Jack Zhang

Jack Zhang is building one of the most ambitious financial infrastructure companies of the modern era.

As founder and CEO of Airwallex, he leads a global fintech that processes more than $130 billion in annualised payment volume and generates over $1 billion in annualised revenue. Operating across 200 countries with dozens of financial licences, Airwallex provides the core financial rails that allow businesses to open accounts, move money, manage spend and operate seamlessly across borders.

In an era defined by geopolitical tension, regulatory scrutiny and the fragmentation of global trade, Zhang is positioning Airwallex as a new kind of financial backbone: API-driven, multi-currency, and built natively for internet-era businesses. The company now serves global brands and high-growth startups alike, competing directly with some of the most powerful incumbents in payments.

But Jack Zhang’s leadership is not without controversy. Airwallex’s rise has unfolded under intense regulatory oversight and public debate — particularly given its cross-border footprint and Chinese-Australian founding team. Zhang is candid about the pressure. He embraces scrutiny as part of building what he calls a “generational company”. One that intends to outlast cycles, competitors and narratives.

In 2018, when Airwallex was still early in revenue, he and his co-founders rejected a reported $1.2 billion offer from Stripe, choosing long-term infrastructure over a billion-dollar exit. As a speaker, Jack Zhang’s insights are grounded in active battles. Product iteration under capital pressure, regulatory negotiations across continents, culture-building inside a hyper-growth company, and the psychology required to endure it.

Sent alone from Qingdao to Melbourne at 15, he worked four jobs to fund his computer science degree, building and exiting multiple side businesses before founding Airwallex in 2015 after experiencing firsthand the inefficiencies of cross-border payments while running a coffee shop.

Today, Jack Zhang sits at the centre of a global conversation about who will control the next generation of financial infrastructure and how far a founder is willing to push to build it.