Zhang Jindong was born in Anhui Province in 1963. He graduated from the Nanjing Normal University and studied Chinese literature.
Zhang Jindong further developed his small shop into a giant Business group - the Suning Group, in the space of only 15 years. He also founded and co-founded Suning Holdings Group and Suning Appliance Group respectively, as unlisted portions of his Business empire, leaving Suning Commerce Group as the only listing company. In 2013's Hurun Report's China Rich List, Zhang was ranked No.9 with $6.4 billion. Zhang Jindong was ranked 28th in 2015 Forbes's China Rich List.
On 6 June 2016 Zhang Jindong, via his own private holding company Suning Holdings Group, signed a contract to purchase the majority stake in Italian football club Inter Milan, by purchasing existing shares and through recapitalization. The deal was approved by the extraordinary general meeting on 28 June 2016, which after the deal, Suning Holdings Group owned 68.55% shares.