Founder of CXMT transfers 40% of his wealth to employees after record IPO
Memory prices are soaring, demand for HBM is breaking records, and manufacturers are fighting for every engineer: the Chinese founder who is giving up about 40% of his wealth to close the gap with Samsung and SK Hynix.
In the Asian chip industry, human capital is highly valued, and companies are willing to pay millions to attract talent from competitors. This war for talent is fought not only in laboratories and on production lines, but also in pay slips. In South Korea, annual bonuses of hundreds of thousands of dollars have become standard: SK Hynix allocates a tenth of its operating profit to employees, which this year amounts to about $477,000 per person. At Samsung, memory division bonuses reached hundreds of percent of annual salaries, causing friction with other departments. Despite the money, about 200 employees moved from Samsung to SK Hynix, which has taken the lead in the HBM market, essential for AI accelerators.
Now, China is entering the race with even larger stakes. Zhu Yiming, founder and chairman of memory manufacturer CXMT, committed to allocating 767.9 million shares for employee reward programs. After CXMT stock jumped 466% on its first day on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the package's value rose to $5.6 billion. This move by the 50-year-old manager, giving up 40% of his accumulated wealth, highlights the critical importance of engineers in the industry and demonstrates a willingness to share profits with those who ensured the company's success.
The program details indicate that funds will flow over three years, with subsequent distribution over a decade. The company has not yet specified which of its 19,298 employees (as of the end of 2025) will be included. Zhu also accepted a ten-year restriction on selling his holdings, an unusual step for mainland China. The IPO raised $8.6 billion, the largest in Asia this year, and CXMT's market value reached 3.3 trillion yuan, surpassing the Industrial Bank of China.
The memory market is currently unbalanced. DRAM contract prices rose by 90–95% in Q1 2026, followed by another 58–63% in Q2, with a 10–15% increase projected for Q3. The supply-demand gap in DRAM and HBM is at its highest since 2011. Four major players control almost the entire market: Samsung (38.6%), SK Hynix (28.8%), Micron (22.4%), and CXMT (7.7%). Beijing views CXMT as a project of national importance.
CXMT's growth occurs under strict restrictions. Since 2022, Washington has required export licenses for equipment producing DRAM at 18nm or less and has restricted HBM supplies. The US Department of Defense has classified the company as an entity with military ties. In Israel, companies like Weebit Nano, which develops ReRAM and has signed agreements with onsemi and Texas Instruments, are also active in the field. Meanwhile, consumers are facing 15–20% price hikes for DDR5 and computer hardware.
Timing remains a key factor: Korean bonuses are paid almost immediately, while the Chinese program is a long-term commitment. The choices made by engineers will determine whether China can close the gap with Korea in this nerve center of the global chip industry.
