Ren Zhengfei facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ren Zhengfei
任正非
Ren in 2012
CEO of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 September 1987
Chairman	Liang Hua（梁华）
Vice Chairman of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
In office 15 September 1987 – 22 November 2019
Chairman	Sun Yafang（孙亚芳）
Succeeded by	Meng Wanzhou（孟晚舟）
Representative of the 12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 1 September 1982 – 11 September 1982
Chairman	Hu Yaobang（胡耀邦）
Personal details
Born	(1944-10-25) 25 October 1944 (age 80) Zhenning County, Guizhou,  Republic of China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouses	Meng Jun (former) Yao Ling (current)
Children	Meng Wanzhou Yao Anna Ren Ping
Alma mater	Chongqing Jianzhu University (now Chongqing University)
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1970–1982
Unit	PLA Capital Construction Engineering Corps
Scientific career
Fields	Aerodynamics
Institutions	Liaoyang Petroleum Chemical Fiber General Factory
Chinese name
Chinese	任正非
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Rén Zhèngfēi IPA [ɻə̌n ʈʂə̂ŋféi̯] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yahm Jingfēi IPA [jɐ̀m tsēŋféi] Jyutping Jam6 Zing3-fei1

Ren Zhengfei (Chinese: 任正非; born 25 October 1944) is a Chinese businessman and engineer. He is famous for starting and leading Huawei Technologies, a big company in Shenzhen, China. Huawei is known for making telecommunications equipment and smartphones. Ren Zhengfei is also a member of the Chinese Communist Party, which is China's main political party.

Early Life and Education

Ren Zhengfei was born on October 25, 1944, in Zhenning County, Guizhou Province. He grew up in a small mountain village.

Facing Hardship

• In 1960, there was a serious food shortage in Guizhou. Ren Zhengfei's family struggled with hunger.
• To help his family, he carefully managed their food. He often looked for wild fruits in the mountains to eat instead of grain.
• In high school, he was very poor and often wore a thin coat. He made sure his family's food was shared fairly, which helped his brothers and sisters survive.
• He even mixed rice bran with vegetables to eat, but his father stopped him.
• Before his college entrance exam, a kind teacher gave him a tortilla every morning. Ren Zhengfei later said this help was very important for his future.

College Years

• In 1963, at 19, Ren Zhengfei started studying at Chongqing Institute of Architectural Engineering. He studied heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).
• His teacher made him two shirts and a pair of sheets, which he used throughout his four years of college.
• In 1966, during a time of big changes in China called the Cultural Revolution, Ren Zhengfei's father faced difficulties because of his past work.
• Ren Zhengfei had to walk home from college after being stopped on a train.
• His father encouraged him to keep learning, even when classes were difficult.
• Ren Zhengfei taught himself about computers, digital technology, and other subjects. He also learned three foreign languages.

Joining the Army

• In 1970, he joined the army for training, which was a common policy for college students then.

Early Career and Military Service

• In 1968, after graduating, Ren Zhengfei worked on building an aircraft factory in Anshun.
• In 1974, he helped set up a large chemical fiber factory in Liaoyang.
• That same year, he officially joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He worked as a technician and engineer, focusing on automation in the chemical industry.
• While in the army, Ren studied the writings of Mao Zedong. He received awards for his understanding of these ideas.
• In March 1978, Ren attended a big science conference in Beijing. He also joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It had been hard for him to join earlier because of his parents' background.

Moving to Shenzhen

• In 1982, China's government changed its economic and military plans, and the army was made smaller. Ren moved to a scientific research base.
• His wife started working in Shenzhen, a growing city. Ren decided to move there with his children, ending his 11 years in the army.
• He joined a company called Southern Oil Group. However, he found some leaders there were not open to new ideas.
• He asked to manage a part of the company, but his request was not approved.
• In 1983, he became a deputy general manager at an electronics company.
• Soon after, he lost a lot of money in a bad business deal. His monthly salary at the time was very small.
• This first job ended, and he resigned. He then divorced his wife and lived in a small rented house with his parents and nephews.

Founding Huawei

Starting a New Company

• In 1987, at 43, Ren Zhengfei and some friends started Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen.
• The name "Huawei" means "Having a Heart connected to Chunghua, and making a difference."
• At first, friends suggested he make quick money, but Ren wanted to build something long-lasting.
• He started by selling industrial instruments, but this was not very profitable.
• Later, he made the company's first real money by selling special telephone switches from another company.
• The Chinese market had many products from different countries. To compete, Ren decided to use Chinese-made parts and hire people to build smaller telephone systems.
• He became the president of Huawei in 1988.

Growing Huawei

• In September 1991, Ren and his team built their own telephone switch. Huawei's products were affordable and in high demand.
• Since parts were hard to find in China, Ren kept building products while also starting his own research and development (R&D).
• He lived and ate at the factory with his employees. He even made soup for them in the evenings.
• Because R&D takes a long time and money was short, Ren had to borrow money from unusual sources to keep the company going.
• He soon launched a new switch called BH03. To sell more, he started working with agents.
• In 1992, Ren invited professors and students from top universities to visit Huawei.
• In early 1993, Huawei had a big meeting. Ren decided to focus on public telephone and telecommunications systems.
• He gave awards to outstanding employees and a company in Hong Kong that helped Huawei start.
• Ren hired Xu Wenwei to lead the hardware development.
• In May 1993, Huawei launched its JK1000 office telephone and sold many units.
• To attract talented people, Ren created a "Talent Recommendation Award."
• The JK1000 used older technology, which was a mistake. Money was tight, and Huawei employees received only half their pay, with the rest recorded as a debt.
• Ren started a "everyone shareholding system." Employees could turn their unpaid wages into shares in Huawei. They could get cash for these shares if they left the company.
• In March 1996, Ren asked professors to help write the "Huawei Basic Law," which was finished by 1998. This document set out the company's rules and values.
• Ren wanted Huawei's culture to align with the ideas of the Chinese Communist Party. He said that if Huawei's interests conflicted with the CCP's, he would choose the CCP because its goal is to help people.

Expanding Globally

• Ren Zhengfei planned to grow Huawei's business around the world in four steps.
• First, enter the nearby Hong Kong market.
• Second, expand into Russia and South America.
• Third, target Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
• Fourth, aim for developed countries.
• To achieve this, Ren promoted "Huawei globalization," meaning global management, R&D, talent, sales, and company culture.
• Since 1996, Ren hired companies like IBM to help Huawei improve its R&D, supply chain, finances, and sales.
• In 1996, Huawei partnered with Hutchison Telecom to sell network products internationally.
• In 1997, Ren visited Russia. He had seen the potential in the Russian market years before. He attended a ceremony to start a joint company called "BertoHuawei" in Russia.

Leadership and Ownership

• Ren Zhengfei is currently a deputy chairman of Huawei's Board of Directors. He is not one of the three rotating CEOs.
• In 2017, Huawei's yearly earnings were US$92.5 billion.
• Ren owns a small part of Huawei, about 1.42% of the shares.
• Huawei is mostly owned by its employees, which makes its ownership structure unique.

Family and Interests

• Ren's younger brother, Ren Shulu, has worked at Huawei since 1992. He helps manage the company's support services.
• Ren's first wife was Meng Jun. They had two children: a daughter named Meng Wanzhou and a son named Ren Ping. Both children used their mother's last name.
• Meng Wanzhou (also known as Sabrina Meng) has worked at Huawei since 1993. She is now the company's chief financial officer (CFO).
• After his divorce, Ren married Yao Ling. They have a daughter named Annabel Yao.
• Annabel Yao is a ballet dancer and studies computer science at Harvard University. She made her public debut at a famous ball in Paris in 2018.
• Even though he leads Huawei, Ren Zhengfei uses Apple products. He has said that iPhones have a good system and he buys them for his family when they are abroad. He believes that loving Huawei doesn't mean you can only use Huawei phones.
• Ren Zhengfei loves to read books about history, politics, and art. He especially likes historical literature.
• He is a fan of the TV series The Qin Empire, which is about a Chinese statesman named Shang Yang. He bought thousands of copies of the series for Huawei employees.
• Among Chinese leaders, Ren Zhengfei greatly respects Deng Xiaoping, calling him a great reformer. He also respects Yitzhak Rabin, a former Israeli prime minister.

Accolades

• In 2000, Forbes magazine listed him as one of the richest people in China.
• In 2005, Time Magazine included Ren Zhengfei in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
• In 2011, he appeared on the Forbes rich list for the first time.
• In 2018, he was recognized as one of the "100 Outstanding Private entrepreneurs" during China's 40 years of reform.
• In April 2021, the Forbes Global Rich List showed Ren Zhengfei with a fortune of 1.3 billion US dollars.

See also

In Spanish: Ren Zhengfei para niños