Xiaomi

Lei Jun belongs to Group 3 - Internet 1.0. The Internet 1.0 group covers founders who built China's first generation of consumer-internet platforms in the late-1990s and early-2000s dot-com era — search (Baidu), e-commerce (Alibaba), portals (Sohu), gaming and portals (NetEase, Tencent), security software (Qihoo 360), and smartphones-plus-software (Xiaomi) — a cohort shaped by the 2001 WTO accession and the PC-to-mobile transition.

Lei Jun — founder profiled in the Chinese Founder Ledger — is documented as follows: wuhan University computer-science graduate who joined Kingsoft as an engineer in 1992, later became its CEO, founded Xiaomi, and has since transformed it into a technology conglomerate spanning smartphones, electric vehicles, and chips. The profile is grounded in the 3 sources indexed for this founder.

Lei Jun's role is documented as: founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi; also Chairman of Kingsoft and of Shunwei Capital; retains 'honorary chairman' title at Kingsoft Office as of June 2025 reporting Confirmed as Xiaomi's founder, chairman and CEO, and as honorary chairman of Kingsoft Office, per South China Morning Post's June 2025 report (research date: 2026-08-23).

Kingsoft Office confirmed Lei's continued honorary-chairman role in reporting as of June 2025, indicating no full separation from the Kingsoft corporate family despite his focus on Xiaomi's smartphone/EV/chip businesses.

Lei joined Kingsoft as an engineer in 1992, became its CEO in 1998, led it to a 2007 Hong Kong Stock Exchange IPO, then resigned as president and CEO on December 20, 2007, citing health reasons.

Lei Jun's Xiaomi apr 23, 2026 · Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun ⁠media … the company had received 60,000 locked orders as of April 23 for the new generation SU7 sedans.

Lei Jun's Xiaomi 6 days ago · Xiaomi generated 23.9 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) in EV revenue during the second quarter of 2026, up 15.9% from a year earlier and 25.8% .

Around the same period NetEase's William Ding stepped back from a gaming-affiliate role, Lei Jun was reported to no longer be CEO of Xiaomi's gaming unit, Beijing Wali Internet Technologies, reflecting a broader pattern of Chinese tech founders retreating from front-office roles at gaming subsidiaries amid regulatory scrutiny.

Lei Jun's Xiaomi has confirmed Xiaomi will begin international sales in Europe in H2 2027, starting with Germany (SU7 and YU7), followed by right-hand-drive markets in .

In 2000 Lei founded online retailer joyo.com, which he sold to Amazon.com for $75 million in 2004; in 2005 he made a $1 million investment in YY that was later worth far more after the company's IPO.

Resigned as president and CEO of Kingsoft on December 20, 2007, citing health reasons, after leading it to an IPO earlier that year.