Latest China scam: Xiaomi’s Lei Jun wants to give you US$10 billion
It is not just investors and Xiaomi fans who are keeping a close eye on the Chinese smartphone maker’s application for what may be the world’s biggest IPO since 2014. Scammers and hoaxers have locked their sights on the Beijing-based company too.
“Hello, I am Lei Jun. I am now submitting the listing application in Hong Kong, but my bank card cannot be used here, and I only need 1,000 yuan (US$157) to submit the application successfully”, read a text message that was widely circulated in China on Thursday, when Xiaomi filed its IPO application.
“I have chosen you, stranger. If you transfer 1,000 yuan into the bank account I give you, you will be given 10 per cent of Xiaomi stake after our successful listing,” according to the message, a screenshot of which was posted on Sina Weibo.
While it is unclear whether the message was sent by phone scammers or a hoax dreamt up by pranksters, it can be seen as a measure of the general public’s interest level in Xiaomi’s listing plans. Xiaomi said it had no comment.
With a reported estimated valuation of US$100 billion, a 10 per cent stake in the eight-year-old firm would amount to US$10 billion, or a 63.6 million times return on the 1,000 yuan hand over.
A successful listing in Hong Kong at the reported valuation would catapult Xiaomi, founded in 2010 by Lei, past Baidu and JD.com to become the third-biggest Chinese technology company by value, after Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group, parent of the South China Morning Post. At US$10 billion, Xiaomi’s IPO would also be the 15th biggest of all time, or the fourth-largest in Hong Kong.
