Yu Renrong, controlling shareholder of Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd., is donating 30 million unrestricted shares of the company to the Ningbo Dongfang University of Technology Education Foundation. Based on the December 2 closing price of 121.08 yuan per share, the donation is valued at approximately 3.632 billion yuan ($3.7 billion).
Concurrently, the Ningbo Yu Renrong Education Foundation will donate another 600,000 shares, worth about 60 million yuan. After this donation, Yu's personal stake in Will Semiconductor will decrease to 303 million shares, or a 25.09% stake.
This marks Yu's sixth major donation to the university's foundation in the past three years, bringing his total cumulative contributions to nearly 9.85 billion yuan. In 2024 alone, he donated shares worth 5.318 billion yuan, earning him the title of "China's Top Philanthropist" for that year.
These donations are central to Yu's vision of establishing a world-class university in his hometown. The Ningbo Dongfang University of Technology, which was officially inaugurated on November 28, 2024, was founded in 2020 with Yu as its primary benefactor and board chairman. The new research university focuses on critical fields like integrated circuits and artificial intelligence, aiming to tackle core technological challenges.
Yu's company, Will Semiconductor, is a top-ten global fabless chip design company with products in automotive, mobile, and medical fields. For the first three quarters of 2025, it reported revenue of 21.783 billion yuan, a 15.2% year-over-year increase, and a net profit of 3.21 billion yuan, surging 35.15%.
ICgoodFind: Yu Renrong's unprecedented philanthropic commitment highlights the broader role semiconductor leaders can play in fostering education and innovation for the industry's future.
