About
Zhang Ruimin, born in 1949, is a native of Laizhou, Shandong Province. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Science and Technology of China. He is the founder of Haier Group, father of the Rendanheyi model and IoT ecosystem brand, and one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world.
Zhang Ruimin has an entrepreneurial track record of more than 30 years. He led Haier, transforming it from a small, near-bankrupt collective factory to a world-renowned home appliances brand and pioneering the creation of a world-wide ecosystem brand. He distilled his experience and insights of business management into a systematic management ideology –the Rendanheyi model. Zhang is constantly on the radar of, and held in high esteem by, the Chinese and international management communities for his continuous management models innovation. Gary Hamel, a preeminent strategy scholar, has lauded Zhang Ruimin as a CEO representative of the Internet era.
In November 2015, Zhang Ruimin was invited to the Thinkers50 Award Gala in London where he received the prestigious Thinkers50 2015 Ideas into Practice Award, the first and only Chinese business leader to receive this award. He was also listed in the 2015 Thinkers50 Rankings, the only Chinese executive to receive both honors.
On 19 October 2019, at the 2019 Forbes China Leadership Summit, Zhang Ruimin received the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award and made the cover of the latest issue of Forbes China.
On 29 June 2021, Kantar, the world’s leading insights and consulting firm, conferred first-ever individual honor of BrandZ™ to Zhang Ruimin, naming him BrandZ™ Most Valuable Global Brands –IoT Ecosystem Brand Founder.