Entrepreneur He Xiangjian built Midea Group into one of China’s largest appliance makers, then stepped down from operations in 2012. In June 2016 Midea bought 80% of Toshiba’s money-losing home appliance arm for $500 million. In May 2016, the company bid about $5 billion for German industrial robot firm Kuka. The deal initially drew some concern about the transfer of advanced technology to China, but was approved and closed in January 2017.
Midea co-founder He Xiangjian has an estimated net worth of $17.1 billion as of January 2018. In the China Rich List, he is ranked 18th and the 437th in the list of World Billionaires.
Mr. He Xiangjian has accumulated his estimated net worth of $8 billion when he co-founded Midea, one of China’s biggest privately held manufacturers of electrical appliances based in Shunde, Guangdong. It started as a workshop for the production of bottle lids in 1968. Since then, he has turned Midea into one of the most successful private companies in China. It has a declared sales revenue of $22.2 billion in 2011. Xiangjian left the company when it badly needed an active leadership. Trading of its shares in its main business, GD Midea, was suspended since August 27 due to a “critical matter” at Midea Group. It is reported that a problem has occurred with the merger of the unlisted businesses with Shenzhen-listed GD Midea. This was followed by a tough time in the company where the listed operation has struggled to increase its profits. Though the net income for the first nine months of 2012 was up by 4.2% to $484 million, the revenue has dropped by 34% to $8.7 billion. Sales of its traditional items such as the refrigerator had fallen by 65%. Its washing machine business was down by 50%. On January 28, GD Midea said that its shares will resume trading by the end of March.
Midea Group controls the Hong Kong-listed Welling Holding. According to the company’s website, its Midea Real Estate has development projects in seven domestic cities. Its foreign business partners include Carrier, a unit of United Technologies. He Xiangjian’s son, He Jianfeng, became a member of the board of Midea Group.
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