Andrew Cherng (; pronounced ''Chur-ng''; born April 1948) is a Chinese-born American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

restaurateur. He is the founder and chairman of

Panda Restaurant Group Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express and Hibachi-San, was founded by Andrew and Peggy Tsiang Cherng Jennings, Lisa"Having words with Peggy Tsiang Cherng: chief executive and co-chair, Panda Restaurant Group" ' ...

, based in

Rosemead, California Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a cluster of cities, along with Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Park ...

. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of

Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that serves American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,200 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, where it was founded, and is mainly located in North ...

. The Cherngs invest out of their

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer ...

, the Cherng Family Trust.

Early life and education

Cherng was born in April 1948 in

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Province,

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. His father was Ming-Tsai Cherng, a chef. He and his family moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

after the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

was defeated on mainland China in the end of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, and in 1963, his family moved to

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan, where his father had taken a job as a chef. In 1966, at age 18, he immigrated to the United States to study at an American university. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1970 from

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Ar ...

Baldwin City, Kansas Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. History ...

, and a master's degree in applied mathematics from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in 1972. At Baker he had met his future wife, Peggy Tsiang, born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong, who went on to earn a bachelor's degree in mathematics from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

in 1971 and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri.

Business career

In 1972, he moved to the Los Angeles area to help his cousin run a restaurant called Ting Ho. After a few months, he found a restaurant in Pasadena to take over. In June 1973, along with his father Ming Tsai Cherng, they took over a restaurant and started a new Chinese restaurant called Panda Inn in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

on Foothill Boulevard, using funds from the family and a

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...

loan. It opened on June 8, 1973. The cuisine was more general Chinese than the Cantonese usually found in the area. In 1983, Andrew Cherng opened the first Panda Express, a fast food restaurant, at the newly opened Glendale Galleria II mall in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. He had been prompted to start the spin off by the developer of the mall who had eaten at Panda Inn and invited Cherng to take a place at the food court. The company had expanded to 100 restaurants by 1993, with the opening of an outlet at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Cherng has stated a preference for keeping the company

closely held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

. However, in 2006 he told ''USA Today'' if the company could get a valuation close to that of

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (, ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. Chipotle operates restaurants in the Uni ...

, he might reconsider his stance. However, in an interview with ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' newspaper in 2008, he said he would not be interested in making the company public, saying they did not need the money and citing concerns with the trouble and expense of dealing with shareholders. The Cherngs have since invested heavily in new restaurant concepts such as Just Salad, YakiYan, Ippudo, and Pieology. In 2018, it was announced that the Cherng Family Trust purchased the former Mandarin Oriental hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and rebranded it as a Waldorf Astoria. The total acquisition price for the property was $214 million.

Philanthropy

In February 2011, the Cherngs donated $2.5 million to support the

Collins College of Hospitality Management The Collins College of Hospitality Management is a college part of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Founded in 1973, it was the first hospitality management studies program in California and its thousand stude ...

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''California State Polytechnic University, Pomo ...

. In March 2017, the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

announced that they were changing the name of its

medical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

department to the Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering after receiving a $30 million gift from Andrew and Peggy Cherng. In the following month, the University of Missouri announced receiving a $1.5 million gift from the Cherngs which would benefit its Honors College.

Personal life

Andrew and Peggy, an engineer who was working for aircraft companies in the Los Angeles area, and who both first met in college, married in 1975. They have three daughters. Two of their daughters, Andrea and Nicole, work for the Panda company in its corporate headquarters in Rosemead. Their daughter Michelle is a primary/secondary school teacher. In 2015, it was reported that he and his wife had invested $15.2 million in a beachfront property and home in Honolulu. In 2018, the couple purchased a mansion in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

Honors

* Since 2010, Cherng has been a member of the Committee of 100, an international, non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that brings a Chinese American perspective to issues concerning Asian Americans and U.S.-China relations. * In 2008, Cherng was listed in Forbes' Twenty-Five Notable Chinese-Americans. * In 2008,

conferred Cherng with an honorary doctorate.

References

External links

Committee of 100 Member Roster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherng, Andrew 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American billionaires American chief executives of food industry companies American food company founders Baker University alumni Businesspeople from Jiangsu Businesspeople from Los Angeles Chinese emigrants to the United States Fast-food chain founders People from Pasadena, California Members of Committee of 100 University of Missouri alumni 1948 births Living people Chinese Civil War refugees American people of Taiwanese descent