Li Yue: Leading The World’s Largest Mobile Network

Li Yue is the CEO and Executive Director of China Mobile Limited which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.  He has been Executive Director since March 2003 and CEO since August 2010. While many may not be aware of it the company is the world’s largest mobile network and has the world’s largest mobile customer base.  It is the leading mobile service provider in Mainland China.

To put it into perspective, at the end of 2012 the company and its subsidiaries had a total customer base of 710 million. That’s more than twice the population of the U.S.  Compared to 2011 there was a net increase of 60.7 million customers. That figure is just couple of millions below the entire population of Great Britain.

Li handles the company’s operations and management which is clearly a huge task. He has risen through the ranks and thus has the necessary experience to run this gigantic company. Li is also the President and director of CMCC and CMC. He was previously Deputy Director General and Chief Engineer of Tianjin Long-Distance Telecommunications Bureau.

Li took up his education mostly in the Chinese region. He has a bachelor’s degree in telephone exchange from the Correspondence College of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, a master’s degree in business administration from Tianjin University and a doctoral degree in business administration from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Leading this enormous firm also means having a large compensation package; Li received a total of over $2 million in 2011. While Western executives are known to earn more, it’s a huge compensation nevertheless.