He Xiangjian

Entrepreneur He Xiangjian built Midea Group into one of the world’s largest appliance makers. In 1968, He led a group of 23 residents from the town of Beijiao in Guangdong Province to form a lid production workshop that became Midea. Midea Group, whose shares trade on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, now has more than 200 subsidiaries, including Germany-based robotics firm Kuka. He stepped down from its operations in 2012. His son He Jianfeng is a director of Midea Group and Midea Real Estate Holding.