It turns out he may be adding to his fortune via the lucrative world of bitcoin mining, through a connection to the world’s largest manufacturer of bitcoin-mining equipment, Beijing-based Bitmain. A connection between Lei Jun and Bitmain is interesting because the tech billionaire has never publicly expressed an interest in cryptocurrencies.
If Lei is connected to Bitmain, it would be the equivalent of an Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos revealing a stake in a bitcoin firm—conferring a major stamp of legitimacy for cryptocurrencies. According to a database of information from the Paradise Papers leak maintained by the International Consortium of Journalists (ICIJ), two entities that Lei Jun controls are related to a firm called Beijing Changtong Wuxian Consulting Company.
This could mean that Lei Jun’s vehicles are part of a holding group with the Bitmain founders’ firms, under the umbrella of Beijing Changtong. Here’s the rundown of connections in the Paradise Papers database: Bitmain claims to have manufactured about 70% of the world’s bitcoin-mining rigs.
One estimate by noted bitcoin analyst and developer Jimmy Song pegs Bitmain’s profit from selling its newest rigs at up to $250 million this year. Read next: China’s Bitmain dominates bitcoin mining.
https://qz.com/1137683/the-paradise-papers-suggest-chinese-tech-billionaire-lei-jun-is-connected-to-the-worlds-biggest-bitcoin-miner/
