China's artificial intelligence sector is creating billionaires at a record pace as investors bet on the country's technological advances. The country's latest AI entrepreneur to amass a ten-figure fortune is Yan Junjie, founder of MiniMax Group. The 36-year-old chairman and CEO is currently worth $3.2 billion, according to the company. forbes It is estimated that his AI model developer soared more than 100% on its debut in the Hong Kong market on Friday.
Shanghai-based Minimax raised HK$4.8 billion ($618 million) in an initial public offering and sold 29.2 million shares at HK$165 per share, the upper end of a previously indicated range, according to stock exchange filings.
The company declined to comment on Mr. Yang's wealth, but plans to use most of the proceeds to develop its own models. It has attracted more than a dozen core investors, including sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Singapore-based investment management firm Eastspring Investments.
On Thursday, fellow AI model company Zhipu's Hong Kong listing also added its chairman Liu Debing to the three-comma club. MiniMax's IPO has attracted more investor interest than Zhipu. The latter's stock closed its first day of trading up just 13.2% after briefly falling below its offering price.
The market is more enthusiastic about MiniMax because it is more global and primarily works with private customers who pay for the audio, image and video generation models, Ke Yan, Singapore-based head of research at DZT Research, said in a WeChat message. Zhipu, on the other hand, receives revenue from local businesses, including government agencies. Such customers often demand customized services, leading to higher development costs for Zhipu, Yan added. Moreover, unlike its competitors who are on the U.S. trade blacklist, MiniMax has so far not found itself in a bad spot with the Trump administration. This is a big plus for Hong Kong's more global and diversified investor base, said Mr Ke.
Billionaire Yang's company is growing rapidly. In the first nine months of 2025, sales nearly tripled to $53.4 million, according to the prospectus, the latest financial results available. But heavy research spending ballooned losses to $512 million, an almost 70% increase from a year earlier.
According to the state news agency, one of MiniMax's customers is Chinese gaming giant miHoYo. Securities Times. It is best known for its mobile titles such as. GenshinmiHoYo, also based in Shanghai, is also an early investor in the AI model developer. The gaming giant's billionaire co-founder Cai Haoyu has ambitions to use AI to create more immersive gameplay, and his personal studio last year launched an AI-powered computer game called whisper from the stars. miHoYo co-founder Liu Wei is also a billionaire and a non-executive director of MiniMax. HSK (previously known as Sequoia Capital China) was also an early investor.
Before founding MiniMax in 2021, Yang spent more than six years at Hong Kong-listed AI company SenseTime, where he was deputy director of the institute, according to the prospectus.
