Meet the billionaire couple behind Panda Express, who built a $3 billion fortune selling 90 million pounds of orange chicken each year and run 2,000 restaurants across the globe

• Husband and wife duo Andrew and Peggy Cherng are the co-CEOs of Panda Restaurant Group, the company behind Panda Express.
• Over the course of 35 years, the husband and wife team have overseen Panda Express’ growth from a single restaurant in a California mall to a 2,000-restaurant worldwide empire, The New York Times’ Kerry Hanon reported in 2018.
• The couple has a combined net worth of $3 billion, Forbes estimates.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Over the course of 45 years, college sweethearts Andrew and Peggy Cherng have grown Panda Express from a single restaurant in a southern California mall to a 2,000-location empire around the world.

The married couple founded the company in the early 1980s and continues to own and operate every Panda Express themselves. Today, the Cherngs have amassed a combined net worth of $3 billion, Forbes estimates, making them two of the richest people in fast food.

But the Cherngs weren’t always on track to build a fast-food empire. Keep reading to learn how the Cherngs built their multibillion-dollar fortune.

Andrew and Peggy Cherng, both 71, are the cofounders and CEOs of Panda Express, the American Chinese restaurant with nearly 2,000 locations worldwide. According to Forbes, the Cherngs have a combined net worth of $3 billion.

Source: Forbes, The New York Times

The Cherngs own and operate virtually every Panda Express location themselves — they don't franchise them out to other owners, making Panda Express a rarity among restaurant chains of its size.

Source: Business Insider

The couple also owns a highly rated ramen restaurant with locations in New York City and Berkeley, California, called Ippudo.

Source: Forbes, Zagat

The Cherngs' tight grip on their restaurants' operations may have helped preserve the food quality and helped the chain grow, but it has also led to some problems with employees. PRG has settled multiple lawsuits over overtime pay and hiring discrimination in recent years.

Source: The New York Times

Andrew Cherng was born in Yangzhou, China. His father was a chef, but Andrew didn't enter the restaurant industry at first — he came to the US to study math, eventually earning a master's degree in applied mathematics from the University of Missouri.

Source: The New York Times

During his undergraduate studies at Baker University in Kansas, Andrew Cherng met his future wife, Peggy.

Source: The New York Times

Andrew Cherng spent his summers waiting tables at Chinese restaurants in New York City. In 1973, he opened his own sit-down restaurant in Pasadena, California, called Panda Inn, with his father as chef.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

The opening of Panda Inn coincided with President Richard Nixon's famous 1972 visit to China, a watershed moment in US-China relations. As Peggy Cherng explained, pandas were viewed as "a symbol of friendship" between the two countries.

Source: Bloomberg

In 1983, Peggy Cherng joined Andrew in the restaurant business, and the two opened the first Panda Express in a mall in Glendale, California.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

Born in Myanmar and raised in Hong Kong, Peggy immigrated to the United States for college. She later earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri.

Source: Global Chinese Philanthropy Initiative

Peggy Cherng combined her engineering expertise with Andrew's experience in food service to streamline the company's operations and logistics. She pioneered the use of technology for tasks like tracking inventory and re-ordering ingredients, a practice other American Chinese restaurants had not yet adopted.

Source: The New York Times

Panda Express began growing rapidly, expanding to 97 restaurants within 10 years. "In the beginning, we said we wanted to be the McDonald's of the East," Peggy Cherng told Bloomberg Businessweek.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

Panda Express sold an estimated 90 million pounds of its best-selling orange chicken in 2018, and purchased 22 million pounds of broccoli in 2017

Source: The New York Times

The Cherngs found gold in their family-owned business. The couple is ranked No. 838 on Forbes' Billionaires List of the richest people in the world.

Source: Forbes

"Back in 1973 it was about making a living for the family," the couple said in a statement to Forbes. "Today it's about challenging ourselves and seeing what all of us on the team can achieve; living into Panda's mission of inspiring better lives."

Source: Forbes

Two of the Cherngs' three children work for Panda Express' corporate parent, Panda Restaurant Group. Andrea Cherng (pictured below) is the chief marketing officer, while Nicole Cherng is the manager of catering and special events.

Source: The Daily Meal

The Cherngs frequently cite their philosophy of treating employees well and allowing them to improve and advance their careers. The couple purchased a 12-foot high, multimillion-dollar Robert Indiana 'LOVE' sculpture to display outside their corporate headquarters in Rosemead, California to represent that.

Source: The New York Times

"Love is the verb we emphasize with our Panda family," Peggy Cherng told The Times. "We must respect and care for each other. We must push and stretch each other."

Source: The New York Times