Andrew Cherng
| Andrew Cherng | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jin Chang Cherng 1948 (age 68–69) Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Baker University (B.S., Mathematics, 1970) University of Missouri (M.S., Mathematics, 1972) |
| Occupation | entrepreneur, restaurateur, philanthropist |
| Known for | Founder of the Panda Express restaurant chain |
| Net worth | US$ 3.2 billion (June 2015) |
| Spouse(s) | Peggy Tsiang (m. 1975) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Ming-Tsai Cherng (father) |
Andrew Cherng (pronounced Chur-ng; born 1948) is a Chinese-born American restaurateur. He is the founder and chairman of Panda Restaurant Group Inc., based in Rosemead, California. He is well known for being the co-founder and chief executive officer of Panda Express. The Cherngs invest out of their family office, the Cherng Family Trust.
Cherng was born in 1948 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, Republic of China on the northern bank of China’s Yangtze River. His father was Ming-Tsai Cherng, a chef.
He and his family then moved to Taiwan after the Kuomintang was defeated in the Chinese Civil War, and in 1963, his family moved to Yokohama, 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 B.S. degree in Mathematics in 1970 from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, and an M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Missouri in 1972. At Baker University he had met his future wife, Peggy Tsiang, born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong, who went on to earn a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Oregon State University in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri.
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 on Foothill Boulevard, using funds from the family and a Small Business Administration loan. It opened on June 8, 1973. The cuisine was Mandarin more than the usually found Cantonese in the area.
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