Zhu Zhiwen, a rural-born singer, sticks to a plain life and agricultural routines despite heavy scheduled commercial shows till late 2026, never being arrogant or chasing unnecessary fame.
Rumors that CBA legend Zhu Fangyu is worth over 100 million have been circulating widely among basketball fans recently.
In 1999, 17-year-old Zhu Fangyu joined the Guangdong Hongyuan Youth Team as a rookie, carrying nothing but a bundle of bedding; his annual salary that first year was only 100,000 yuan.Back then, he would often eat instant noodles in his dorm room while clutching his meager pay stub, carefully calculating his incidental expenses over and over again before sending money home. No one could have imagined that this inexperienced teenager would one day amass a fortune of over 100 million.
He remained at the peak of his playing career for eleven years, earning a fixed annual salary of five million during that time. In those years, his jersey was always stiff with sweat, and the crowd’s cheers were deafening every time he sank a game-winning shot; every penny of his earnings was earned through relentless effort on the court, game after game.Over his eighteen-year professional career, his fixed salary from the club alone totaled nearly 60 million, and when combined with bonuses from various competitions, his total earnings exceeded 70 million. He also became the first player in CBA history to score over 10,000 points; when he raised the trophy on the podium, his knuckles turned white from the strain.
In 2017, Zhu Fangyu’s jersey was officially retired and hung on the team’s Wall of Fame. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed general manager of the Guangdong team, with a fixed annual salary of 1.5 million.During his tenure, the lights in his office often stayed on until the wee hours of the night. From player recruitment and sponsorship negotiations to bridging operational gaps, he handled every matter with steady and thorough care, and his primary source of income remained consistently stable.
In addition to his day job, he has also expanded into side hustles. When working as a sports commentator, he sits in front of the camera for three hours straight; whenever his voice gets hoarse, he takes a sip of warm water and keeps going;When taking on sponsored short video projects, he revises each script repeatedly until he’s satisfied before finally publishing it. These side ventures bring in an annual income of three to eight million. All of his income comes from hard work, and today he has a stable annual income of at least nine million, with his net worth having long since surpassed 100 million.
What’s even more remarkable is that, throughout his many years of deep involvement in the industry, he has never prioritized profit above all else. He has never capitalized on trending topics to exploit fans, nor has he made a quick buck through speculation. Instead, he has transformed the industry reputation, professional network, and fan base he’s built up over half a lifetime into a stable business,Every bit of return corresponds to genuine hard work, and there isn’t a shred of artificial inflation in this net worth.
Devoting twenty years to deepening one’s expertise in a single field—first laying a solid foundation by thoroughly mastering the tasks at hand, then gradually broadening one’s scope of development along the industry’s natural trajectory—without fixating on short-term gains but instead focusing on long-term, steady growth: this steady approach to life is, in itself, the most valuable attitude to emulate.
