Lei Jun confessed to the behind-the-scenes story of donating 1.3 billion yuan to his alma mater, and vowed to double it when he received the scholarship in college
Yu Qingyi, Wu Jianglong, China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Lei Yu
On the morning of November 29, shortly before the opening of the grand celebration of the 130th anniversary of the founding of Wuhan University, a simple donation signing ceremony was quietly held in a small conference room in the administration building of the university.
Lei Jun shared his growth path on the spot. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Wuhan University
The scene of the 9th Wuhan University Alumni Luojia Forum. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Wuhan University
Lei Jun, a 1987 alumnus of the Department of Computer Science of Wuhan University and founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, donated 1.3 billion yuan to his alma mater. This donation is the largest single donation since the establishment of Wuhan University, and it is also the largest personal cash donation from alumni received by a university in China. This has sparked countless heated discussions on the Internet about "other people's alumni".
As an iconic and outstanding alumnus of Wuhan University, Lei Jun's story of studying and starting a business has been talked about by students of all generations. During his studies at Wuhan University, Lei Jun completed all the credits required for four years of college in only two years. Shortly after graduation, he joined Beijing Kingsoft Co., Ltd. and led the company to growth. In April 2010, Lei Jun founded Xiaomi, which is now one of the world's top three smartphone manufacturers.
Lei Jun has said more than once that Luojia Mountain is the place where dreams start, and the professional knowledge and learning ability he learned at Wuhan University have laid a good foundation for his future entrepreneurship. In order to be grateful and give back to his alma mater, in 1997, only six years after graduation, Lei Jun began to donate to his alma mater and set up the "Tengfei Scholarship" at Wuhan University.
Since then, Lei Jun has successively donated to his alma mater to set up a number of donation projects such as "Lei Jun Scholarship", "Lei Jun Science and Technology Building" and "Anti-new Coronary Pneumonia Fund" of Wuhan University, with a total amount of 130 million yuan. On October 20, 2016, Lei Jun donated to support the construction of the artificial intelligence teaching and research building of Wuhan University, which was just put into use on June 20 this year.
At the Luojia Forum of the 9th Alumni of Wuhan University in the afternoon of the same day, the sharing of Lei Jun and Yi Zhongtian won countless cheers. Lei Jun also confessed to the younger students the behind-the-scenes story of donating 1.3 billion yuan to his alma mater.
"I have always had an unforgettable love for my alma mater, and the small achievements I have made today are inseparable from the cultivation of my alma mater back then. Lei Jun said that it was Wuhan University that shaped him, allowed him to find his dreams, learned how to learn, and gave him the most valuable wealth in his life.
Lei Jun revealed that he originally planned to apply for the chemistry department when he took the college entrance examination, but it was because a good classmate temporarily decided to change to a computer major.
As soon as he entered the university, Lei Jun fell madly in love with programming, at that time there were too few opportunities to operate on the computer, he thought of a lot of ways, almost became the "security guard" of the computer room, and even did a "bad thing" with his classmates - secretly opened the window in the middle of the night, sneaked into the computer room and got on the computer all night.
Lei Jun still remembers that he was almost caught red-handed by the teacher that time, but nothing happened after that. Therefore, I would like to thank my alma mater for its tolerance, which has always encouraged students to continue to explore and innovate in technology, coupled with the free and relaxed environment and laboratory conditions, which gave him the courage to set no limits.
Lei Jun comes from an ordinary family in Xiantao, Hubei. When he was a student at Wuhan University more than 30 years ago, he studied hard and supported himself on scholarships. He once received the highest scholarship set up by an entrepreneur at the school - 2,000 yuan, which was equivalent to the salary of ordinary people at that time for several years. He silently swore in his heart, "I will pay it back tenfold, hundredfold, and ten thousand times in the future."
Lei Jun also had a wish.
Because he felt very happy to attend classes in the best teaching building of Wuhan University at that time, the Shaw Building, he made a wish to donate a building to Wuhan University. Now both wishes have come true. "Wuhan University taught me knowledge, taught me how to learn, guided me on a lifelong path of scientific and technological exploration, and gave me the most important wealth in my life. ”
"I started the journey of repaying my wish with the first donation to my alma mater 26 years ago, and today I have finally fulfilled my wish," said Lei Jun, adding that in the minds of him and many alumni, Wuhan University is the best university in the world, and in order to make Wuhan University better and better, everyone can give back to their alma mater with practical actions. In particular, he said that he has never advocated comparison with donations. In celebration of the 130th anniversary of Wuhan University, many alumni actively donated. Every donation is an alumnus' love for their alma mater, and it is equally weighty.
According to reports, Lei Jun's donation mainly focuses on three directions: supporting the basic research of mathematics, physics, chemistry, literature, history and philosophy, supporting scientific and technological innovation in the field of computer, and supporting the training of college students.
Source: China Youth Daily client