A trillion-yuan tech giant, a prominent star manager in a key position, and an irreversible dismissal decision—on September 8, Xiaomi Corp. dropped a bombshell in public discourse with an internal announcement.

Wang Teng, General Manager of Xiaomi China's Marketing Department and General Manager of the REDMI brand, was dismissed by the company for "leaking confidential company information and engaging in serious violations including conflicts of interest."

The smartphone industry continues its hustle and bustle, product launches will proceed as scheduled, but Xiaomi no longer has Wang Teng. His story has become a footnote in Xiaomi's anti-corruption history and serves as a mirror for executives and employees at major corporations.

Wang Teng, General Manager of Xiaomi China's Marketing Department and General Manager of the REDMI brand, was dismissed for "leaking confidential company information and engaging in serious violations including conflicts of interest," quickly dominating trending topics.

This mid-level manager, who had nine years of experience at Xiaomi and was considered one of Lei Jun's trusted proteges, ended his Xiaomi career in such an undignified manner.

Strictly speaking, Wang Teng was not part of Xiaomi's top executive tier, but as a brand official connecting the market with the public, his importance within Xiaomi's brand marketing-focused system was undeniable. He was Xiaomi's star product manager and a social media influencer, with 1.802 million Weibo followers and daily readership exceeding 100,000.

Wang Teng's capabilities were evident to all. As a top graduate from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, he joined Xiaomi in 2016 and joined the REDMI team in March 2020. The K40 series, praised for "sweeping the mid-range and sub-flagship markets," was his brainchild.

He possessed keen market awareness and forward-thinking brand concepts. On November 21, 2024, Xiaomi announced the launch of REDMI's new brand identity, featuring all capital letters and a bold red color. He explained: "From 'purely driven by passion, regardless of everything' to 'relying on our own strength, staying in the spotlight without compromise.' The new generation of young people is no longer afraid of red." This was refreshing and memorable.

Whether within Xiaomi or on external social media platforms, Wang Teng was attention-grabbing, and his relationship with Lei Jun was always close—he was clearly a key talent that Lei Jun was cultivating.

In a widely circulated story, Lei Jun personally required Wang Teng and others to "work on Weibo," setting them a KPI of "gaining 100,000 followers within three months." Wang Teng recalled: "The boss asked us to engage with Weibo, connect with Mi fans, and genuinely make friends to understand everyone's real needs."

Once, in the comment section of one of Wang Teng's videos, a netizen left a message saying "Wang Teng, you have the ability to go solo." Amusingly, this netizen was Lei Jun himself. Wang Teng was so startled that he quickly responded: "Boss Lei, stop testing me, I'll work hard."

Regarding netizens' teasing comments like "Wang Teng, can you tolerate Boss Lei and Boss Lu (referring to Xiaomi President Lu Weibing) being above you," Wang Teng could handle them with grace. In the web novel "Perfect World," there's also a character named Wang Teng, whom his father considered exceptionally talented and destined to "become king and emperor, invincible in the world," earning Wang Teng the "honor" of having "imperial potential." In netizens' parody images, Lei Jun and Lu Weibing became his trusted lieutenants.

Wang Teng's relationship to Lei Jun was like a modern version of "Ma Su to Zhuge Liang." Zhuge Liang trusted Ma Su completely and entrusted him with important responsibilities, but when he lost Jieting, Zhuge Liang had to enforce military law and tearfully execute Ma Su. Now, this scenario has played out with Wang Teng.

Their relationship can be glimpsed in Wang Teng's response: "Thank you to Boss Lei and all company leaders for years of cultivation and trust. I'm very reluctant to leave." The words reveal guilt and reluctance.

But it's important to know that Wang Teng lost his "Jieting." Xiaomi's official reason was "leaking confidential company information and engaging in serious violations including conflicts of interest." The dual red lines of confidentiality and conflicts of interest are high-voltage lines that Xiaomi absolutely cannot tolerate crossing.

One can imagine that under intense market competition, Xiaomi takes confidentiality work extremely seriously. On June 19, Xiaomi's PR department head Wang Hua posted about receiving a confidentiality agreement that required separate signing, being listed as a protected subject by the confidentiality office. He even commented: "Just checked, Wang Teng received one too! Now I'm relieved!" In hindsight, this seems prophetically ironic.

The leak might have been the trigger, but "conflicts of interest" was the truly fatal blow. Insiders revealed that Wang Teng had previously been internally disciplined for leaks, and this dismissal might be more related to the "conflicts of interest" mentioned in the announcement.

Lei Jun, who appears gentle and "harmless" externally, clearly employs decisive and swift measures in internal company management, showing no mercy toward employee violations, nor can he afford to. This represents the institutional rigidity of a large enterprise and the management rigidity of an entrepreneur.

Xiaomi clearly stated in its announcement: maintaining a "zero tolerance, comprehensive coverage, no forbidden zones" attitude toward violations. Xiaomi's 2024 annual report also disclosed that the company established a three-tier business ethics governance structure of "Board of Directors—Professional Ethics Committee—Security Supervision Department." The board bears ultimate governance responsibility for business ethics, while the Professional Ethics Committee handles investigation and accountability for violations.

According to the annual report, Xiaomi investigated and concluded 36 corruption cases in 2024, with 8 transferred to judicial authorities. In June 2024, Xiaomi internally announced and dismissed two regional general managers from its international business department: Western Europe Regional General Manager Owen and Latin America Regional General Manager Chen Bingxu. Owen was accused of "fabricating outsourcing businesses with huge amounts involved," while Chen Bingxu was guilty of "demanding huge bribes from partners, accepting valuable gifts, and enjoying luxurious entertainment."

Notably, Xiaomi's annual report stated that no negative conflicts of interest incidents occurred in 2024. In this announcement, Wang Teng was found to have serious violations involving "conflicts of interest."

Not just Xiaomi—major internet giants now view internal anti-corruption and conflicts of interest management as core corporate governance issues, entering the "deep waters" of strict governance with increasingly decisive actions. Companies like Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com, and ByteDance have all established internal systems and regularly publish related results. For instance, ByteDance dismissed 353 violating employees in 2024 and 100 employees who crossed company red lines in the second quarter of 2025.

As Jack Ma put it: "Everyone at Alibaba can be investigated by the integrity and compliance department, including myself." Liu Qiangdong also took a hard stance: "If you dare embezzle 10,000 yuan from the company, I'd rather spend 1 million or 10 million yuan investigating you."

Looking at the development history of major tech companies, "big company disease" and internal violations often go hand in hand. Fundamentally, sustained strict governance concerns the healthy development of major corporations, is inevitable as the industry moves from wild growth to intensive cultivation, and maintains fair market competition order.

In large-scale operations, military discipline must be strict—proper conduct and discipline must be enforced with "sharp teeth." For large enterprises like Xiaomi, localized violations are like ant holes that can breach a dam, capable of undermining combat effectiveness. Therefore, great effort must be invested in establishing systems, setting rules, and emphasizing execution, making systems "grow teeth" and discipline "carry electricity." Without exaggeration, whether institutional and disciplinary "teeth" are sharp determines how far an enterprise can go.

Lei Jun's tearful "execution" of Wang Teng demonstrates the cold principle in modern corporate governance where systems supersede personal relationships. Even if he's a protege you personally cultivated, even if he made significant contributions to the company, once red lines are crossed, consequences must follow.

Xiaomi has grown into a tech giant spanning multiple fields with massive organization and complex business. If internal violations are allowed to fester, they will directly erode innovation vitality, destroy organizational fairness, and damage brand reputation. This severe handling helps strengthen Xiaomi's brand image of strict discipline.

The smartphone industry continues its hustle and bustle, product launches will proceed as scheduled, but Xiaomi no longer has Wang Teng. His story has become a footnote in Xiaomi's anti-corruption history and serves as a mirror for executives and employees at major corporations.