Zhang Chaoyang (Charles Zhang)

Zhang Chaoyang (Charles Zhang) — founder profiled in the Chinese Founder Ledger — is documented as follows: mIT-trained physicist who founded Sohu, one of China's earliest internet portals, listed it on NASDAQ in 2000, and has more recently taken on public roles as an educator and commentator, including urging students to reconsider graduate school and defer career plans. The profile is grounded in the 2 sources indexed for this founder.

Zhang Chaoyang (Charles Zhang)'s role is documented as: founder, Chairman and CEO of Sohu; also an adjunct professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Wikipedia lists Zhang's occupation as 'Founder, chairman & CEO, Sohu' with no reported departure date; separately, HKUST's own announcement confirms his appointment as adjunct professor, and an SCMP article ( in fetched content) covers his public commentary as a 'China internet pioneer' (research date: 2026-08-23).

HKUST appointed Zhang as an adjunct professor, reflecting a pivot toward an academic/public-commentary role alongside his continued position at Sohu.

Zhang holds a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University and a PhD from MIT, an academic background distinct from many domestic-trained internet-era Chinese founders.

Zhang founded Sohu, which listed on NASDAQ in 2000, and was ranked 37th on Forbes China's Richest list in 2000 and 20th in 2003, reflecting Sohu's early prominence among Chinese internet portals.

Sohu became one of China's earliest and best-known internet portals; Zhang has since taken on an adjunct professorship at HKUST and become a public commentator on career and education topics, per SCMP.