On June 9, local time, New Zealand’s National Business Review released the country’s latest rich list. Lucy Liu, co-founder of the financial technology company Airwallex, became the richest woman in New Zealand with a net worth of NZ$700 million (about RMB 3.036 billion), and ranked 30th in the overall list. This is her first time on the list. Public information shows that Liu Yueting was selected for the “2017 Forbes China 30 Under 30 Elite List” and the 2020 and 2021 Hurun U30 Chinese Entrepreneurship Leaders List.
Liu Yueting’s father is reportedly a former stock trader and technology entrepreneur. She once said that her father was her most important influencer: “I learned persistence and integrity from him, and entrepreneurship requires sacrifice. Now, as a mother, I also deeply understand it.” At the age of 12, she moved to Auckland and attended St. Cuthbert’s College. Later, she chose to study finance at the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 2015, she co-founded the cross-border payment company Airwallex in Melbourne, which is currently one of the fastest-growing financial technology companies in the world.
According to the National Business Review, the company provides global payment services to businesses and recently reached annual revenue of US$720 million. Liu Yueting’s specific shareholding in the company has not been made public, and she has not provided details, but an article published in the Australian Financial Review in August 2024 estimated that her shareholding ratio is about 6%-8%, which means that her book wealth is between A$618 million and A$865 million (about RMB 2.966 billion to RMB 4.152 billion).
Public information shows that recently, Airwallex has just completed a US$300 million Series F financing, with a valuation of US$6.2 billion, slightly higher than the US$5.6 billion in the previous round of equity financing in 2022. Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of the company, said that this financing marks a far-reaching step for the company in enabling physical enterprises in various countries to achieve global development.