Full Name: Jianke Gao
Position: CEO of Wesizwe Platinum since August 2011
Main Activity of Company: Mine development
Date and Place of Birth: September 9, 1962, Henan province, China
Education: Bachelor of Mining, professor-level senior engineer, Central-South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, China (now Central-South University, China)
First Job: Mining engineer at Jinchuan, 1984
Size of First Pay Packet: Rmb68 a month (less than $10 a month)
Career History: Chief engineer, Jinchuan’s Longshou (Dragon Head) mine; deputy director, Jinchuan Technical Centre; VP, Nickel and Cobalt Research and Design Institute; GM, Jinchuan No 2 mine; and other key positions in Jinchuan
Value of the Assets under Your Control: R667 409 093 as at January 16, 2016
Number of People under Your Leadership: 80
Management Style: Decentralised, with collective problem solving
Personal Best Achievement: Reaching full production and then expanding the Jinchuan No 2 mine, which employs 3 200 people, during the six years I was GM
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Ren Hanzhang, GM of Jinchuan’s Longshou mine
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Zhuge Liang, the master of tactics from China’s Three Kingdoms period
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Steve Jobs
Philosophy of Life: Live happily
Biggest Ever Opportunity: China’s open-door policy, which provides access to university; without that, I would still be a peasant farmer working in the fields
Biggest Ever Disappointment: I have had no big disappointments
Hope for the Future: Making Wesizwe successful
Favourite Reading: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a three-volume epic novel written during the fourteenth century by Luo Guanzhong
Favourite TV programme: I have no time to watch TV
Favourite Food/Drink: Any food that can fill my stomach, and water
Favourite Music: Chinese YU opera from Henan province
Favourite Sport: Badminton
Hobbies: Music and surfing the Internet
Car: ‘Number 11’ – my two legs; I walk
Pets: None
Dislikes: People who do not think independently
Married: To Lin Xiuzhi
Children: Son, Gao Yizhao, 24
Clubs: None