Leading Yum China, China’s largest restaurant company with over 10,000 restaurants, Joey Wat is known as one of only 37 female CEOs listed on the Fortune 500 with an estimated net worth of US$15.2 million. Despite having the weakest stock debut this year among billion-dollar listings in Hong Kong , Wat has plans to open at least 800 stores by the end of 2020. Meet Ji Kaiting, millennial Chinese billionaire who loves fast cars Wat did not come from an affluent family. They moved from Fuzhou to Hong Kong when Wat was young, where she soared in her academics and attended the prestigious University of Hong Kong. Later, she furthered her studies in Northwestern University in the US before joining McKinsey & Company in 2000. The 12 richest tech billionaires in the world – ranked In 2004, Wat joined A.S. Watson Group in the UK, handling managing and strategic matters. Over the next decade, she rescued struggling health and beauty retail chain Savers and eventually became managing director of Watson UK, which handled both Savers and retail chain Superdrug. She later joined the F&B industry in 2014 as the CEO of KFC China before shifting among several roles at parent company Yum China, finally taking over as CEO in 2018. With Wat at the helm, KFC China’s online sales and delivery business dramatically increased; deliveries accounted for 17 per cent of the chain’s total sales in the third quarter of 2018. In 2011, Wat added the title of “mother” to her list as she gave birth to her son. No matter how busy she might be at work, Wat believes in the importance of spending time with family . The Korean celebrities making a stand against misogynists “Nothing is more important than childcare,” she once told Forbes in an interview. “Not even my job.” Want more stories like this? Sign up here . Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .