Xiaomi IPO to make millionaires out of rank and file workers

Fifty six employees who pooled money to fund the startup in 2010 can make 200-fold return.

Bloomberg reports that Xiaomi’s blockbuster IPO is set to make millionaires out of 56 of its earliest employees who took the chance to invest a combined $11m in the startup eight years ago which jumpstarted the smartphone maker’s ambitions.

Now called the Lucky 56, these employees, most of which come from rank-and-file, stand to make roughly 200 times their original investment and gain as much as $3b if Xiaomi proceeds to float 15% of the company at a $100b valuation.

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Xiaomi has officially filed for an IPO in Hong Kong in what could be the world’s biggest public listing since Alibaba's $25b public debut in 2014. The smartphone maker is the first major firm to take advantage of sweeping reforms introduced by the bourse operator allowing companies with dual class shares or weighted-voting rights to list.

“These employees already had enough risk working for a small, untested startup and it showed this great enthusiasm," said Hans Tung, one of Xiaomi’s earliest backers. "They turned out to be right."

Here’s more from Bloomberg: