Who Is Chloé Zhao? Age, Biography and Wiki
Chloé Zhao was born on March 31, 1982, in Beijing, China. As of 2025, she is 43 years old. Zhao is an illustrious filmmaker known for her distinct storytelling style, which often showcases marginalized communities and explores the human experience in profound ways. She gained global recognition for her film "Nomadland," which won multiple awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.
Zhao’s background in both China and the United States shaped her unique perspective, and she has become a prominent figure in the industry, reflecting diverse narratives that resonate with audiences worldwide.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | March 31, 1982 |
| Age | 43 Years |
| Birth Place | Beijing, China |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Country | China |
Popularity
Chloé Zhao's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
Chloé Zhao stands at a height of approximately 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm). Her weight is around 130 pounds (59 kg). Although specific measurements are not publicly available, Zhao maintains a healthy lifestyle that complements her demanding career in film.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
As of 2025, Chloé Zhao is reported to be in a relationship with her longtime partner, whom she keeps relatively private. While details about his identity remain largely undisclosed, it appears that Zhao values personal privacy amidst her growing fame. Raising the balance between her professional life and personal life, she's often seen advocating for relationships built on mutual support and understanding.
There’s no public information regarding her family life aside from her close-knit familial ties that have often inspired her storytelling.
Her father, Zhao Yuji, was a successful executive at Shougang Group, one of the country's largest state-owned steel companies. After amassing significant personal wealth, he moved on to real-estate development and equity investment.
Net Worth and Salary
Chloé Zhao's net worth in 2025 is estimated to be around $20 million. This is attributed not only to her successful film career but also to her ventures in television and other media projects. Following the success of "Nomadland" and subsequent projects, Zhao has become one of Hollywood's highest-paid directors, commanding substantial salaries per film.
Career, Business and Investments
Chloé Zhao's career began with her debut feature, "Songs My Brothers Taught Me," and has since skyrocketed with key hits such as "The Rider" and "Nomadland." In 2025, she continues to push boundaries in filmmaking, with projects focused on storytelling that capture the essence of human resilience and existence.
Apart from film, Zhao has ventured into various business opportunities, including collaborations with streaming platforms and producing works that align with her creative vision. She is also known for supporting independent filmmakers and investing in new storytelling projects.
The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival as part of the Directors' Fortnight selection and won the Art Cinema Award. It earned her nominations for Best Feature and Best Director at the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards.
At the same ceremony, Zhao became the inaugural winner of the Bonnie Award, named after Bonnie Tiburzi, which recognizes a mid-career female director. The film was released on 13 April 2018 by Sony Pictures Classics and was critically acclaimed.
Peter Keough of The Boston Globe wrote: "[The film] achieves what cinema is capable of at its best: It reproduces a world with such acuteness, fidelity, and empathy that it transcends the mundane and touches on the universal."
Social Network
Chloé Zhao maintains a low-key presence on social media. As of 2025, she is mainly active on Instagram, sharing glimpses of her life behind the cameras and promoting her latest projects. While she doesn't have a massive following, her authenticity resonates with fans and aspiring filmmakers alike.
In 2018, Zhao directed Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand. The adaptation from Jessica Bruder's Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century was shot over four months traveling the American West in an RV with many actual nomadic workers.
Bruder's book revolved around characters that can be found in the film, such as Linda May, a 64-year-old living in her van and scrounging for jobs in order to buy land for a permanent home.
Other characters, such as Bob Wells, a nomad vlogger of the CheapRVliving YouTube channel and website and in charge of the annual nomad meet-up featured in the film, are real people that Bruder encountered when writing her book and Zhao included in her movie.
The film tells the story of a widow who lost everything in The Great Recession and decides to travel in her van across the American Midwest, beginning a journey of self-discovery. Star Frances McDormand and Zhao bonded quickly and inspired each other, and McDormand became a huge element of the filmmaking process and its success.
They met a day before the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards, where McDormand was nominated for Best Actress and Zhao received a $50,000 grant for women directors. During the event, they hinted at their future project together.
It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim and won the Golden Lion award, and subsequently played at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award. The film was released on 19 February 2021, by Searchlight Pictures.
Zhao won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for Nomadland, making her the first woman of Asian descent honored, and only the second woman to win a Golden Globe for directing since Barbra Streisand in 1984. In April 2021, Zhao won the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming the second woman to do so (Kathryn Bigelow being the first).
The film has not received a theatrical release in China, with speculation that it was due to her past comments on the nation, and news of her Best Director win at the Academy Awards was also censored.
Education
Zhao completed her early education in Beijing before moving to the United States for further studies. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Mount Holyoke College and later attained a Master of Fine Arts in Film from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Her educational background laid the groundwork for her unique voice in filmmaking and her critical approach to storytelling.
Zhao resides in Ojai, California with her partner and cinematographer Joshua James Richards. Richards and Zhao met while Zhao was researching for her first feature film Songs My Brother Taught Me and Richards was still a film student at New York University. He was her cinematographer for her next two films and served as camera operator on Eternals.
In an Elle article, Richards stated that Zhao was "gnarly and extreme", someone he wanted to find at film school.
