In the early trading session on February 27, Xiaomi's stock price increased by more than 4%. This result not only broke the historical record for Xiaomi's own stock price, but also increased the fortune of its owner Lei Jun, making him surpass the founder of the giant bottled beverage company Nongfu Spring, Zhong Shanshan, to become the richest person in China, Chinafund reported.
Previously, according to Ejam Finance, a website specializing in Chinese finance and economics , on February 26, Xiaomi's stock price increased by nearly 6%, reaching a peak of 56.8 Hong Kong dollars, bringing the total market value of this group to more than 1.4 trillion Hong Kong dollars, breaking a historical record.
Xiaomi's share price has thus risen more than 570%, from its low of HK$8.31 in October 2022. The group's share price has skyrocketed, driving up CEO Lei Jun's personal fortune. According to preliminary calculations, his total assets are estimated at nearly 440 billion yuan (more than $60 billion), surpassing Zhong Shanshan and Zhang Yiming, founders of ByteDance - the parent company of TikTok and Douyin - to become the richest person in China.
In early February, Xiaomi Group's market value surpassed 1,000 billion Hong Kong dollars, suddenly becoming one of the world's top 100 companies by market value.
Not only is he a rich man, Mr. Lei Jun is also a famous KOL with a friendly "uncle next door" style on Chinese social networks. In 2019, he officially opened a personal account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. By March 2024, the number of followers of this man born in 1969 had increased by 6 million in 5 years. However, less than 1 year later, this number has exceeded 40 million, up to the present time.
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is now the world’s third-largest smartphone maker by market share. The company is benefiting from growing investor interest in China’s tech sector, especially after the success of DeepSeek.
He founded Xiaomi Corporation - providing high-quality smartphones at affordable prices, capable of competing with giants like Apple and Samsung in 2010. The name "Xiaomi" means "small grain of rice" in Chinese, reflecting founder Lei Jun's philosophy of creating big changes even from small things.
His strategy, combined with cutting-edge technology, competitive pricing and a direct-to-consumer sales model, helped Xiaomi quickly rise to become one of the world's leading smartphone brands.
However, the main driver behind Xiaomi's stock recovery is seen as the outlook for its electric vehicle business.
In 2021, Xiaomi officially announced its plan to expand into the smart electric vehicle (EV) sector. Now, Xiaomi's electric cars are not only competing with Tesla, but are also gradually gaining market share from foreign brands such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the Chinese market, attracting young people - who both love Xiaomi's car style and admire him.
Ejam Finance revealed that Mr. Lei Jun does not own a private jet, does not buy football teams and always believes: “The best investment is to let ordinary people use technology.” Industry insiders say that his “uncle next door” image has erased the public’s sense of alienation from the richest group and created a model of community communication that can be copied by entrepreneurs.
When he was still in school, he once said: “I had a burning desire to build a great company.” Ejam Finance said that now that he has become the richest man in China, his life has become an inspirational story.
On February 17, Mr. Lei Jun attended and spoke at the first meeting in more than 6 years between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the country's leading private sector entrepreneurs. His appearance along with other tech tycoons such as Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and DeepSeek boss Liang Wenfeng was assessed by analysts as reflecting the Chinese government 's determination to turn the private sector into a new driving force to enhance technological self-reliance and avoid external dependence.
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