华人女性刘月婷成新西兰女首富：身家10亿纽币，起点是25岁投出的100万美元
今年6月，新西兰国家商业评论（National Business Review，简称 NBR）发布2026年度富豪榜：150名上榜者总身家达1290亿新西兰元，上榜的亿万富翁增至26位。全球金融平台 Airwallex（空中云汇）联合创始人兼总裁刘月婷（Lucy Liu）以10亿新西兰元身家，居新西兰女性个人富豪首位；一年前，她的上榜身家还是7亿新西兰元。
刘月婷出生于中国北方，在上海读小学，12岁随家人移民新西兰奥克兰，就读于当地的圣卡斯伯特学院（St Cuthbert's College）。此后她赴澳大利亚墨尔本大学攻读金融硕士，2012年毕业，先后在香港的巴克莱银行与中国国际金融股份有限公司（中金公司）从事投资工作。
转折发生在2015年。她在墨尔本经大学同学 Max Li 引荐，认识了同为墨尔本大学校友的 Jack Zhang。Zhang 与朋友在墨尔本经营一家咖啡馆，为进口包装材料跨境付款时要被多收5%至7%的费用，由此萌生了做跨境支付的念头。当时 Zhang 需要50万美元启动资金，正在职业间歇期的刘月婷提出拿出100万美元积蓄做种子资金。她后来对美国《财富》杂志回忆：「我当时25岁，有点过度自信。」投钱之后她没有做甩手投资人，而是以联合创始人兼总裁的身份全职加入。Airwallex 于2015年在墨尔本成立，五位联合创始人均为墨尔本大学校友。
十一年后，Airwallex 已成长为服务全球企业的金融平台，采用新加坡与旧金山双总部制，年化收入在2025年10月突破10亿美元，平台服务的企业超过67万家。公司至今没有上市。
10亿新西兰元是怎么算出来的？刘月婷持有 Airwallex 的股份，但她的具体持股比例从未公开。澳大利亚《金融评论报》2024年8月曾估算，她的持股约在6%至8%之间。富豪榜的身家，正是拿公司最近一轮融资的估值乘以这个估算持股，得出的账面数字：2025年5月，Airwallex 完成F轮融资，估值62亿美元，当年榜单给她估出7亿新西兰元；2025年12月，公司完成G轮融资3.3亿美元，估值升至80亿美元，今年6月的榜单随之把她的身家上调到10亿新西兰元。按6%至8%的持股区间粗算，结果正好落在这两个数字附近。
这串数字还会随估值继续变。榜单发布十天后，Airwallex 于6月25日宣布完成H轮融资3.2亿美元，估值涨到110亿美元。按同一套算法，她的账面身家又涨了一截，只是要到下一期榜单才会体现。
但账面财富不等于现金。未上市公司没有公开市场报价，融资估值只是最近一轮投资者愿意支付的价格；创始人股份既不能在交易所随手卖出，也受公司章程与投资协议约束。公司估值向上时，榜单排名随之而上；若下一轮融资估值下调，账面身家也会同步缩水。刘月婷8月接受《财富》杂志采访时表示，Airwallex 计划在2026年底前做好上市准备，但她认为眼下还不是上市的好时机。真到挂牌那天，市场才会给她的持股重新定价。
对新西兰华人社区来说，这位12岁来到奥克兰的移民女孩登顶女性富豪榜，是今年榜单上最受关注的华人面孔。今年9月，她的母校圣卡斯伯特学院向她颁发了「Making Their Mark」校友奖。需要说明的是，刘月婷的英文名 Lucy Liu 与好莱坞演员刘玉玲相同，两人并非同一人。
Lucy Liu of Airwallex Is New Zealand's Richest Woman: A NZ$1 Billion Paper Fortune That Began With a $1 Million Cheque at 25
In June, the National Business Review (NBR) published its 2026 Rich List, putting the combined wealth of New Zealand's 150 richest individuals and families at NZ$129 billion, with 26 billionaires. Lucy Liu (Liu Yueting), co-founder and president of global financial platform Airwallex, was named New Zealand's richest individual woman at NZ$1 billion, up from NZ$700 million a year earlier.
Born in northern China and educated at a bilingual primary school in Shanghai, Liu moved with her family to Auckland, New Zealand, at age 12 and attended St Cuthbert's College. She went on to earn a Master of Finance from the University of Melbourne in 2012, then worked in Hong Kong for Barclays and China International Capital Corporation (CICC).
The turning point came in 2015. In Melbourne, a college friend, Max Li, introduced her to fellow Melbourne alumnus Jack Zhang, who was running a coffee shop with friends and losing 5 to 7 percent on cross-border payments for imported packaging. Zhang needed US$500,000 to start a payments company. Liu, then 25 and on a career break, offered US$1 million of her own savings as seed capital. "I was 25, and I had a bit of an overconfidence situation," she later told Fortune. She then joined full-time as co-founder and president. Airwallex was founded in Melbourne in 2015 by five University of Melbourne alumni.
Eleven years on, Airwallex is a global financial platform with dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco. Its annualised revenue passed US$1 billion in October 2025, and it now serves more than 676,000 businesses. The company remains private.
So how is the NZ$1 billion figure calculated? Liu holds shares in Airwallex, but her exact stake has never been disclosed. In August 2024, the Australian Financial Review estimated it at between 6 and 8 percent. Rich lists multiply that estimated stake by the company's latest funding valuation: Airwallex's Series F in May 2025 valued it at US$6.2 billion, behind the NZ$700 million estimate that year; its US$330 million Series G in December 2025 lifted the valuation to US$8 billion, and the June 2026 list raised her estimated wealth to NZ$1 billion. A 6 to 8 percent stake brackets both figures.
The number has already moved again. Ten days after the list was published, on June 25, Airwallex announced a US$320 million Series H round at an US$11 billion valuation. On the same arithmetic, her paper fortune has grown further, though it will only show up in next year's list.
Paper wealth is not cash. A private company has no public market price; a funding valuation is simply what the latest investors agreed to pay. Founder shares cannot be sold on an exchange and are bound by company and investor agreements. When the valuation rises, the ranking rises with it; if a future round prices the company lower, the paper fortune shrinks in step. Liu told Fortune in August that Airwallex aims to be IPO-ready by the end of 2026, but that she does not see now as the best time to list. Only a public listing would let the market reprice her stake.
For New Zealand's Chinese community, the girl who arrived in Auckland at 12 topping the women's wealth list was the most watched Chinese face on this year's ranking. In September, her school, St Cuthbert's College, gave her its Making Their Mark alumni award. Note: Lucy Liu the Airwallex co-founder is not the Hollywood actor of the same name.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：刘月婷（Lucy Liu），Airwallex 联合创始人兼总裁（官方肖像）。图片：Salesforce Ventures 发布。 / Lucy Liu, co-founder and president of Airwallex (official portrait). Photo: Salesforce Ventures.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
