The biography of the founder of Hyundai in 318 words
Chung Ju-yung was the founder of Hyundai. He was born in Korea in 1915.
As the oldest son of a poor farmer, he had to work on the farm from sunrise to sunset.
Chung did not have time for school. He had a 6th grade education.
He was so poor his entire family had to shit in buckets. They used this “night soil” to fertilize their meager crops.
In the winter they would run out of food. They ate tree bark to survive.
This did not stop Chung from becoming the richest person in South Korea.
He was determined not to end up a poor farmer.
He ran away to the city. He took any job he could.
His first big break? A job as a delivery boy for a rice shop.
The job came with a fringe benefit: One bag of rice each month!
Chung would say this was the first time in his life that he felt rich.
He works circles around the owner’s lazy son.
Chung eventually takes over the rice shop. The delivery boy had now become the owner.
Good times don’t last.
Japan rules Korea at this time. They take over his rice shop.
He starts a mechanic shop. It burns down.
He starts another mechanic shop. The Japanese take that from him too.
This pattern repeats: The government of South Korea confiscates one of his construction companies.
Chung builds his business through Japanese colonialism, national liberation, the Korean War, the student revolution, the coup d'état in 1961, the assassination of President Park, and 30 years of military rule.
He never quits.
Chung starts out knowing nothing.
Using superhuman levels of determination— and years of trial and error— he learns how to build Hyundai into a Fortune 500 conglomerate.
He manages a large construction company, the first domestic Korean car manufacturer, and the largest shipyard in the world.
His nickname was The Bulldozer.
