A cow so big: The Extraordinary Success Formula of Niu Gengsheng, the Leader of Mengniu Group

Author: Big Apple Success Team Creative
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The pilgrimage is very clear, the "Meng" in Mengniu Dairy represents "Inner Mongolia"; while the "Niu" character, apart from representing "milk," is also seen by many as representing the founder, chairman, and CEO of Mengniu—Niu Gensheng. In fact, Mengniu is not named after the Niu family, because Niu Gensheng was originally not named Niu. Many private entrepreneurs, due to their humble origins, often have a "blood and tears" story. Therefore, we often say, "Do not ask about a hero's origins." This is especially true for Niu Gensheng; his origins are fundamentally unknowable, because even he doesn't know where he came from, what his real surname is, or who his biological parents are. He only knows that a transaction in 1958, one he is ashamed to speak of, set his life on a path divergent from the ordinary.
· Humble as he was: An orphan sold for 50 yuan. A person who couldn't even own a normal surname had an old man who raised Niu Gensheng say, "This child grew up eating bitter melon." Less than a month after his birth in 1958, before he could even recognize his parents' faces, the poor and many-child parents could not afford to raise him and sold him for a "hefty price" to a simple and honest Niu family. While selling a child usually meant giving the child a chance to "leap over the dragon gate" and achieve success, Niu Gensheng's adoptive parents remained symbols of poverty, and his life was destined never to adopt a "take-what-you-can-get" attitude toward wealth. Born unrelated to the Niu family, and with an adoptive father who made a living raising cattle, Niu Gensheng was inevitably tied to the Niu name. The name "Niu Gensheng" was given by his adoptive father. Since the family had no children, they hoped to secure an heir through adoption, hence the name "Gensheng" (root and life). Compared to orphans in the orphanage, Niu Gensheng thus temporarily had "roots."
· Poor as he was: A person caught in a game of hunger and cold. A person who didn't even wear new clothes or shoes at his wedding, Niu Gensheng's adoptive parents remained poor, and he suffered the hardships of life and the cruelty of the world from a young age. Speaking of Niu Gensheng's adoptive parents, they actually had a glorious past: Before raising cattle, the adoptive father was a "police chief" who took the blame for others in the Nationalist Party; the adoptive mother had been the mistress of a high-ranking Nationalist official. During the Liberation War, as the wife of an official, the adoptive mother widely distributed her wealth, helping the poor and storing some with various families. Later, when life became difficult, the adoptive mother took young Niu Gensheng to try to retrieve those stored assets, but the people involved not only refused to recognize them but also drove the mother and son out. Old friends eventually turned against each other, and poverty only brought more enemies. Whether rich or poor, people's fortunes change, and so do relationships—poverty left a deep mark on Niu Gensheng. With no hope of getting money, the family lived a poor life raising cattle and delivering milk. Later, when his adoptive parents passed away, Niu Gensheng was fortunate enough to join Yili as a bottle washer. The word "poverty" followed him until his marriage, and even then, he didn't wear new clothes or buy new shoes for his wedding. Looking back on those difficult years, Niu Gensheng once said: "When I lived with my adoptive parents, everything we ate was divided into three portions—one for each of the three family members. We also bought things in three portions, and this habit remained unchanged for many years."
· Turbulent as he was: A person even in a group