HAIER CEO ZHANG RUIMIN HONORED WITH LEGEND IN LEADERSHIP AWARD BY YALE UNIVERSITY

HAIER CEO ZHANG RUIMIN HONORED WITH LEGEND IN LEADERSHIP AWARD BY YALE UNIVERSITY

Award Presented at Invitation Only CEO Summit in New York

Haier Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zhang Ruimin has been given the coveted Legend In Leadership Award at the prestigious Yale University Chief Executive Leadership Institute CEO Summit taking place in New York City.  The award was formally presented at the invitation-only meeting featuring chairmen, CEOs and president-level executives from iconic global businesses and, scholars from leading American universities. At the summit entitled The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be: Delight & Despair Over Disruption, leading academics from Yale, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Emory will address diverse topics, ranging from global strategy to succession planning.

Mr. Zhang Ruimin, the first Chinese entrepreneur to receive this award, joins senior business leaders from around the world at the conference including Sylvia Matthews Burwell, the US Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Zhang Ruimin said, “I am honored to receive this award and accept it on behalf of Chinese business leaders, at Haier and other organizations, who have explored the unlimited potential of the Internet and transformed our businesses by capitalizing on opportunity, adding value, providing employment and advancing society”.

He added, “I am very pleased to contribute to this important conversation on the pace of change in business and, look forward to joining my peers to explore the range of challenges and opportunities in today’s dynamic global economy.”

Zhang Ruimin is widely appreciated for evolving a little-known refrigerator manufacturer in Qingdao, China into the world's fourth-largest home appliances brand. Mr. Zhang joined what was then known as Qingdao Refrigerator Plant as a supervisor in 1968. He rose through the ranks and was named Chief Executive Officer of the Haier Group in 1995.

Having established his business and built a strong brand in the home market, Mr. Zhang lead a global expansion to Europe in 1993, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia in the mid-nineties and the Americas in the late nineties.  Haier Group now operates factories on every continent and has global revenues of $32.6 billion, making it one of the largest enterprises in the world and Zhang Ruimin a truly global business leader.