HE XIANGJIAN

He Xiangjian was born in 1942 in Beijiao, Foshan, Guangdong Province. He had only a primary school education.

In 1968, he pooled $25 with five workers and started a small workshop making bottle caps and later plastic lids.

In 1980, he pivoted to manufacturing electric fans. The timing aligned with China's economic opening under Deng Xiaoping.

As Chinese households began buying appliances for the first time, He was ready with affordable products.

By the late 1980s, He had expanded into air conditioners, which became Midea's signature product. The company grew rapidly through the 1990s as China's middle class exploded and air conditioning went from luxury to necessity.

Midea went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1993. He used the capital to modernize factories, invest in R&D, and expand internationally.

By the 2000s, Midea was one of the largest appliance manufacturers in the world.

In 2016, Midea acquired Kuka, Germany's premier industrial robotics company, for $5 billion. The deal was controversial in Europe, raising concerns about Chinese acquisition of strategic technology.

But for He, it was about transforming Midea from an appliance maker into an industrial automation company.

He retired from day-to-day management in 2012, handing control to professional managers rather than his children. This was unusual for a Chinese founder.

His son He Jianfeng serves as vice chairman but does not run operations.

Midea Group is the empire. One of the world's largest home appliance and consumer electronics companies.

Products include air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, kitchen appliances, and industrial robots. Revenue exceeds $50 billion annually.

Kuka AG, the German robotics company acquired in 2016 for $5 billion, makes industrial robots used in automotive manufacturing, electronics, and logistics.

Midea also makes commercial HVAC systems, building technology, and smart home devices. The company employs over 190,000 people globally.

Organic growth plus strategic acquisitions. He built Midea from scratch through relentless manufacturing efficiency, then used acquisitions to move up the value chain.

The Kuka acquisition represents his vision: transform from a low-cost appliance maker into a high-tech industrial conglomerate. Appliances provide the cash flow.

Robotics and automation provide the future.

He invests only in what he can manufacture. No financial speculation, no real estate plays, no media companies.

Just making things.

Building Midea into a global appliance powerhouse from literally nothing. Starting with $25 and five workers making bottle caps, growing into a company worth over $50 billion in revenue, is one of the greatest entrepreneurial stories in Chinese history.

The Kuka acquisition positioned Midea for the next wave of industrial growth. As China's labor costs rise, factories need more robots.

Midea now makes both the consumer products and the robots that build them.

The Kuka acquisition has been a mixed success. European regulators and politicians pushed back against Chinese ownership of strategic technology.

Kuka's European management clashed with Midea's culture. Some key Kuka executives departed after the acquisition.

Kuka's revenue growth has been slower than hoped, partly due to trade tensions between China and the West. The dream of fully integrating German robotics expertise with Chinese manufacturing scale has been harder than expected.

Make things people need, better and cheaper than anyone else. He's a manufacturer at heart.

His entire philosophy is rooted in production efficiency, quality improvement, and cost reduction.

Professional management over family dynasty. He controversially handed control to hired CEOs rather than his children.

He believes that the best person for the job should run the company, not the founder's son.

Scale is the moat. At Midea's volume, no competitor can match their unit costs.

This is the same principle that works for Walmart, Amazon, and Samsung.

He married young and has one son, He Jianfeng, who serves as vice chairman of Midea. Unlike many Chinese founders, He chose not to install his son as CEO, instead bringing in professional management.

The family lives primarily in Foshan, Guangdong, close to Midea's headquarters. The 2020 kidnapping attempt was a reminder of the security challenges facing China's ultra-wealthy.

He completed only primary school. He is one of the least formally educated billionaires in the world.

His education was the factory floor, and he learned manufacturing through decades of hands-on work.