Lei Jun is widely known as the founder of Xiaomi, but many of the details behind his early career and later success are less familiar. His path includes unusually fast academic progress, early business attempts, major career turns, and a period of confusion even after achieving enormous wealth.

He finished his university requirements at remarkable speed

Lei Jun graduated from the Department of Computer Science at Wuhan University. What stands out is not just where he studied, but how quickly he moved through the program: he completed all of his required credits and his graduation project in only two years.

His first startup began before graduation

While still in his fourth year at university, he launched his first business venture. Together with classmates including Wang Quanguo and Li Ruxiong, he founded a company called Sanse.

He made his first million at age 20

When he was only 20 and still a junior in college, Lei Jun earned his first one million by writing software for others. Long before he became a household name in tech, programming itself had already become a serious source of income for him.

His early entrepreneurial attempts did not go smoothly

After graduation, Lei Jun initially tried to start a business, but those efforts did not succeed. A major turning point came when he met Qiu Bojun, the person often described as the key mentor figure in his life. At Qiu Bojun’s invitation, Lei Jun joined Kingsoft, and that decision marked the beginning of his rise as a business leader.

He became Kingsoft’s general manager at 29

By the age of 29, Lei Jun had already become general manager of Kingsoft. At that stage, he had effectively achieved financial independence, something many people spend a lifetime chasing.

By 38, he had wealth but also deep confusion

At 38, after the sale of Joyo and Kingsoft’s successful public listing, Lei Jun reached another level of financial freedom. His net worth at the time was said to be in the range of 4 to 5 billion yuan. Yet when he later looked back on that period, he described it very differently from the usual success story: in his words, all he had left was money, and he felt especially lost in life.

He has also been active in philanthropy

Lei Jun has devoted energy to charitable work as well. He and his wife jointly established the Lei Jun Foundation, with a focus on education and broader public welfare causes.

Xiaomi was almost given a completely different name

When Lei Jun created Xiaomi, the company was not originally going to be called Xiaomi. His first choice was Hongxing. That name, however, was rejected during the business registration process because it duplicated the name of Hongxing Erguotou. Only after that setback was the company renamed Xiaomi.

He became a Wuhan University honorary professor in 1998

In 1998, while serving as CEO of Kingsoft, Lei Jun was appointed an honorary professor at Wuhan University. The timing is often noted for contrast: at that point, Pony Ma had only just started his own venture, while 34-year-old Jack Ma was still living modestly in Panjiayuan.

His donation to Wuhan University set a record

In 2023, Lei Jun made a personal cash donation of 1.3 billion yuan to his alma mater, Wuhan University. The gift set a national record for the largest single personal cash donation ever made to a university in China.