Xiaomi (XIACF -3.15%) is one of the world's largest smartphone makers. The Chinese consumer electronics maker ranked third behind Apple (AAPL -0.93%) and Samsung (SSNL.F +56.02%) by market share in 2025. While it doesn't sell smartphones in the U.S., it's a leader in its home market and a major player in the global marketplace.
OTC: XIACF
Key Data Points
The company started in 2010 to disrupt the global phone market. Co-founder Lei Jun founded the company because he was dissatisfied with other mobile phone products and believed he could make a better one. With 14% of the global smartphone market by shipments in Q2 of 2025, Xiaomi has clearly developed products that many find better than those produced by other smartphone makers.
Xiaomi's co-founder remains one of the company's top owners. Here's a look at the company's owners, its board of directors, and how to invest money into the Chinese consumer electronics company.
Board of Directors
Who is the owner of Xiaomi?
Xiaomi launched an initial public offering (IPO) in August 2018 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has been a publicly traded company ever since. So, its shareholders own the technology stock.
However, co-founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun is the controlling shareholder. He owns enough Class A shares to control 61.1% of the voting power. Meanwhile, co-founder and vice chairman Lin Bin holds 6.7% of the voting power. Although they don't own a majority of its stock, they ultimately control the company's destiny.
Who are the largest shareholders?
Xiaomi is a publicly traded company with many shareholders, including insiders (company officers and members of the board of directors) and institutional investors. Two of the company's co-founders own a meaningful stake in the company:
- Lei Jun: The co-founder, chairman, and CEO owns 4.06 billion Class A shares. Those shares represent 61.1% of the company's voting rights. He also controls entities that own about 1.9 billion Class B shares.
- Lin Bin: The co-founder and vice chairman owns 1.7 billion Class A shares. They represent 6.7% of the company's voting rights. He also directly owns 30.3 million Class B shares.
The co-founders can convert their Class A shares into Class B shares at a 1-to-1 ratio. The conversion ratio implies they own a combined 22.4% of the company, in addition to their sizeable stake in Class B shares.
Who is on the Board of Directors for Xiaomi?
Xiaomi's board of directors has seven members as of early 2024, including three of the company's co-founders. Here's a closer look at each member:
- Lei Jun is Xiaomi's founder, chairman, and CEO and a renowned technology entrepreneur in China. In 2000, he founded the online retail platform joyo.com, which he later sold to Amazon (AMZN +0.49%) in 2004. He was also previously an executive at Kingsoft Corporation Limited (KSFTF -4.16%), holding several positions, including CEO and chairman of the board.
- Lin Bin is a co-founder and vice chairman of the board. He previously served as the group's president before assuming that role. Before co-founding Xiaomi, he was an engineering director at Alphabet's (GOOG -0.85%)(GOOGL -0.80%) Google and worked at Microsoft (MSFT +0.77%).
- Liu De is a co-founder and executive director. He currently serves as the minister of the Group Leadership Department and is responsible for, among other things, the improvement, selection, training, and performance assessment of intermediate and senior staff. Before helping co-found Xiaomi, he established the Industrial Design Department at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, where he served as dean. He also founded and led two companies (Beijing Xinfengrui Industrial Design Co. and Rethink Concept).
- Liu Qin is a non-executive director who joined the board in 2010. He currently sits on the boards of several of Xiaomi's subsidiaries and other publicly traded companies. He co-founded 5Y Capital, one of the earliest investors in Xiaomi, and currently serves as one of its managing directors.
- Chen Dongsheng has been an independent non-executive member of the board of directors since June 2018. He founded Taikang Insurance Group in 1996 and is currently its chairman and CEO.
- Wong Shun Tak has been an independent non-executive member of the board of directors and serves as an independent non-executive director of several of its subsidiaries. He previously served as the CFO of Kingsoft and is currently a member of its board. He also served as the vice president of finance and corporate controller of Alibaba Group (BABA -3.23%).
- Cai Jinqing is an independent non-executive director. She has served as the president of Kering Greater China since 2018. She also serves on the boards of several other organizations.
How to invest in Xiaomi?
It's possible to invest in Xiaomi. However, investing in the publicly traded Chinese company is more challenging because its stock isn't listed on a U.S. stock exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
The company listed its stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange when it completed its IPO in 2018. So, you'd need a brokerage account capable of trading shares of companies listed on foreign exchanges or buying shares listed on the OTC markets exchange. Here's a list of the best brokers for international trading.
Opening a brokerage account is one of the first steps in learning how to invest in stocks. Another crucial step is to research the company. You'll need to thoroughly research the Chinese consumer technology company before you buy shares.
You must be comfortable with the added risks of investing internationally, including foreign exchange risk, potential oversight and corporate governance differences, and possible trading liquidity problems. You also must be comfortable investing in a company whose two major co-founders hold more than 70% of the voting power, which gives them the power to vote against an item that a majority of shareholders might approve.
Other factors to consider when researching a company include its profitability, balance sheet, and competitors. If you're unsure you want to invest directly in the company, you could gain passive exposure through a tech ETF focused on Chinese stocks.
Once you've opened and funded an internationally capable brokerage account and thoroughly researched the company, it's time to buy shares. Before you do, you'll need to determine how much you want to invest in the company.
A good rule of thumb is to have a diversified portfolio of at least 25 stocks with roughly equivalent allocations. For example, if you plan on investing $10,000 into building a diversified portfolio, you'd invest around $400 in each stock, including Xiaomi.
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When you're ready to buy shares, you'll open the order page at your brokerage account and fill out all the required information, including:
- The number of shares you want to buy (or the amount you want to invest in fractional shares if your broker allows that for an international stock).
- The correct stock ticker for Xiaomi.
- The order type (a market order or limit order). The Motley Fool recommends a market order that will guarantee you purchase stock at its current price.
Take a moment to double-check everything to make sure the information is correct. When you're ready, click submit to become a shareholder of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.
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