicable layoffs from the company, especially when the so-called age line arrives, all achievements and experience seem to become worthless, which makes people anxious.
How many years of work experience do you need, not considering hiring after the age of 35, and dismissing after the age of 45, this is a problem faced by many people, but Zong Qinghou said in an interview before his death:"I never like to fire people, because it's normal to have differences in ability. ”
Zong Qinghou is different from many companies in managing enterprises, and the company is not like a company, but like a harmonious family. The huge Wahaha did not set up the position of "vice president" for a time, and countless people in charge reported directly to Zong Qinghou, and there were many workplace struggles.
There was a stalk within the company: Wahaha executives who want to buy a broom have to ask Zong Qinghou to sign, just like you who still reach out to your parents to ask for money to buy snacks when you grow up.
Regarding these statements, Zong Qinghou was noncommittal, but he said: The position of vice president is indeed not there, but we have a position of executive vice president's power, and after reducing a lot of intermediate links, the company's efficiency has risen, and the company has lost a lot of power struggles between vice presidents.
"I'm in charge of everything by myself, so that employees don't have to put their minds on 'nests'. ”
As the "patriarch" of more than 30,000 employees, Zong Qinghou will not fire employees over the age of 45, which is already a hidden rule of Wahaha.In Zong Qinghou's view, there are always suitable positions to do, as long as they don't violate discipline and law, and do bad things, the company can't directly fire people, and people with poor ability don't deserve to have jobs?
It is one of Zong Qinghou's missions to let employees have no worries and let employees live a good life, and the housing problem that everyone is concerned about is also seen by him and taken to heart.
In addition to the most basic salaries, allowances, bonuses, etc., Zong Qinghou also built Wahaha staff dormitories, affordable housing and low-rent housing to solve the housing problem for employees.
The staff dormitory is free of charge, and the water and electricity bills are also borne by the company, and employees who want to settle down can rent or buy low-rent housing and welfare housing, realizing "blessed sharing" in a real sense.
As an entrepreneur, Zong Qinghou always mentions it"Family Culture"., he saidIt is necessary to unite the small family, develop everyone, and finally serve the country.
His own actions in this regard are to pay more taxes, support more education and people's livelihood, solve more employment, and benefit employees.
As early as the end of 2021, Zong Qinghou's daughter officially sat on the chair of Wahaha's ** person and began to help her father run the group.
As an older single woman, Zong Fuli's marriage has always been a hot topic among netizens, and many people are discussing what kind of person she will marry in the future.
However, judging from Zong Fuli's personality and attitude, she did not reveal much interest in marriage, she lacked nothing in her life, and she couldn't tell whether these people liked her own people or their own money, so there was no need to worry about it.
Men are not necessities for Zong Fuli, and she doesn't have too many requirements for the future one, she can live a good life if she can meet her, and if she can't meet it, forget it, everything is as it is.
However, for the choice of son-in-law, Zong Qinghou made it very clear before his death:Nice, decent and competent.
The host once asked Zong Qinghou, doesn't it need his son-in-law to have the ability to manage the business?
But Zong Qing replied that as long as he has these three qualities, he is not afraid of not being able to do things.