Chapter 59 Where did the "successor" rumors come from?

On October 27, 2010, "Daily Economic News" published a report titled "Huawei's "Earthquake", Ren Zhengfei sent Sun Yafang away for 1 billion".According to reports, Ren Zhengfei, the head of Huawei, forced Sun Yafang, the chairman of the company, to leave the company with a "breakup fee" of 1 billion yuan in order to let his son take over smoothly.Once this news was published, it was like a blockbuster, detonating the enthusiasm of the press for Huawei, and various reports and discussions quickly occupied the financial media. On October 28, Huawei issued a response saying: "The news about the change of Huawei's senior management is purely fabricated rumors, which are completely inconsistent with the facts."

On November 3, in response to various speculations, Ren Zhengfei, who has always been low-key, communicated with department heads and employees at Huawei's Shanghai Research Institute. Rather than the "cronyism" employment strategy, but there is no mention of the use of Ren Ping and the arrangement of successors. Ren Zhengfei said: "Huawei has nearly 70,000 employees holding virtual restricted shares, and they will collectively decide the fate of the company. How can one person decide how to do this?" On November 8, Huawei deliberately released a photo of Chairman Sun Yafang visiting France with President Hu Jintao and attending the signing ceremony of Sino-French economic and trade cooperation projects, further responding to the rumors.

The reporter learned from Huawei's human resources department that there is no rumor that Sun Yafang and other high-level executives are going through the resignation procedures. There are 9 Huawei EMT members, which have not changed from before. Huawei's company business license also clearly shows that Sun Yafang is still the legal representative of Huawei. Since 1999, the legal representative was changed from Ren Zhengfei to Sun Yafang, and it has not changed so far.Anyone who knows Huawei knows that Ren Zhengfei and Sun Yafang have fought side by side for many years, and their relationship is not an ordinary business partner.When Ren talked about company management and other topics within the company, he often said, "Mr. Sun said..." This shows the depth of his trust in Sun.

At the beginning, Ren Zhengfei suggested that Sun Yafang should be the chairman of the board, responsible for external coordination, and be the president himself, focusing on internal management.Sun Yafang's status and contribution to Huawei can be described as huge. A CEO in the industry who has been in contact with Huawei for many years said that even if Ren Zhengfei wants his son to enter EMT, there is no need to take such a drastic approach. However, according to a Huawei executive, this rumor is not groundless, but the plot is too exaggerated.He told reporters: "As a family business, it is not surprising that it has developed so far. It was founded from scratch at the beginning, and now it has achieved outstanding results. It is reasonable and reasonable to appoint future generations as successors. But the contribution of others cannot be denied, and it should be handled properly."

"If Mr. Ren retires, will Huawei's good days continue?" — On a public forum on Huawei's official website for employees to communicate, this post has been placed on the headlines of the forum recommendation by the company since the beginning of this year. Already posted up to 35 pages.However, the direction of this topic is how to let the successor embody the company's institutionalized and process-oriented management philosophy. "In fact, since Huawei has entered the track of rapid development, there have been rumors about Ren Zhengfei's successor." A Huawei insider said.

Entrepreneur succession is a question that needs no taboo, and has nothing to do with moral judgments, but it is a hurdle that private entrepreneurs who have risen since the reform and opening up generally face. Ren Zhengfei, who was born in 1944, does not have to retire at some point like the cadres of state-owned enterprises, but he has to make arrangements early. Regardless of whether Huawei chooses to inherit the father's business in the future, or to be taken over by talented people from the society, the issue of "successor" is already a threshold that Huawei cannot bypass.