Zhang Xuefeng, a famous Chinese online tutor and entrepreneur in the education field, has died of a sudden cardiac arrest at age 41.
His company, Suzhou Fengxue Weilai Education Technology Co, confirmed the death of its founder and chief executive in an obituary on Tuesday, as reported by China Daily.
Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Xuefeng. Photo from Weibo |
Born in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang, Zhang, originally named Zhang Zibiao, went on to graduate from Zhengzhou University and moved to Beijing, where he entered the industry by assisting at a friend’s postgraduate entrance examination institution.
He eventually became well known as a tutor specializing in college and postgraduate entrance examinations. He gained wider fame in 2016 after a lecture video on choosing majors at top universities went viral and led to him appearing on TV shows.
Zhang later started offering a highly sought-after counseling service for college application, which in China requires a complex strategy that takes into account exam scores, universities’ admission cut-offs and future career prospects.
A July 2024 report by the South China Morning Post called Zhang the country’s most successful extracurricular tutor and estimated his fortune at no less than US$100 million.
It added that bookings for his services had already been filled as far out as 2026 at the time, despite no guarantee of personal guidance from Zhang.
Zhang had a massive online following of more than 40 million across platforms. His rates started at 250,000 yuan (US$36,270) for video advertisements, according to financial media outlet 36Kr.
Zhang once said in a livestream that his goal in life was that “if one day I pass away, there will be a trending topic on major platforms saying ‘Zhang Xuefeng has died,’” as quoted by Global Times.
“I hope to be remembered by students and parents. Making a lot of money is no longer important to me. What matters most is being able to help people. Being able to help people is what matters most.”
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