Financial exhibitionist makes show of it and crowds come flocking
Wang Wei, a former banker, has opened three museums telling the story of modern money
Nothing seems to be a barrier in Wang Wei's colourful career. He was executive vice-president of a domestic brokerage at 34, then a banker, mergers & acquisitions leader and author. Wang climbed Mount Everest last year at age 56. Today his passions also include running museums - on the history of finance. There are three of them, with a fourth one planned to tell the constantly changing history of internet finance. Wang talked to the Sunday Morning Post about how he turns seemingly impossible ideas into reality
I thought of building China's first museum of finance in 2008 after visiting a similar institution in the United States. I proposed the idea to Cui Jindu , vice-mayor of Tianjin , who was excited by the idea but couldn't find the right person to carry out the plan. That's how I was picked.
I had to do it from scratch. Most people never lack good ideas, but only a few can turn those ideas into reality. It was hard because there was no existing model to copy. Equally hard was persuading others when you wanted a site, money and people. At first, nobody believed I could do it. But slowly people began to trust me and come on side.