Math genius who “can’t spend money” causes a stir when he opens a social media account

(Dan Tri) - Despite having an annual income of up to 85,000 USD, Wei Dongyi does not know what to spend money on, each month he only spends about 40 USD. Wei is an associate professor of mathematics at Peking University (China).

Wei Dongyi (33 years old) is a famous math genius in China. He has just caused a "storm" on the internet when he first opened a social media account. In less than a week, Wei's account has attracted 23 million followers.

Wei is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Peking University, one of the most prestigious universities in China. Wei has achieved many outstanding achievements in the academic field, and his life is closely tied to research and teaching activities.

The latest image of mathematical genius Wei Dongyi - associate professor at the mathematics department of Peking University (Photo: SCMP).

Wei used to actively avoid the noise of social networks. He even chose to update the news by listening to the radio, but recently, Wei officially opened a social network account, creating a big fever in the Chinese online community.

In 2021, Wei began to cause a stir among the Chinese public when he appeared in an interview video with a sloppy appearance, old clothes, holding a bottle of mineral water and a plastic bag containing vegetarian dumplings. In fact, the amount of money Wei spends each month is only to buy... mineral water and vegetarian dumplings, besides that, he has no other spending needs.

Faced with the incredibly simple lifestyle of a "math genius" lecturer living in the middle of Beijing, the Chinese online community affectionately calls him "God Wei".

On June 4, Wei uploaded his first video to his social media account. The self-introduction video had no special content, but it quickly went viral, because “God Wei” finally decided to… go online.

However, many people also noticed that he was missing a front tooth. The online community was worried about his health. Sharing with Chinese media, an anonymous relative said that Wei was having some dental problems, he was receiving treatment, in addition, Wei did not have any serious health problems.

The relative also said that Wei has been fond of vegetarianism since he was a child, although he has not pursued an absolute vegetarian diet. The family has always been concerned about Wei's health, so the public need not worry too much about his health condition.

Wei Dongyi in the lecture hall (Photo: SCMP).

Wei’s sudden use of social media has sparked much speculation online. According to his relatives, they helped him create the account so that he could connect more with the world around him through social media.

This account was created not for profit, but as a place for Wei to share his love of mathematics with others who share the same passion.

Wei Dongyi showed an outstanding talent for mathematics since childhood. The boy from Shandong province (China) has a father who is a professor of mathematics teaching at the university level.

During his high school years, Wei participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad twice and won gold medals consecutively. Wei was admitted directly to Peking University, where he obtained a doctorate and became an associate professor. Despite his annual income of over 600,000 yuan (over 2 billion VND), Wei lives very frugally, spending less than 300 yuan per month (over 1 million VND).

He was once awarded an award by a leading corporation in China in recognition of his talent and dedication to mathematical research. The cash prize was up to 140,000 USD (equivalent to 3.5 billion VND), but Wei refused to accept the award.

In 2021, Wei began to cause a stir among the Chinese public when he appeared in an interview video with a sloppy appearance (Photo: SCMP).

In several interviews, Wei expressed his desire to be an ordinary person, living anonymously so that he could focus on doing what he loves, which is teaching and research. He does not want to continue appearing to receive titles and awards.

However, Wei still occasionally accepts interviews from some news outlets to satisfy the public's interest in him.

Wei said he lives a very simple life, only wearing old clothes and only buying a bottle of mineral water and a few vegetarian dumplings for each meal. He currently does not own a house or a car.

Wei once said he didn't care what people thought of him. He just hoped people wouldn't care too much about him, so he wouldn't be affected psychologically and could focus on doing his job well.

Currently, there are many opinions calling on the Chinese online community to respect Wei's privacy, even though he has used social networks.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/thien-tai-toan-khong-biet-tieu-tien-gay-sot-khi-mo-tai-khoan-mang-xa-hoi-20250611090836923.htm