The word “burnout” isn’t in the dictionary of Jack Zhang,co-founder and CEO of fintech company Airwallex.
“I never understand that terminology to be honest. I’ve worked 100 hours a week from [the] age of 16 for 20 plus years,” Zhang told CNBC Make It.
For Zhang,hard work meant survival. At age 15, he moved away from his hometown of Qingdao, China to Melbourne, Australia alone, to pursue better opportunities. He barely spoke English and stayed with an Australian host family.
Shortly after arriving,he learned that his parents had found themselves in financial hot water back in China,and that he would have to support himself through university.
“I [had] two choices: either I just return to China and try to go back to the education system there, or I continue to stay in Australia and figure out how to pay [for my] tuition and living [expenses] on my own,” saeid Zhang.He decided to stick with the latter and took whatever work he could find to make ends meet.
To pay for his computer science degree at the University of Melbourne,Zhang juggled four blue-collar jobs: washing dishes at a restaurant during the day,bartending in the evening,working the overnight shift at a petrol station and packing lemons in a factory over the summer.
Some weeks, he says, he clocked 80 to 100 hours of work on top of his coursework.
“when you’re … in that tough situation [where] you need to survive, you’re not really [thinking] about burnout. I mean, either you survive or not, right?” he said.
Not much has changed since then. Now in his 40s, zhang still clocks 80 hours a week “easily,” he said, at his own fintech firm. As of December 2025, the company is valued at $8 billion.
From blue collar to millionaire
After graduating from university in 2007, Zhang went into the corporate world.his first job was at an insurance company called Aviva, before he entered the banking industry.
Simultaneously occurring, he also built a few side businesses, from a shipping company where he exported olive oils and red wines from Australia to parts of Asia, to a real estate development firm.
his side hustles proved lucrative. By the time he reached his 20s, money was no longer an issue. Though, even though he had accumulated millions through his businesses and banking career, Zhang said he had yet to find his true passion.
Everything changed when he had h
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Friday 16 January 2026 11:00 am
DETROIT – Outside General Motors‘ new world headquarters, between teh 12-story building and the city’s first new skyscraper in more than 30 years, sit two red Chevrolet pickup trucks.
One is a 1963 Chevrolet K20.The other is a new Silverado EV. The trucks, while part of a temporary holiday display, are symbolic of what’s inside the new global offices for the Detroit automaker: its past and present, woven together.
GM is occupying four of six office floors of the building and has filled them with artifacts, design nods and “Easter eggs” tied to the Detroit automaker’s history.
Thay range from a blueprint of GM’s iconic design dome and an early map of its nearby proving grounds to an interior wallpaper of 300 patented technologies and a decorative wall of cassette tapes with songs featuring the automaker’s brands as well playful references to executive stalwarts such as CEO Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss.
One of the centerpiece objects of GM’s new headquarters is the McCormick Speed Form, an aerodynamic wind-tunnel model developed at the Warren Technical Center.
Courtesy: GM
“Leadership asked when we were helping design the space to bring in some Easter eggs and details to represent who we are at GM, you know, honoring our culture and our history and our innovation,” Rebecca Waldmeir, GM industrial design architecture and experience manager, told CNBC during a tour of the new headquarters.
Other surprises include references to relevant Detroit streets, design influences from GM’s famed design campus in suburban Detroit and artwork and sculptures of its products.
aside from the aesthetics, GM officials say the new offices will assist with collaboration and are more relevant to how the company expects its employees to work in a post-pandemic world. It will house executive offices and other corporate functions such as marketing, legal and finance.
“A headquarters really shoudl be, at some level, a beacon for the culture of the company,” said David Massaron, GM vice president of infrastructure and corporate citizenship.”When you come in here, it should help people understand who we want to be.”
A wall
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General Motors is putting the finishing touches on its new global headquarters in downtown Detroit, a 767,000-square-foot building designed to foster collaboration and attract talent. The space,located in the historic Hudson’s building,features open office areas,a semi-public showroom,and even a pickleball court.
The move comes as automakers rethink their office spaces in the wake of the pandemic and compete for employees in a tight labor market. GM’s new HQ is significantly smaller than Ford’s recently opened facility in Dearborn, Michigan, but the company says it’s a deliberate choice, reflecting its existing footprint in the region.
A Detroit Renaissance
The Hudson’s building, a detroit landmark, had been vacant for decades before Rocket Companies chairman and billionaire dan Gilbert, who has been purchasing and renovating properties in Detroit for more than a decade.
Showroom, pickleball
Aside from the office areas and the executive floor, which all overlook an open atrium, GM also plans to open a semi-public space to display products and host events on the first floor of the building.
Other amenities include social gathering areas and lounges, food and beverage services and a pickleball court and recreation area.
A common area outside of the executive offices of GM’s new headquarters in downtown Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
GM’s new headquarters, which remains under construction, comes months after Ford christened
a new 2.1-million-square-foot global HQ
and product design and advancement center in nearby Dearborn, Michigan.
Ford’s new facility includes offices, design and industrial operations and a host of amenities such as a 160,000-square-foot dining area with eight ”kitchen concepts,” multiple courtyards and other upgrades.
The notable difference in the size between GM’s and ford’s new headquarters comes down to location, headcount and the automakers’ portfolios of offices and operations throughout the region.
A pickleball court and seating area inside the building that includes GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
GM, such as, has a vast technology and design center that occupies 710 acres in nearby Warren, Michigan. That campus houses more than 24,000 employees.
Massaron said GM didn’t feel it needed to create “a city within a city” for its new headquarters, because it’s actually “a building within a city.”
Here’s a look inside GM’s new world headquarters:
The entry of the executive floor inside GM’s new global headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
To: Lst-Global
From: EHill
Subject: Leadership Announcements
Team,
In recent months, the Senior Leadership Team has benefited from having our Geography VP/GMs at the table helping us move faster and bringing us closer to athletes* in both countries and marketplaces around the world.
As we continue to drive our Win Now actions and stand up our Sport Offense,I’d like to share several critically important leadership changes across three of our Geo VP/GM roles.
EMEA
Carl Grebert, a true legend on our team, has decided to retire after nearly 30 years of service and leadership across global, country and geography roles across the company. Carl shared his thinking with me some time ago, and I’m deeply grateful he helped guide us through my first year and thoughtfully worked with us to identify his successor. To say Carl is beloved is an understatement. But more than that, his career and leadership are deeply inspiring. When Carl joined Nike in 1997 (the year of the Bulls’ infamous Flu Game and Tiger’s first Masters) Nike was still out to prove itself and its role in the world.
If you look at what we’ve proven since-that athletes* don’t just endorse culture, they shape it; that taking a point of view like Just Do It beats playing it safe; and that sport is a mirror of society, not just an escape from it-you’ll find Carl in the stands, on the field, and in the highlight reels of this company. He was often behind the scenes but always focused on making Nike better. As we work to invite more people into the world of sport, I know we can draw lessons from Carl’s career, and I look forward to doing so as we celebrate and thank him for everything he’s given this company.
With Carl’s retirement, I’m excited to share that César Garcia will become our new VP/GM of EMEA, effective February 2.
César started at Nike nearly 25 years ago as an EKIN in Spain and has since built a critical ability to connect product, sport, and marketplace into one integrated system. He’s led through moments of growth and moments of reset across geographies and businesses and is known for bringing clarity where things are complex, and momentum where teams need it most.
Most recently, César helped integrate merchandising, sport priorities, and analytics to sharpen how we serve athletes* and scale innovation. Earlier in his career, his general management experience across Asia Pacific & Latin america, Global Running, and Western Europe shaped him into a leader who understands how local culture, global strategy, and execution meet on the ground.
César is a builder. He sets a clear bar, develops strong teams, and moves with intent. That combination makes him the right leader for EMEA at this moment. You can read more about César’s background and experience here.
Am
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Our focus remains on what we can control – serving the athlete, innovating relentlessly, and executing our Win Now actions, and position NIKE, Inc. to continue having impact in the way only we can.
My best,
Elliott
President & CEO, NIKE, Inc.
About NIKE, Inc.
NIKE, Inc., headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, is the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Converse, a wholly-owned NIKE, Inc. subsidiary brand, designs, markets and distributes athletic lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For more details, NIKE, Inc.’s earnings releases and other financial information are available on the Internet at https://investors.Nike.com/. Individuals can also visit https://about.Nike.com/ and follow NIKE on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
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