Lei Jun vs. Zhou Hongyi: A 20-year-long "battle between heaven and earth"

Destined to be unfriendly

"The predecessors had Xiaomi, and we have rifles." Zhou Hongyi picked up the "AK47" and challenged Lei Jun again. As we all know, both of them are from Hubei, a place of great importance. But the only one who really fits the style of "a nine-headed bird in the sky and a Hubei guy on the ground" is Zhou Hongyi, who grew up in Henan. Lei Jun, who spent the first 20 years of his life in Hubei, has a style that is good at dancing with long sleeves and maneuvering in all directions.

Lei Jun was born in December 1969, one year older than Zhou Hongyi. He joined Kingsoft after graduating from Wuhan University in 1992. Lei Jun, who was both talented and hardworking, quickly became famous in Zhongguancun and held important positions, and was considered a super idol in the IT industry at the time. Zhou Hongyi came to Founder Group in 1995 after completing his postgraduate studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University, while Lei Jun was already the general manager of Kingsoft.

Zhou Hongyi was very envious and admired this successful fellow villager. Because their wives were good colleagues at Founder, Zhou Hongyi got to know Lei Jun formally at a dinner party through this relationship. In the following days, "Little Zhou" and "Brother Lei" had fun together. But soon, Zhou Hongyi felt less happy because he realized that the generous "Brother Lei" was actually "proud and difficult to approach." Once, Zhou Hongyi went to Lei Jun to discuss his Founder Feiyang software, but Lei Jun commented that it was "embroidery on the toilet" and was meaningless.

Since then, although they are still friends, the distance between the two has become farther and farther. As for the reason, in addition to the difference in status between the general manager and the programmer, Xiao Nei thinks that the different personalities are more important. Lei Jun, who became famous at a young age, is actually very normal to be proud and conceited because of his success, but Zhou Hongyi is sensitive and strong-willed, which even made him leave Founder early to start his own business. As for the reason for leaving Founder? It is said that it is related to Zhou Hongyi's hot temper. He even had a fight with a colleague in the office.

During the passionate years when Zhou Hongyi created 3721, fought Baidu, fought Yahoo, founded 360 and successfully took revenge, Lei Jun led Kingsoft as CEO to compete with Microsoft. After the successful listing in 2007, he retired and became an angel investor. It can be said that the two people's paths are very different, and it seems that they will never intersect again if they continue to develop like this. However, the reversal soon happened again, and they eventually turned from friends to enemies.

The mystery hidden in the chaos

The sudden emergence of 360 not only made Zhou Hongyi kill "Yahoo Assistant" himself, but its free antivirus concept also severely hit the market share of old companies such as Kingsoft. In this era of rapid change, Kingsoft, which was already a little old, was in deep trouble. Qiu Bojun had no choice but to invite Lei Jun to come out of retirement, hoping that he could lead Kingsoft out of the crisis.

In March 2010, Kingsoft launched Kingsoft Security Guard in an attempt to fight back against 360 SafeGuard. On May 21, 360 announced that SafeGuard and Kingsoft WebShield were "incompatible" in order to further attack its rival. Four days later, Zhou Hongyi "suddenly" posted 42 Weibo posts to expose his grievances with Kingsoft, and the fight between the two sides broke out. At the end of May, Kingsoft sued Zhou Hongyi over the Weibo incident, demanding a public apology and 12 million yuan in compensation. This incident was hailed as the "first Weibo case."

In July, Lei Jun officially returned. In November, Kingsoft announced that 360 Antivirus would be completely free and integrated with Keniu Antivirus. On December 31, Kingsoft held a press conference to expose the issue of 360 stealing user privacy. 360 later said that Kingsoft was spreading rumors, and the fight between the two sides became increasingly fierce. After Lei Jun regained control of Kingsoft, he was ruthless and merciless in the face of his aggressive fellow countryman.

In the extraordinary year of 2010, Zhou Hongyi not only led 360 to compete with traditional security companies such as Kingsoft for the market, but also launched the famous "3Q War" with Tencent, and "hunted down" Fu Sheng and Keniu. The result was that he brought the three major rivals, Kingsoft (Lei Jun), Tencent, and Keniu (Fu Sheng), together.

In addition to KeNiu and Tencent, the two allies that Zhou Hongyi pushed to his side, Lei Jun has also begun to build a team of companies including YY, Xunlei, UC, Vancl, etc. after years of investment. At the same time, his second entrepreneurial project Xiaomi mobile phone is also gradually emerging. Although the power comparison between the two sides does not show a big gap, and Zhou Hongyi's momentum is even better on the surface, the seeds sown by Lei Jun will soon sprout into a forest.

Mobile phones determine the outcome

2011 was the year when Lei Jun transformed from a model software worker to an Internet hero. In that year, Xiaomi mobile phone was officially launched, he became the chairman of Kingsoft, and Cheetah was officially established. Lei Jun, who completed a gorgeous transformation, experienced a glory that was even more glorious than the Zhongguancun idol.

2011 was also the year when Zhou Hongyi reached his peak. Although 360 did not gain any advantage in the previous battles, it actually became more famous. With its three-pronged approach of security guards, antivirus and browser, 360's users grew dramatically. In March of that year, 360 completed its listing on NASDAQ.

In the following period, the "public hatred and private grudge" between the two continued to escalate. In August, 360 lost the "Weidian perjury case" and apologized to Kingsoft employee Li Tiejun and compensated him. In September, 360 continued to file a lawsuit against Kingsoft, suing Fu Sheng for suspected theft of trade secrets, and Fu Sheng himself subsequently filed a counter-lawsuit.

Entering 2012, 360's smartphone plan gradually surfaced. Since the model of "360 special machine" is similar to Xiaomi, another life-and-death battle broke out. On June 29, a set of pictures using pictures of fire scenes and babies injured by explosions to discredit 360 mobile phones were widely circulated on the Internet, suspected to be a retaliation by Mi fans against the previous attacks on 360. Zhou Hongyi immediately forwarded and condemned it, while Lei Jun denied that it was done by Xiaomi employees or Internet trolls. Zhou Hongyi was relentless and asked Lei Jun to "make an appointment to talk with you, next Monday at 10 am in Chaoyang Park." Lei Jun refused again and said, "What ability does he have to make an appointment with me? He thinks too highly of himself."

Zhou Hongyi seemed to have won the argument, but he lost Huawei, which had wanted to cooperate with 360. 360, which lost the support of hardware manufacturers, had to look for new allies. Although Alcatel, Amoi and Haier all accepted the olive branch, their limited strength did not allow the "360 special machine" to be a hit. At the same time, Lei Jun and Xiaomi mobile phones were moving further and further away on the fast track.

In the end, Zhou Hongyi had to accept the reality that the "specially supplied machine" made a high-profile debut but ended in failure. After putting away the "AK47", he seemed to be trying to repair his relationship with Lei Jun. In early 2013, the two met by chance at a CCTV event, and then drank tea and chatted together. Later, a photo of the two talking secretly went viral on the Internet. Some people said that this was taken secretly by Zhou Hongyi. But Xiao Nei disagreed. If it was intentional to take a secret photo, Zhou Hongyi must be highlighted and Lei Jun must be "suppressed". But that photo not only did not have that, but it was the opposite. It must have been done by a "pig teammate".

AK47 Will Be Back

In the following time, the two men shook hands and made peace, and there was no record of direct confrontation. However, Zhou Hongyi, who had a dream of making mobile phones, would not give in. In 2014, Lei Jun and Dong Mingzhu's "1 billion bet" became a hot topic several times. On Zhou Hongyi's side, perhaps seeing the situation of "English teachers making mobile phones", he stepped up his contacts with "Southern factories". From old acquaintance Huawei, to "the enemy of my enemy" Meizu, and then finally came together with Coolpad.

Since it was the "Second Revolution", Zhou Hongyi learned the lesson of "causing trouble" in the past. Although he was still as high-profile as before, he only talked about himself and no longer easily commented on any specific manufacturer. Even if he had to evade Lei Jun, he chose to go to Gree to learn and get close to "Auntie Dong". Even "Lei and Zhou" stood together for a photo at the Yabuli Summit.

The management team of the joint venture between 360 and Coolpad has made an appearance, and the Weibo post "Codename AK47" has been reactivated. On a promotional picture of 360 OS, the provocative message "This may be an OS more suitable for Xiaomi than MIUI" is obvious. Zhou Hongyi himself also claimed that "the new mobile phone brand is kept secret for the time being. Our predecessors had Xiaomi, and we have rifles, so the codename is AK47."

In 2015, a new showdown between Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi is about to begin.

The divide was not made in a day

Since I think the feud between Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi stems from their differences in personality, let's talk about how their different personalities led to a "confrontation between heaven and earth".

Born into a cadre family, Lei Jun was a "three-good student" since childhood. He was also good at sports and fascinated by Go. It can be seen that Lei Jun's fame at a young age, his ability to make decisions at a reasonable time, and his ability to act decisively are closely related to his growth environment and experience. More than a decade as the second-in-command of Kingsoft made him more calm and smooth, and "making many friends" is the result of this experience.

Combining all of the above factors, we have the Lei Jun who led Xiaomi to "breakthrough in a single point and achieve full success", the Lei Jun who "invests widely and does not hesitate to make idle moves to lay out the plan".

Unlike Lei Jun, Zhou Hongyi's parents are surveyors. Therefore, he lived away from home since he was a child and rarely saw his parents. Although he was lively by nature, he lacked the warmth of family to a certain extent, which gave rise to the aggressive Zhou Hongyi who fought from kindergarten to graduating from university and started working. This aggressiveness can also be seen in his biggest hobby, shooting. The ups and downs of life he experienced through fighting made him not trust anyone easily.

Therefore, Zhou Hongyi is sensitive and aggressive. From the disputes between 3721 and Baidu and CNNIC, to the falling out and revenge with Yahoo, to the countless disputes during the 360 ​​period, Xiao Nei thinks that the title of "Saint Seiya" belongs to him.

The differences in personality and character have gradually created the current division between "Lei and Zhou", but have also created the two major forces in the Internet world, the Lei Jun faction and 360.

A different perspective on "Thunder Week"

Let’s look at the differences between Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi from the perspective of a “third party” in the industry.

When it comes to Internet tycoons from Hubei, apart from Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi, Chen Yizhou can be regarded as the third most important person. Regarding his college classmate Lei Jun, Chen Yizhou said that no one in the industry works harder than Lei Jun, "the average level of hard work in our industry may be only half of his"; regarding his old acquaintance Zhou Hongyi, Chen Yizhou believes that "he will definitely be a successful entrepreneur, and 360 will not fail easily, as long as he doesn't offend too many people."

It is understood that Chen Yizhou was originally in the Department of Physics at Wuhan University, and later transferred to the Department of Computer Science, where he became a classmate of Lei Jun. Before founding Chinaren, the two had argued in Lei Jun's car for an entire afternoon. Lei Jun said that your project is too far from making money, while Chen Yizhou said that this has a future. Later, Chinaren did indeed end up without money. It can be seen that Lei Jun's "embroidery on the toilet" often hits the mark, but some people are just too sensitive.

Another big name in the industry who is familiar with Lei Jun and Zhou is Zhang Xiaolong. Zhang Xiaolong and Lei Jun were both studying in Wuhan at the same time, one at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the other at Wuhan University. Although they had never met, the two star programmers knew each other's names. In 1998, Lei Jun planned to acquire Foxmail, so he contacted Zhang Xiaolong. The conversation between the two programmers started with "bug catching"; after the "greetings", Lei Jun went straight to the point and proposed to acquire it for 150,000 yuan. The two parties reached a verbal agreement at the time. Later, because the Kingsoft technical team felt that they were ok, the deal eventually fell through, and Foxmail was later sold to Broadcom for 12 million yuan.

Also in 1998, Zhang Xiaolong met Zhou Hongyi. Zhou Hongyi was introduced to visit this "successful but down and out" star programmer in the south. Because they both had a hobby of watching movies, or heroes admire heroes, the two hit it off at first sight. After that, when Zhou Hongyi occasionally went to Guangzhou, the two would go together to buy pirated discs.

During the period when WeChat was rising rapidly, many people including Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi believed that Zhang Xiaolong simply built his success on the basis of QQ users. In response, Zhang Xiaolong once said to Zhou Hongyi at a dinner party, "You don't know that the one who wants to kill WeChat the most is not MiTalk, but mobile QQ."

The story is over, I wonder if you have figured it out. Xiao Nei summarizes it as follows: Lei Jun is arrogant and unrestrained, good at dancing with long sleeves, but difficult to make close friends; while Zhou Hongyi is sensitive and straightforward, likes to stir up trouble, but makes sincere friends.

In 2015, the "competition between Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi" will write a new chapter. Who wins and who loses is no longer the point. Since Gates and Jobs can sympathize with each other and create two legendary companies, why is it impossible in China?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.