He is founder and largest shareholder of Midea Group, China's biggest exporter of air conditioners. The Foshan, China-based company reported revenue of 260 billion yuan ($39.4 billion) in 2018. Publicly traded Midea produces a range of household products, including heaters, refrigerators and washing machines.
He Xiangjian's net worth of $22.2B can buy ...
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The majority of He's wealth is derived from his 33% stake in Midea Group, a Fosun-China based household goods maker that trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Midea is the China's largest air conditioner exporter, according to its website. The business went public in September 2013 through a merger with publicly traded subsidiary GD Midea.
He holds the shares directly and through closely held Midea Holding, according to the company's 2019 third-quarter report. Midea Holding doesn't disclose financial results and isn't valued as a separate entity; the fortune is calculated using the value of the publicly traded stakes.
Most of his shares are held through Midea Holding, according to the third-quarter report. The valuation was updated on Dec. 3, 2019 to reflect a reduction in pledged shares and this led to an increase in the net worth calculation of about $2.5 billion. About 8% of his stake remains pledged following the reduction, according to the filing.
He also owns an 84% stake of Midea Real Estate Holding, a property management firm publicly traded in Hong Kong since October 2018. He holds the stake through daughter-in-law Lu Deyan who controls the shares with three holding companies, according to the company's 2019 semi-annual report. The stake is credited to him to reflect his status as the company's founder.
The value of his cash investments is based on dividends, insider transactions, market performance and taxes.
Jiang Peng, spokesman of the company, declined to comment on He's net worth.
He Xiangjian was born in Shunde, Guangdong province in 1942. He started his business with 23 villagers making glass bottles and plastic lids. At age 38, He switched to electric fans and named his company Midea. Before long, the operation started to make air conditioners, a novelty in China at the time. It first sold shares on Shenzhen's stock exchange in 1993.
In the next decade, Midea built a more diversified product line, including refrigerators and microwave ovens, which gained popularity among Chinese households.
He resigned as chairman of GD Midea in 2009 and sold some of his stake to institutional investors in 2011, paving the way for his retirement the following year. In August 2012, Fang Hongbo, a Midea veteran, was appointed chairman of the group after He Xiangjian retired. Son He Jianfeng is a director in the company.
Midea's appliance business has been a beneficiary of the housing reform initiated by China's former Premier Zhu Rongji, who privatized state-owned housing, transferring home ownership from the government to families occupying the dwellings. The demand for appliances has skyrocketed since then.
Midea Group, whose businesses range from selling appliances to providing logistics services, took its unit private as part of plans to list the group, according to filings with Shenzhen stock exchange. Midea Group listed in Shenzhen on Sept. 18, 2013.
He speaks Cantonese, a dialect commonly used in Guangdong. He rarely speaks publicly or grants interviews because he doesn't speak Mandarin well, which is the official national language.