His father earned around $7 a month; decades later, Lei Jun built a tech company and a $20 billion-plus fortune: The story of the man behind a Chinese tech giant
Lei Jun, the founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi grew up in a modest family in China, studied computer science at Wuhan University and went on to build one of the world’s best-known technology companies. His father was a teacher who earned about $7 a month in the early 1980s, according to TIME magazine. Decades later, Jun would become a billionaire whose fortune was estimated at over $20 billion by Forbes in September 2026.But Lei Jun’s story is not only about his wealth. One of the most interesting parts of his journey goes back to his university years, when he received a 2,000-yuan scholarship and made a promise to himself that he would repay the help one day. More than three decades later, he returned to his alma mater, Wuhan University, with a 1.3-billion-yuan donation, worth about $182 million at the time.
His father earned $7 a month
Lei Jun was born in December 1969 in Xiantao, Hubei province, China, and grew up in a modest family. As reported by TIME magazine, his father was a teacher who earned about $7 a month in the early 1980s. The detail has since become one of the most frequently cited parts of Lei’s early-life story. Lei developed an interest in electronics when he was young. His curiosity eventually took him to Wuhan University, where he enrolled in computer science in 1987. In his 2023 speech at Wuhan University, Lei said, “I grew up in an ordinary family in a county town. When I was studying at Wuhan University, my family had a heavy burden, and I made up my mind to rely on myself to survive.”
He finished four years of university credits in two years
He worked hard academically and applied for scholarships.
Lei graduated from Wuhan University in 1991. According to the official website of his company Xiaomi, he received his bachelor’s degree in computer science that year. Lei completed all the credits required for a four-year undergraduate course in just two years. His university years were also financially difficult. Lei once recalled that his family carried a heavy financial burden while he was studying and that he was determined to support himself. He worked hard academically and applied for scholarships. One of them would stay in his memory for decades.
The 2,000-yuan scholarship he never forgot
According to the official website of Wuhan University, Lei received a 2,000-yuan scholarship while he was a student. He described it as the university’s highest scholarship at the time and recalled being deeply moved when he received it. “I was particularly touched,” Lei said. “I still clearly remember that when I was on the podium receiving the award, I secretly vowed: when I have the ability, I will return it tenfold, a hundredfold, or ten thousandfold.” That promise became important much later in his life.After graduating, Lei began working in the technology industry. According to Xiaomi’s official profile, he joined Kingsoft in 1992 and went on to hold several senior positions at the software company. He also founded the online retail platform Joyo.com, which was acquired by Amazon in 2004. But his biggest business venture was still ahead.
At 40, Lei Jun founded Xiaomi
His real-time net worth is at $20.3 billion as of September 29, 2026, according to Forbes.
In April 2010, Lei founded Xiaomi. Born in December 1969, he was 40 at the time. Xiaomi initially focused on smartphones, but the company later expanded into a much broader technology ecosystem. The company also grew into one of the world’s major smartphone makers. Lei’s personal wealth rose alongside Xiaomi’s growth. Forbes’ profile listed his real-time net worth at $20.3 billion as of September 29, 2026.Lei did not wait until he became a billionaire to give back to his university. According to Wuhan University, six years after graduating, in 1997, Lei made his first donation to the institution. He was 27 at the time and earning about 4,000 yuan a month. He established a scholarship at the university, initially called the Tengfei Scholarship and later known as the Lei Jun Scholarship. His contributions continued for the next 26 years. Wuhan University says he subsequently supported several projects, including the Lei Jun Scholarship, the Lei Jun Science and Technology Building and a fund related to the Covid-19 response. His earlier donations to the university totalled about 130 million yuan.
Then came the 1.3-billion-yuan donation
On November 29, 2023, Lei made his biggest contribution to Wuhan University. According to the university, he donated 1.3 billion yuan in cash to his alma mater, making it the largest single individual donation in the university’s history at the time. Forbes later reported the donation as about $182 million. For Lei, the donation was also the fulfilment of a promise he had made as a student. “From the beginning of my repayment journey 26 years ago, today I have finally fulfilled my wish,” he said.Lei has also spoken about why he chose to build Xiaomi after years in the technology industry. In a 2015 commencement speech at Wuhan University, he said: “I cannot have regret in life regardless of success and failure.”
