Duan Yongping (; born 1961) is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and electrical engineer. He is the founder of both the Subor Electronics Industry Corporation (also the former CEO), and BBK Electronics Group (also the current Chairman). Duan's net worth was estimated at $1.5 billion, according to the 2018 Hurun China Rich List.

Early life and education

Born on 10 March 1961 in

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, China, Duan entered

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

in 1978, majoring in wireless electronics engineering. After graduation, he became a teacher at the adult education center of the Beijing Radio Tube Factory (now

BOE Technology BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., or Jingdongfang (), is a Chinese electronic components producer founded in April 1993. Its core businesses are interface devices, smart IoT systems and smart medicine and engineering integration. BOE is one of the ...

). Later, he studied at

Renmin University The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

, where he majored in econometrics. He also studied in

CEIBS China Europe International Business School (CEIBS; ) is a business school located in Shanghai, China. Established under an agreement between the Chinese government and the European Commission in Shanghai in November 1994, CEIBS was the first bu ...

as an EMBA student for two years.

Career

In 1989, he joined a company in

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

and became the CEO later. Within less than 6 years, he created a business empire with the brand Subor (''Xiao Ba Wang'', ). In 1995, he left Subor and founded

BBK Electronics BBK Electronics Corporation is a Chinese multinational conglomerate. The company specializes in developing consumer electronics products such as smartphones, tablet computers, smartwatches, smart TVs, Hi-Fi equipment, Blu-ray players, and ...

. Duan was one of the founders and former CEO (1989-1995 in office) of Subor Electronics Industry Corporation. At the beginning, the company only had 20 workers including himself. They only had 3000

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

cash but owed 2 million RMB debts. But after Duan's struggle, it quickly became top producer of the "learning computer" (). It also produced video-game facilities, which made a profit of more than 200 million RMB during 1994–1995.

Founding of BBK

On 28 August 1995, Duan resigned from Subor, and founded BBK Electronics Industrial Group in

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Its main product was DVD players. It is a well-known brand in cell phone, telephone and stereo devices. From 2002 to 2004, he was the second largest individual shareholder (with more than 10% at peak) of

NetEase NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile game ...

after William

Ding Lei Ding Lei (; born 1 October 1971), also known as William Ding, is a Chinese billionaire businessman, and the founder and CEO of NetEase (163.com). Ding made significant contributions to the development of computer networks in mainland China. In ...

Personal life and philanthropy

Together with William Ding Lei, Duan donated to

in September 2006. This is the biggest endowment in recent years for higher education in mainland China. In 2007, Duan spent US$620,100 to have lunch with

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...

("Power Lunch with Warren Buffett"), the money was donated to the

Glide Foundation The Glide Foundation is a charity organization that helps the homeless, based in San Francisco, California, associated with devout Methodist Lizzie Glide and the Glide Church. History Glide and the foundation bought the Hotel Californian two bl ...

. Due to his success in the stock market, and philanthropic activities, he has been called the "Chinese Buffett". Duan founded the Enlight Foundation in 2004. It is run by his spouse Xin Liu, who is also the director and co-founder of Xinhe Foundation (previously Xinping Foundation) in China. Xin is an award-winning photojournalist and has worked for

China Youth Daily The ''China Youth Daily'' () is the newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China since 1951 with editorial and financial independence in the People's Republic of China. In the 1980s, it was regarded as the best newspaper in mainland China wi ...

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

, and

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

. Xin later freelanced in China for

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

Fortune Magazine ''Fortune'' is an American multinational business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The ...

Yazhou Zhoukan ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' () is a Chinese-language international affairs newsweekly. It was launched in 1987 by Michael O'Niell as a sister magazine to ''Asiaweek''. It is published by Yanzhou Zhoukan Limited (a subsidiary of Media Chinese International ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duan, Yongping 1961 births Living people Chinese billionaires Businesspeople from Jiangxi Zhejiang University alumni Renmin University of China alumni People from Nanchang Businesspeople in electronics OnePlus people Chinese technology company founders