Shares of Shanghai-based MetaX Integrated Circuits surged as much as 693% on Wednesday, catapulting the net worth of its founder, Chen Weiliang, to an estimated $6.5 billion.
China’s push for semiconductor self-reliance has minted its second billionaire in as many weeks after shares of AI chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared in their Shanghai trading debut. The rally propelled founder and chairman Chen Weiliang into the three-comma club, with Forbes estimating his fortune at $6.5 billion.
The 49-year-old derives his wealth from his stake in the Shanghai-based company, which now boasts a market capitalization exceeding 320 billion yuan ($45 billion), according to Forbes estimates.
MetaX raised 4.2 billion yuan in its initial public offering, selling 40.1 million shares at 104.7 yuan each. The company plans to allocate most of the proceeds toward research and development, according to its prospectus. MetaX did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The chipmaker’s blockbuster debut reflects intense investor demand, with the retail portion of the IPO oversubscribed by nearly 3,000 times. Prior to going public, MetaX raised funding from investment firms including HSG (HongShan Capital Group, formerly Sequoia China), Primavera Capital Group, and ZhenFund.
Investors are betting that MetaX could emerge as a domestic challenger to Nvidia. Amid escalating tensions with the U.S., which has restricted the export of advanced semiconductors to China, Beijing has repeatedly emphasized the need to cultivate homegrown champions. Just two weeks earlier, rival Moore Threads Technology—another Shanghai-listed AI chipmaker—minted three billionaires following its own market debut.
MetaX faces competition not only from Moore Threads but also from domestic players such as Cambricon Technologies. Cambricon’s cofounder, 40-year-old Chen Tianshi, is now China’s 12th richest person, with a net worth of $21.8 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List. To stay competitive, MetaX warned investors in its prospectus that it expects heavy research spending, sustained high costs, and a prolonged period of losses.
“Domestic GPU (graphics processing unit) makers started out late and are still in the early stages of technological breakthroughs and product development,” MetaX wrote. “Many areas require continued improvement, demanding significant investment in research, marketing, and ecosystem building.”
Despite those challenges, the company has secured notable customers. Its top buyers include Shanghai-listed communications firm Super Telecom and state-affiliated IT company H3C, according to its prospectus. In the first nine months of 2025, MetaX reported revenue growth of more than 450% year over year to 1.2 billion yuan, while losses narrowed 55.8% to 345.5 million yuan.
Chen is a semiconductor industry veteran. After spending more than a decade as a senior executive at U.S. chip giant AMD in China, he founded MetaX in 2020, bringing along several former colleagues. The company’s chief technology officers, Peng Li and Yang Jian, each spent over 10 years at AMD. Chen holds a master’s degree in engineering from Tsinghua University, according to the company’s prospectus.
