Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
No, wait, there’s no way you’ve heard anything quite like this: it’s the story of a 9-year-old Chinese girl who 34 years ago arrived at the Salt Lake Airport malnourished, weighing no more than 50 pounds, counting the coat on her back, didn’t know a word of English, had zero money, and now, at 43, is ranked among the top 10 female investment managers in the country, in addition to owning and managing dozens of houses and apartments, and lives with her husband and their three children in a beautiful new home situated just below Mount Olympus with a panoramic view of the Salt Lake Valley.
All of it dating back to when she bought a house when she was 10.
Technically, she didn’t buy the house. Her father signed the papers, but Yijiang “John” Hu knew hardly a word of English, let alone American finances, and it was his daughter who orchestrated the entire transaction.
Her name was Fang Hu when she came from China, but she soon anglicized her first name to Amy, after a friend’s daughter — the first indication that this was a person adept at assimilating into her new culture.