Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of global payments platform Airwallex, has spent decades operating at an intensity many would consider unsustainable. Yet
for Zhang, the idea of burnout simply doesn’t resonate. Having grown Airwallex into an $8 billion company, he credits relentless work, necessity, and purpose for shaping both his mindset and his career. Speaking to CNBC Make It, Zhang was direct about his perspective: “I never understand that terminology (burnout) to be honest. I’ve worked 100 hours a week from [the] age of 16 for 20 plus years.” For him, long hours were not a choice driven by ambition alone, but a requirement for survival. Survival Before Work-life Balance While pursuing his education, Zhang said his weekly workload regularly reached extreme levels. “When you’re in that tough situation, you need to survive, you’re not really (thinking) about burnout. I mean, either you survive or not, right?” Even today, in his late 40s, Zhang maintains an 80-hour workweek, a pace he sees as consistent with the responsibilities he has chosen to take on. From Qingdao To Blue-Collar Grit Zhang’s work ethic was forged early. At just 15, he left Qingdao, China, and moved alone to Melbourne, Australia. With limited English and parents facing financial challenges, Zhang was responsible for funding his computer science degree at the University of Melbourne, as well as his daily cost of living. “I (had) two choices: either I just return to China and try to go back to the education system there, or I continue to stay in Australia and figure out how to pay tuition and living on my own,” he stated to the publication. His solution was a string of physically demanding jobs — washing dishes during the day, bartending at night, working overnight shifts at a petrol station, and packing lemons at a factory during summers. Finding Purpose Beyond Paychecks After graduating in 2007, Zhang began his career as a software engineer before moving into banking. Financially, he did well, even earning his first million. But he said in the interview that money alone was not fulfilling. The turning point came at age 30 with the birth of his daughter. “I remember I just looked at her, I (felt) like, I hadn’t done anything (to) make her feel proud,” he said. That moment pushed him to leave behind side hustles and stable employment. “I realised that while I always wanted money, money alone doesn’t bring [me] the highest level of happiness.” “I always wanted to find something (where) no one needs to ever wake me up and ... every day I feel extremely passionate, obligated, and willing to devote my entire survival towards,” he added. Building Airwallex And Looking Ahead Airwallex emerged from one such side project, when Zhang and future co-founder Max Li struggled to move money internationally while importing coffee beans. “We thought, why can’t we build a ... payment system in parallel to SWIFT and fundamentally change how money moves around the world?” he told CNBC. Founded in 2015 with several university friends, Airwallex has since scaled rapidly. The company now employs around 2,000 people across 26 global offices and has reached a $1 billion annualised run-rate revenue. Despite the scale, Zhang remains focused on growth. “I’m still very excited about what’s ahead of us… we think we can generate [at least] $10 billion [in] revenue by 2030, so that is our next goal post.”
