[Answer] Comparing Liu Chuanzhi and Ren Zhengfei: Who Is More Impressive?

[Answer] Comparing Liu Chuanzhi and Ren Zhengfei: Who Is More Impressive?

For a long time, Liu Chuanzhi placed greater emphasis on external image-building and publicity, shaping himself as a kind of godfather of private enterprise in China. For quite a while, he did seem to occupy a leading position among the country’s private entrepreneurs. This was, of course, closely tied to Lenovo’s rise during the PC era. But as times changed, Lenovo’s repeated underperformance increasingly damaged Liu Chuanzhi’s image. After last year’s controversy over the 5G voting issue, the reputations of both Lenovo and Liu Chuanzhi could be said to have fallen to rock bottom. And the publicity article about Liu Chuanzhi “winning the battle to defend Lenovo” not only failed to win that battle, but also exposed the outdated and stale thinking hidden beneath his halo, dealing a double blow. Even more counterproductive, just a few days ago Lenovo’s PR team, as if afraid the public might forget, dug up last year’s 5G voting controversy and rehashed it, only to embarrass themselves once again. Then, at the very outset of the Huawei incident, rumors also spread that Lenovo had cut off supplies to Huawei. It is not hard to see that once Lenovo’s image as a “traitor” becomes impossible to reverse, Liu Chuanzhi’s carefully built persona will collapse as well, beyond repair.

Ren Zhengfei, on the other hand, remained a mysterious and low-profile figure for many years, largely unknown to the broader public. If not for such a life-or-death moment, he might never have come forward to speak at such length. Yet even in events of enormous significance, both publicly and personally—from Meng Wanzhou’s case to the fate of Huawei as a whole—Ren Zhengfei still displayed a breadth of mind and bearing that was hard to imagine. This image complements Huawei’s strong upward momentum in recent years. And although Ren Zhengfei has stressed that Huawei should not be tied to nationalist sentiment, that trend still seems impossible to stop. After all, in recent years, there have been only a handful of Chinese companies that make people feel a sense of national pride.

Overall, the image of an entrepreneur is inseparable from the image of the company. Only with a certain kind of entrepreneur can there be a certain kind of company. And the nature of the company, in turn, reveals the spirit of the entrepreneur behind it. The same is true of Ren Zhengfei, Liu Chuanzhi, Lei Jun, and Jack Ma.