From the college entrance exam to TRON: How Justin Sun built a billion-dollar fortune through multiple identities

From a student with a score of 20 in physics to a billionaire blockchain entrepreneur, Sun Yuchen’s growth trajectory can be considered a typical case of “multiple packaging.” Every step seems natural, but in reality, it has been meticulously designed. Through layers of educational background, media exposure, business connections, and technological innovation, he ultimately achieved explosive wealth growth with the TRON project. This story reflects the perfect combination of personal ability and market mechanisms—it’s also a textbook-level operation on how to quickly accumulate wealth in emerging industries.

Step One: Breakthrough in College Entrance Examination and Entry into Peking University

When Sun Yuchen was in his first year of high school, his physics score was only in the twenties, and according to the traditional path to higher education, his prospects were not optimistic. His mock exam score in the second year was 450, placing him in the middle of his class, and he was almost unreachable by top universities like Peking University.

However, in the following three years, he adopted a “multi-pronged” strategy. On one hand, he invested a lot of time and energy to improve his subject scores, and on the other hand, he participated in the New Concept Writing Competition, ultimately winning a national first prize. It was the cumulative effect of these efforts that allowed him to successfully enter Peking University with a college entrance examination score of 650. This result marked his acquisition of the first important “entry ticket”—the identity of a Peking University student not only represents an educational background but also signifies the alumni network, resources, and influence behind it.

Step Two: Building Reputation in Southern Weekly Era

With the identity of a Peking University student and the honor of winning the New Concept Writing Competition, in 2010, Sun Yuchen smoothly entered Southern Weekly, the most influential financial media in China at that time, as an intern editor.

Here, he began to showcase his operational talent. When publishing articles, he cleverly changed the byline from “Intern Editor: Sun Yuchen” to “Sun Yuchen of Southern Weekly,” successfully completing an identity “upgrade.” At that time, Southern Weekly was still in the last glorious period of print media, and its influence on business people was irreplaceable. Sun Yuchen seized this opportunity to frequently increase his presence, even appearing on the cover of Asia Weekly alongside famous writer Jiang Fangzhou, which elevated his visibility in the business elite circle. During this period, he established not an academic status, but rather a “talented youth” persona.

Step Three: Hupan University and Connections with Top Networks

The next turning point occurred at Hupan University. This business school, co-founded by industry giants such as Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Lenovo Group Chairman Liu Chuanzhi, Giant Network Chairman Shi Yuzhu, and Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management Dean Cai Hongbin, gathered the top entrepreneurs in China’s business community.

Sun Yuchen was able to enter this elite academy thanks to recommendation letters from Cai Hongbin and IDG Capital founder Xu Xiaoping. On this platform, he attended multiple courses on entrepreneurial spirit by Jack Ma, and his identity was once again upgraded—he began to be referred to as “Jack Ma’s youngest disciple.” More importantly, he came into contact with real internet industry bigwigs here, establishing a network of connections that spanned multiple fields.

From scoring 20 in physics to becoming Jack Ma’s disciple, each step was completed through cleverly leveraging platforms and individuals to achieve an identity “leap.” But these were just the groundwork.

Step Four: “Trial Water” as President of Ripple Greater China

Within the business information gathered at Hupan University, Sun Yuchen came into contact with early projects in the blockchain industry—Ripple. At that time, Ripple’s team in Greater China was very small, with only about 20 people, and he smoothly became the president of Ripple Greater China based on the connections and reputation he had previously established, giving it the Chinese name “锐波.”

This experience was short-lived but significant. It allowed Sun Yuchen to transition from traditional business to the digital asset field and gain a certain level of influence and voice in the early cryptocurrency industry. He began to understand the logic of blockchain, the operation of token economics, and how to quickly accumulate capital and popularity in this emerging field.

Step Five: Creation and Early Operations of TRON

After gaining a deep understanding of Ripple’s operations, Sun Yuchen realized that his understanding of the blockchain industry was profound enough. He began to plan a larger project—TRON.

The code framework of TRON was based on the already successful Ethereum at that time, but Sun Yuchen customized its development according to the characteristics of the Asian market. At the end of 2017, TRON was officially launched, using TRX as the cryptocurrency within its ecosystem. According to the latest data, TRX’s current circulating market value has reached $29.86B, with an average daily transaction volume in the millions of dollars.

After the project went live, Sun Yuchen adopted an aggressive marketing strategy. He launched a series of eye-catching promotional activities—giving away Maseratis with TRON purchases, frequent hype promotions, and multi-dimensional social media marketing. The effects of these operations were significant, with a large number of retail investors flooding into the TRON ecosystem.

Step Six: Dual Business Operation Models

Regarding TRON’s sources of revenue, Sun Yuchen adopted a dual strategy of “cut and plant.”

Cut: Control of Token Supply

Although TRON employs blockchain technology, and all transaction records are public, transparent, and immutable, the issuance supply of TRON tokens is completely controlled by Sun Yuchen and his team. This is similar to a central bank controlling the printing press—while all transaction records exist, the right to issue new tokens is held by the project party. A stock market analogy would be more intuitive: Sun Yuchen is the super speculator, controlling over 90% of the initial chips, and the price fluctuations are mainly determined by their operations. This means that retail investors face risks far greater than those in traditional financial markets, and this market also lacks effective regulatory constraints.

It is documented that on January 5, 2018, when the price of TRON reached its peak, Sun Yuchen sold 6 billion TRX, cashing out approximately $300 million that day. This transaction fully demonstrated what it means to control supply.

Plant: Development and Support of Ecological Applications

Sun Yuchen did not just cut and run; he continued to “nurture” the TRON ecosystem. The TRON team developed over 500 DApps (decentralized applications), attempting to establish a complete application ecosystem. However, the user participation in these applications was mostly concentrated in gambling-type games—these types of applications best attract users’ frequent interactions and high investments.

This design formed a complete value cycle: new users entered TRON due to the hot DApps, participated in gambling-type games consuming TRX, which pushed up transaction volume and token prices, while Sun Yuchen cashed out at the peak with the chips he controlled, also extracting transaction fees as the platform provider.

Underlying Logic: The Wealth Code of Emerging Industries

Sun Yuchen’s success is not accidental but a precise grasp of several key factors:

First, Multi-dimensional Personal Branding — From top scorer in the college entrance examination to talented editor and then to Jack Ma’s disciple, each identity paved the way for the next step. The identities represent trust and influence behind them.

Second, Accurate Selection of Tracks — Before entering TRON, Sun Yuchen had already understood the core mechanisms of blockchain through his practice with Ripple. He chose a market that was at the beginning of its explosive growth and lacked regulation.

Third, Commercial Value of Supply Control — Traditional enterprises derive profit from product value, while cryptocurrency projects profit from the power to control supply. This is a whole new business model.

Fourth, High-risk High-return Market Environment — In a cryptocurrency space lacking regulation, with information asymmetry, and where participants chase huge profits, those who grasp these advantages can quickly amass significant wealth.

Sun Yuchen grew from a laggard with a score of 20 in physics to a billionaire entrepreneur, with every step reflecting a profound understanding and precise grasp of the characteristics of the industry and market psychology at the time. Although TRON later faced multiple doubts and investigations, it is undeniable that Sun Yuchen achieved a leap in wealth from 0 to 10 billion through this project. This case also reflects the enormous return space brought by “first-mover advantage” and “information asymmetry” in emerging industries.

As of March 2026, TRX’s market performance continues, with the current price at $0.32, and a 24-hour increase of +1.26%, with a circulating supply of 94.76B tokens. Regardless of evaluations, TRON has become an important participant in the cryptocurrency market, and Sun Yuchen has successfully completed the transformation from personal brand to business empire.