Cai Haoyu (Chinese: 蔡浩宇; pinyin: Cài Hàoyǔ; born July 29, 1987) is a Chinese businessman, investor, and video game producer. He is best known as the co-founder and CEO of the video game company miHoYo. The Chinese magazine New Fortune ranked Cai in 73rd place on the "2022 New Fortune 500 Rich List" that ranks the 500 richest people in China.
Early life
Cai was born in Jinan, Shandong, in 1987.[1][2] His parents, Cai Zhili and Lu Zizhen,[3] who both work as computer subject-related instructors of Shandong Jiaotong University [zh], began teaching him about computers after noticing his interest for it beginning when he was five years old and exhibiting his aptitude for it.[2][4]
Cai attended Jinan Baliqiao Primary School (Chinese: 济南八里桥小学), Jinan Foreign Language School, and Shandong Experimental High School.[1] In 1995, Cai received second place in the animation category in the youth division of the National Computer Competition.[2][5] In 1996, he received the "Top Ten Teenagers in Tianqiao District, Jinan City" award.[5] In 1998, his "Alien Envoy" (Chinese: 外星使者) and "Blue-Eared Spaceship" (Chinese: 蓝耳朵飞船) submissions received second place in the animation category in the youth division of the National Computer Competition.[5] In February 1999 when he was 12 years old, he was elected to the Chinese Youth Academy of Sciences in the first group of junior academicians chosen.[1][2][4] He said in an interview, "The computer is not a dead thing. It changes all the time. I have to keep learning to keep up with it."[4] He matriculated at Shanghai Jiao Tong University when the institution admitted him as a student in 2005.[1] He majored in computer science and also went on to earn a master's degree from the same university.[6][7][8]
Also at an early age, the young Cai exhibited entrepreneurial proclivities, which also influenced him as a youth to "conduct business." One of his first business ventures as a teenager was when he bought Xiaolingtongcordless telephones for cheap and sold them for aprofit. As a junior in high school, he sold watches as a side venture. By the time Cai reached college, he became an active stock investor, where in one instance, his speculative success in stocks allowed him to earn a windfall profit over CN¥300,000 (US$46,511.63) in a single month.[6]
Career
At SJTU, Cai became roommates with Liu Wei and Luo Yuhao.[2] He and his roommates became drawn to the ACG subculture of animation, comics, and games.[2] In 2009, they made video games with ACG as the theme including as their graduation project.[2] Cai started making his first game FlyMe2theMoon in 2010. Two years later, it received its first and only angel investment worth 1million RMB. After that, he started to work on Houkai Gakuen [zh] as the production director.[9][10]
Cai and his roommates secured a CN¥100,000 (US$15,504) grant from the Shanghai Technology Innovation Center's Eagle Program.[1] In January 2011, using the grant, they established miHoYo in a university dormitory while they were second-year graduate students.[7][11][12] It began as a literary open source community.[13] Cai is the chairman of miHoYo, which by 2021, made over ¥10billion (US$1.4billion) in revenue.[4]Chinese Business Strategy, a media company that profiles businesspeople, said Cai "tends to think intuitively, is responsible for business strategy decisions, and is meticulous about affairs management".[4]
On February 14, 2022, miHoYo announced the launch of a new brand HoYoverse for markets outside of Greater China, with Cai as the CEO.[14]
In May 2022, New Fortune, a Chinese magazine, published the "2022 New Fortune 500 Rich List" ranking the 500 richest people in China. Cai made his first appearance on the list in 73rd place at ¥56billion (US$8.7billion). Among the first 100 people on the list, Cai was the only person who made his fortune in the Chinese video game industry.[1] He is the richest person in Jinan.[2]
In September 2023, the board of directors of miHoYo passed a resolution that Cai would no longer serve as the legal representative and chairman of miHoYo, and his position would be taken over by Liu Wei. Several media reported that Cai would move to North America, and has been interested in the large language models.[15][16] miHoYo responded to the press that Cai would "continue to devote himself to the research and application of cutting-edge technology, the development of new projects, and the connection of domestic and overseas R&D resources."[17]
Family
Cai Haoyu is based in Shanghai after graduating from Jiaotong University, but his parents and relatives still stay in Shandong, and he goes back to his hometown of Jinan every Spring Festival to visit his parents. Cai still has some close friends in Shandong and continues to maintain contacts and business contacts.[8]
^ abcdefghTang, Zhenglu 唐正璐, ed. (2022-06-21). "三位年轻人，造出游戏界"印钞机"，席卷全球，缔造千亿估值" [Three young people created a "money printing machine" in the game industry, sweeping the world and creating a valuation of 100 billion]. 七禾网 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
^Li Yan (1999-02-14). ""玩"出来的小院士——听小院士蔡浩宇的父母谈家教" [The little academician who came out of "playing"—listen to the parents of the little academician Cai Haoyu talk about tutoring]. Qilu Evening News. p. 1. ......他的父亲蔡志理、母亲卢子真都是济南交通高等专科学校从事计算机教学的老师。(...His father, Cai Zhili, and mother, Lu Zizhen, were both teachers of computer teaching at Jinan Jiaotong College.)
^ abcdeGeng, Kangqi 耿康祁 (2022-06-20). "这3个后生，比马化腾、张一鸣还狠" [These three young people are more ruthless than Ma Huateng and Zhang Yiming!]. 华商韬略 [Chinese Business Strategy] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-09-19 – via The Paper.
^ abLin, Hongyan 林红艳 (2022-03-09). Kang, Linghua 康玲华 (ed.). "米哈游CEO蔡浩宇上学时就研发网游 公司却因"兔女郎"引轩然大波" [Mihayou CEO Cai Haoyu developed online games when he was in school, but the company caused an uproar because of the "bunny girl"]. 运营商财经 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12 – via NetEase.
^"蔡浩宇：《崩坏学院2》做自己喜欢的游戏" [Cai Haoyu: "Houkai Gakuen 2" as your favorite game]. GameLook (in Chinese). 2014-07-14. Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
^Wei, Zhong 卫中 (2020-07-08). Jiang, Fang 姜方; Xing, Xiaofang 邢晓芳 (eds.). "从10万无息贷款到20亿营收，米哈游专注打造一代人的二次元记忆" [From 100,000 interest-free loans to 2 billion revenue, miHoYo focuses on creating two-dimensional memory for a generation]. Wenhui Bao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-01-29. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
^Chen, Yuxi 陈宇曦 (2019-02-27). Sun, Fu 孙扶; Luan, Meng 栾梦 (eds.). "向上生长的民企｜米哈游总裁：做出好游戏需要耐心和匠心" [Upward-growing private enterprise｜President of miHoYo: Patience and ingenuity are required to make a good game]. The Paper (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
^"上海企业年会"包场"背后，是年轻人走向台前的故事" [Behind the "private space" of the annual corporate meeting in Shanghai is the story of young people walking to the front of the stage]. GameLook (in Chinese). 2020-12-21. Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
