Question 1

True or false: Ren Zhengfei served in the People's Liberation Army as an engineer.

Accepted Answer

True. He was a military engineer in the PLA from 1974 to 1983, working on construction and technology before starting Huawei.

Question 2

True or false: Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei after being fired from a state-owned factory.

Accepted Answer

False. Ren Zhengfei left his job at a state-owned electronics firm voluntarily; he was not fired. The claim that he was fired is a common myth.

Question 3

True or false: Ren Zhengfei studied engineering at Tsinghua University.

Accepted Answer

False. He studied at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, not Tsinghua. The Ivy-like prestige of Tsinghua is often mistakenly attached to him.

Question 4

True or false: Ren Zhengfei's daughter Meng Wanzhou was CFO of Huawei until her arrest.

Accepted Answer

False. Meng Wanzhou remained CFO after her 2018 arrest. She held the role until 2023, when she became rotating chairwoman.

Question 5

True or false: Ren Zhengfei's father was a famous Chinese economist.

Accepted Answer

False. His father was a rural schoolteacher, not an economist. This myth likely arises from confusion with other Chinese business figures.

Question 6

True or false: Ren Zhengfei once worked as a librarian in the military.

Accepted Answer

False. He was an engineer, not a librarian. The librarian myth may stem from his reported love of reading technical books during military service.

Question 7

True or false: Ren Zhengfei owns less than 1% of Huawei's shares.

Accepted Answer

True. He holds about 0.75% equity; the rest is owned by employees. This surprising structure makes him a minority owner of his own company.

Question 8

True or false: Ren Zhengfei has never given a public interview in English.

Accepted Answer

True. Ren Zhengfei has never given an interview in English; he communicates only in Mandarin, using translators for international media.

Ren Zhengfei Trivia Questions