Tony Xia facts for kids

Tony Jiantong Xia (Chinese: 夏建统; pinyin: Xià Jiàntǒng) is a Chinese businessman. He is known for leading the Recon Group, a big company with many different businesses.

Early Life and Education

Tony Xia was born in Quzhou, China. When he was only 14, he moved to Beijing to go to university.

He was one of a few students chosen to study at famous universities like Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He also spent time studying at Oxford University in England. He earned a special degree called a PhD in urban planning, which is about designing cities.

Business Ventures

Tony Xia started his first design company, XWHO, in Boston, USA, in 1999. Later, this company moved to Hangzhou, China.

In China, he also started another planning company called Teamax. He later sold Teamax for a large amount of money.

Recon Group

Xia took over a Chinese company called Recon Group in 2004. This company is based in Beijing and Hangzhou. It is like a main company that owns many other businesses run by Tony Xia.

Recon Group works in many different areas. These include technology, health, farming, new energy, and smart ways to travel. They also work in engineering, money services, sports, and tourism. Xia once said he wanted to buy football clubs in other countries like India, Spain, the US, and Australia. He wanted to create a new "sports part" for his company.

In 2017, a part of Recon Group tried to buy a big share in Millennium Films. This is a Hollywood movie studio known for action films like The Expendables. However, this deal did not happen. The Chinese government started to make it harder for companies to invest in businesses overseas.

In March 2020, Tony Xia announced that Recon Group was focusing on its health and science division. This part of the company was making and sending out important medical supplies. These included COVID-19 testing kits, hand sanitizer, ventilators, thermometers, and PPE. They sent these items to countries around the world that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aston Villa Football Club

On May 18, 2016, it was announced that Recon Group agreed to buy Aston Villa, a famous English football club. The club became part of Recon Group's sports and tourism businesses. The sale was completed in June 2016, and Tony Xia became the chairman of the club.

Tony Xia invested a lot of money into Aston Villa. However, it became difficult to move money from China to the United Kingdom. This caused problems for Xia and Aston Villa.

In June 2018, Aston Villa missed a deadline to pay a tax bill. The club faced the risk of going out of business. Xia worked to solve the problem and made a deal to pay the tax bill. This saved the club from immediate danger. However, he confirmed the club was still having money problems.

In July 2018, Xia sold most of his share in the club to a group called NSWE. He then became a smaller owner and a co-chairman. By August 2019, documents showed that Recon Group no longer owned any part of the club.

Personal Life

Tony Xia has a home in Beijing, China. He is married to Sally and has one child.

He became a fan of Aston Villa football club after watching them play at Villa Park. This was when he was a student at Oxford University. Tony Xia used to play football himself as a striker when he was in college.

Xia describes himself as a "self-made millionaire." This means he earned his wealth through his own hard work. In 2018, it was thought that he was worth about £1 billion.

Tony Xia uses the English name Tony Xia.