Lei Jun (simplified Chinese: 雷军; traditional Chinese: 雷軍; pinyin: Léi Jūn; Mandarin pronunciation: [lěi̯ tɕu̯ə́n]; born 16 December 1969) is a Chinese entrepreneur and the founder of Xiaomi Inc.
In 2014, he was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes. In July 2015, Forbes ranked Lei Jun number 87 on their list of global billionaires with a personal worth of $13.2 billion.
In June 2016, Forbes described Lei Jun’s net worth as $9.8 billion.
Biography
Lei was born on 16 December 1969 in Xiantao, Hubei, China. In 1987, he graduated from Mianyang Middle School and began attending Wuhan University, where he completed all credits within two years and graduated with a BA in computer science. He also started his first company during his last year in college.
In 1992, Lei joined Kingsoft as an engineer, becoming the CEO of the company in 1998 and leading it towards IPO. On December 20, 2007, for “health reasons”, he resigned as President and CEO of Kingsoft. In 2011, he rejoined Kingsoft as Chairman.
In 2000, Lei also founded Joyo.com, an online bookstore, which was eventually sold for USD$75 million to Amazon.com in 2004.
After resigning from Kingsoft, Lei became known as a prolific angel investor in China, investing in over 20 companies including Vancl.com, UCWeb, and social platform YY (social network). In 2008, he became a Chairman of UCWeb. He continues to invest in companies in the ecommerce, social networking, and mobile industries through Shunwei Capital (Chinese: 顺为资本), an investment company which he was a founding partner.
In 2013, Lei Jun was appointed a delegate of the National People’s Congress.
Lei Jun is the co-founder of Xiaomi Inc. and he has an estimated net worth of $16.1 billion in August 2018. He joined the Forbes Billionaires list as the 868th person in the list of World Billionaires and is ranked 55th in the China Rich List. Considered as the Steve Jobs of China, Mr. Lei became a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $1.75 billion because of the soaring valuation of Xiaomi in 2012. It is one of the fastest growing smartphone companies in China where he serves as the chairman and chief executive officer. His fortune even increased with boost in the Chinese social gaming company, YY Inc., which went public on the Nasdaq in November 2012. He started investing his $1 million in the company in 2005. Lei Jun also owns minority stakes in several Chinese online enterprises such as the Hong Kong-listed software firm Kingsoft, mobile browser provider UC Web, and private e-commerce companies VANCL and Lakala. He is a graduate computer science degree from Wuhan University in China in 1991.
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