For many, the notion of faith is often associated with charities and nonprofits.
But successful entrepreneurs, such as Cher Wang demonstrate that it is possible to be a great entrepreneur while staying true to your Christian faith. In 1997, Wang founded HTC, an international mobile company, which has grown to billions in revenue over the last two decades, and in 2013, she and her husband, were listed in Forbes magazine as one of the World’s Most Powerful Couples.
Despite their notable financial success, Wang has maintained her Christian values, cultivating a down-to-earth nature that, unlike most celebrity personalities, prefers simple clothing over lavish fashion, and a humble lifestyle over the extravagances of her secular peers. Case in point—Wang continues to use public transportation to get to work!
Challenging Early Days
Wang exhibited her Christian values early on by encouraging her soon-to-be husband to develop his faith in Christ. While hesitant at first, her husband fully embraced Christ when Intel, HTC’s biggest competitor, brought a patent lawsuit forward. As contracts began to be canceled and long-time partners started getting spooked, Wang and her husband turned to prayer; she says that they prayed for guidance in how to proceed. And God answered them in powerful ways.
Wang recounts, “On the following morning, the decision-maker at our key partner corporation changed his mind and wrote us to advise us that he would be behind HTC no matter what. When I met with him again afterwards, I asked him why he changed his mind, and he said he did not know. He only said that he felt it was the right thing to do!”
Generosity
As the head of two multi-billion-dollar companies, she never forgets her Christian faith. She holds regular prayer meetings, fellowships and Bible studies. She has pastors bless company gatherings and business meetings, and she has dedicated her life to giving back, donating over $28m to fund the Guizhou Forerunner College, a charitable college in southwest China.
As a powerful businesswoman and an outspoken Christian entrepreneur, Wang is a new model for entrepreneurship—one that is rooted in a strong moral foundation and demonstrated in a counterculture lifestyle and deep generosity.
