The character arc of Lei Jun

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 16 December 1969 in Xiantao, Hubei. Between then and now sit Wuhan University in 1991, Kingsoft in 1992, its chief executive job in 1998, joyo.com founded in 2000 and sold to Amazon in 2004, the Kingsoft listing in 2007 and his resignation that December, Xiaomi founded in 2010, the Hong Kong listing on 9 July 2018, the Fortune Global 500 in 2019 and the first Xiaomi car in March 2024. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Lei Jun?

He started again at forty.

He left Mianyang High School in 1987 for Wuhan University, where he took a computer science degree in 1991. In 1992 he joined Kingsoft as an engineer. He stayed inside that one company for most of his twenties and thirties, became its chief executive in 1998, and led it to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2007.

On 20 December 2007, weeks after the listing, he resigned as president and chief executive for health reasons. He was thirty eight, and the obvious ending would have been an investor's ending. He had already founded the online retailer joyo.com in 2000 and sold it to Amazon for seventy five million dollars in 2004,.

What he did instead was start over. In 2010 he founded Xiaomi with several partners, including the former Google executive Lin Bin, and in 2011 he co-founded the investment company Shunwei Capital and rejoined Kingsoft as its chairman. Xiaomi rang the gong in Hong Kong on the morning of 9 July 2018, eight years old. It entered the Fortune Global 500 in 2019 as the youngest company on the list, and in March 2021 he announced it was going into electric cars. The first one, the SU7, was unveiled in March 2024. Alongside it he has given at scale, including 1.3 billion yuan to Wuhan University in 2023, the largest single gift that university has received.

The moments

Lei Jun's timeline.

The 1990s

Jun 1991

Computer science at Wuhan

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Four years in Wuhan, and a subject that was barely a career yet in China.

Jun 1992

An engineer at Kingsoft

Milestone, and it changed his direction. An engineer, at the bottom of a company he would run.

Jun 1998

Chief executive at Kingsoft

Milestone, and it changed everything. Six years from engineer to chief executive, inside the same building.

The 2000s

Jun 2000

He founded joyo.com

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A second thing, built while running the first.

Jun 2004

Amazon bought it

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Seventy five million dollars, and a reason never to need a job again.

20 Dec 2007

He resigned

Setback, and it changed everything. Weeks after the listing, and out of the company he had been inside since 1992.

1 Jun 2009

Invest, or build again

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: start from nothing again, taken, or stay an investor. Xiaomi listed in Hong Kong in 2018 and entered the Fortune Global 500 in 2019.

The 2010s

6 Apr 2010

Xiaomi, from nothing

Milestone, and it changed everything. Forty years old, and starting at the beginning again.

7 Jul 2011

Back to Kingsoft, as chairman

Milestone. Back through the door he had walked out of, on the other side of the table.

9 Jul 2018

The gong in Hong Kong

Milestone, and it changed everything. Eight years from nothing to a listed company.

Jun 2019

The Fortune Global 500

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The youngest company on the list, which is the part worth noticing.

The 2020s

Mar 2021

Xiaomi goes electric

Milestone, and it changed everything. Phones to cars, announced at fifty one.

Jun 2023

The gift to Wuhan

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The university he arrived at in 1987, and the largest gift it has been given.

Mar 2024

The first car

Milestone, and it changed everything. Three years from the announcement to a car somebody could buy.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is the shape of the second half: eighteen years of patience, a stop, and then a company founded at forty that reached the Fortune Global 500 faster than any of it.

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Lei Jun: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Lei Jun's character arc?

Eighteen years inside one software company, from engineer in 1992 to chief executive in 1998, then a resignation in December 2007 at thirty eight. He could have stopped there. Instead he founded Xiaomi in 2010, at forty, and took it public in 2018 and into electric cars in 2021.

When did Lei Jun found Xiaomi?

In 2010, with several partners including the former Google executive Lin Bin. He was forty years old and had already sold one company to Amazon, so he did not need the work. Xiaomi listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 9 July 2018.

Why did Lei Jun leave Kingsoft?

He resigned as president and chief executive on 20 December 2007 for health reasons, months after leading the company to its initial public offering that year. He had joined it as an engineer in 1992. He returned as its chairman on 7 July 2011.

What did Lei Jun do before Xiaomi?

He took a computer science degree at Wuhan University in 1991 and joined Kingsoft in 1992, becoming chief executive in 1998. Alongside it he founded the online retailer joyo.com in 2000 and sold it to Amazon.com for seventy five million dollars in 2004.

Did Lei Jun sell a company to Amazon?

Yes. He founded the online retailing platform joyo.com in 2000 and sold it to Amazon.com for seventy five million United States dollars in 2004, while he was still running Kingsoft. It was the money that made starting over at forty possible.

When did Lei Jun take Xiaomi into cars?

In March 2021 Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi was entering the smart electric vehicle industry, which is a long way from the phones the company was built on. The first car, the Xiaomi SU7, was unveiled in March 2024.

What has Lei Jun given away?

He donated 1.3 billion yuan to Wuhan University in 2023, the largest individual gift that university has received. It is the same university he started at in 1987, and his giving to it began with 140,000 yuan in 1997.

Where does this timeline of Lei Jun's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Lei Jun isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Lei Jun, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing records for Kingsoft in 2007 and Xiaomi on 9 July 2018.
Fortune Global 500, 2019.