Produced by Leida Finance | Text by Zhou Hui | Edited by Meng Shuai

Following the announcement of a CFO recruitment drive in February of the previous year, the leading large model company DeepSeek appears to be on the verge of appointing its financial head.

On September 14, ifeng.com learned from multiple independent sources that DeepSeek’s CFO is poised to assume office soon, with Hillhouse Ventures partner Yan Wentao emerging as the frontrunner. Yan is currently in the process of resigning from his current position.

As a representative of Hillhouse’s new generation of partners, Yan Wentao boasts extensive experience in primary market financing, technology startup valuation, IPO equity structure design, and industrial resource alignment. Moreover, his age aligns perfectly with Liang Wenfeng’s preference for a “post-90s” CFO.

As the selection process for the CFO nears completion, DeepSeek has also been actively engaging in capital market activities. In June this year, the company secured 51 billion yuan in Series A financing. In August, it was reported that DeepSeek had resumed its second round of financing, worth 50 billion yuan, which had been previously suspended, with a pre-investment valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan.

Simultaneously, DeepSeek’s plans for a public listing are gaining momentum. According to multiple media reports, DeepSeek has engaged CITIC Securities to facilitate an IPO on the STAR Market, with plans to officially commence the listing process within the year.

It is reported that Liang Wenfeng intends to utilize the funds raised from the IPO to enhance incentives for DeepSeek’s core employees and researchers.

Should DeepSeek successfully list, based on its current valuation of 500 billion yuan, the company’s market capitalization is projected to range between 1.5 trillion yuan and 2.5 trillion yuan.

Given his substantial shareholding, Liang Wenfeng could potentially surpass Zhang Yiming to become China’s wealthiest individual.

CFO Candidate Selection Nears Completion, Likely a Post-90s Partner from Hillhouse

On September 14, ifeng.com reported, citing multiple independent sources, that DeepSeek’s CFO is set to take office soon, with Hillhouse Ventures partner Yan Wentao as the most probable candidate. Yan is currently in the process of resigning.

Public records indicate that Yan Wentao, born in 1991, is an outstanding alumnus of Fudan University. His age precisely meets Liang Wenfeng’s criteria for a post-90s CFO.

In addition to his age advantage, Yan Wentao’s professional background is highly impressive. After graduating from university, he worked at Tencent Investments and H Capital starting in 2013 before joining the renowned investment firm Hillhouse Ventures in 2020.

During his tenure at Hillhouse, Yan Wentao led or was deeply involved in investments in numerous leading companies, including ByteDance, Zhipu AI, MiniMax, Xiaohongshu, J&T Express, and Webull Securities, gradually establishing himself as a representative of the new generation of partners. In 2025, he was recognized as one of the Top 50 Nova Investors by ChinaVenture.

Based on his resume, Yan Wentao’s core competencies lie in primary market financing, technology startup valuation, IPO equity structure design, and industrial resource alignment.

Some analysts suggest that such a talent, with a deep understanding of both the capital markets and the technology industry, is well-suited to oversee the extensive work DeepSeek needs to undertake in its next phase, such as controlling the financing pace, managing shareholder relations, allocating capital, and planning ecological布局 (which means “ecological layout” in English).

In fact, as early as February of the previous year, DeepSeek began publicly recruiting a CFO. To date, the company’s official website still features recruitment notices for its financial team, including the CFO position.

As a highly coveted role among investors, competition for DeepSeek’s financial head position has been exceptionally fierce.

According to ifeng.com, sources indicate that leaders from prominent domestic investment firms such as 5Y Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Longzhu Capital have all engaged in discussions with Liang Wenfeng regarding this position.

However, many industry insiders believe that their applications were primarily a pretext for exchanges and communications, or even an opportunity to explore potential investment prospects.

From Avoiding Financing to Embracing Capital: Why Did DeepSeek Change Its Strategy?

Amid its search for a financial head, DeepSeek has also been active in the capital arena.

In June this year, multiple media outlets reported that DeepSeek had completed its first external financing round, raising approximately 51 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation nearing 400 billion yuan.

Tianyancha data reveals that the investor lineup for DeepSeek’s current financing round is a “constellation of stars,” including Tencent Investments, CATL, JD.com, IDG Capital, Lix Capital, and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, among other well-known enterprises and investment institutions.

According to calculations by Yicai, based on indirect investment disclosures from three A-share listed companies—Jiannian Medical, Korrun, and By-Health—DeepSeek’s post-investment valuation after its first financing round is approximately between 325 billion yuan and 350.9 billion yuan, aligning closely with previous rumors.

Just one month later, Reuters reported that DeepSeek was in discussions for a new round of financing, targeting a valuation as high as 500 billion yuan.

However, subsequent reports indicated that DeepSeek had suspended its second round of financing, with rumors suggesting it was related to the leak of an investor meeting transcript.

Nevertheless, on August 5, several traders disclosed to Caijing that DeepSeek had resumed its second round of financing, planning to raise 50 billion yuan and aiming to complete signing by late August.

If successful, this financing round would bring DeepSeek’s total funds raised across two rounds to over 100 billion yuan, far exceeding the financing scale of its competitors.

It is worth noting that at the inception of DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng had established three “ironclad rules”—no external financing, no dilution of equity, and no being held hostage by anyone’s commercialization timeline.

Some speculate that DeepSeek’s initial confidence in not relying on external financing may have stemmed from continuous financial support from High-Flyer, a leading domestic quantitative private equity firm backing the AI company.

According to 21st Century Business Herald, citing data from Simuwang, High-Flyer achieved an average annual return of 56.55% in 2025, ranking second among Chinese quantitative private equity firms with assets under management exceeding 10 billion yuan, just behind Lingjun Investments, which topped the list with an average return of 73.51%.

Currently, High-Flyer manages over 70 billion yuan in assets, with average returns of 85.15% over the past three years and an astonishing 114.35% over the past five years.

In late 2024, DeepSeek-V3 was introduced, achieving performance comparable to top models like GPT-4o at an extremely low training cost.

Subsequently, to maintain DeepSeek’s competitive edge in terms of ultra-high cost-effectiveness, Liang Wenfeng frequently employed “price-cutting strategies.”

In April and May 2026, DeepSeek announced two consecutive price reductions. Although DeepSeek raised API prices in August after introducing a peak-valley pricing mechanism, it announced another price reduction less than a month later.

On September 9, DeepSeek released a price adjustment notice on its open platform, announcing that effective 12:00 PM Beijing Time on September 10, it would adjust the pricing of its flash series models, continuing to adopt a peak-valley time-of-use pricing model, with input prices for cache hits reduced by up to 60%.

However, frequently resorting to “low-price tactics” has also placed DeepSeek under certain profitability pressures.

According to U.S. tech media The Information, citing sources, DeepSeek’s revenue in the first seven months of this year was approximately 475 million yuan, about 10 times the level for the entire year of 2025; during the same period, its net loss was approximately 715 million yuan, compared to a net loss of 935 million yuan for the entire previous year.

Additionally, as industry competition intensifies, DeepSeek is also facing an increasingly fierce “war for talent.”

The Paper previously cited industry insiders stating that DeepSeek’s compensation packages are only mid-range within the industry, with external headhunters actively poaching DeepSeek’s team with salaries and options two to three times higher.

According to incomplete statistics from Leida Finance, several core researchers, including Luo Fuli, Wang Bingxuan, Wei Haoran, Ruan Chong, and Guo Daya, have left DeepSeek to date.

Some believe that amid the comprehensive escalation of the AI competition, DeepSeek has no choice but to open its doors to the capital markets to secure more abundant “ammunition” reserves.

Rumored STAR Market IPO Preparations: Is Liang Wenfeng Aiming to Become China’s Wealthiest Individual?

Shortly after being reported to have resumed its second round of financing, DeepSeek also intends to officially enter the capital markets.

On September 9, Reuters cited two insiders stating that DeepSeek had formally engaged CITIC Securities as its sponsor to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and planned to officially initiate the listing process within the year.

Reuters also mentioned that Liang Wenfeng hopes to use the funds raised from the IPO to strengthen incentives for DeepSeek’s core employees and researchers.

Subsequently, 21st Century Business Herald learned from insiders that this information is accurate. Currently, CITIC Securities has engaged with DeepSeek and entered the due diligence phase, but the two sides have not yet signed a formal listing sponsorship agreement.

According to regulations requiring a tutoring filing period of no less than three months, DeepSeek would need to submit its tutoring filing materials by September to have a chance of submitting its IPO application within the year. However, as of now, no listing filing information is available on the official website of the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau.

Some industry insiders analyze that if DeepSeek’s current valuation of 500 billion yuan is used as a basis, its overall market capitalization after listing is expected to range between 1.5 trillion yuan and 2.5 trillion yuan.

Accompanying the news of DeepSeek’s preparations for an IPO on the STAR Market, speculation surrounding Liang Wenfeng’s personal wealth has also surfaced.

Tianyancha’s equity relationship chart shows that as of now, Liang Wenfeng directly holds 31.01% of DeepSeek’s shares. After adding the indirectly held shares through two platforms—Ningbo Cheng'en Enterprise Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Hangzhou Chengli Enterprise Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership)—his final beneficial ownership ratio is as high as 81.65%.

However, Liang Wenfeng’s shareholding may be diluted after DeepSeek goes public.

If DeepSeek’s market capitalization exceeds 1 trillion yuan after listing, based on Liang Wenfeng’s approximately 81.65% shareholding ratio, his personal net worth would exceed 816.5 billion yuan, meaning he could surpass ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming to become the new richest man in China.

In fact, Liang Wenfeng’s wealth had already surged alongside the company’s valuation prior to this.

According to data updated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on July 15, Liang Wenfeng’s net worth at the time was approximately $36 billion (equivalent to 244 billion yuan), having grown by $19.9 billion since the beginning of the year, an increase of over 120%, making him the wealthiest entrepreneur in the global pure AI large model sector.

Furthermore, data compiled by financial research firm BestBrokers based on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List shows that Liang Wenfeng’s net worth skyrocketed from $1 billion on July 27, 2025, to $39.5 billion (equivalent to 265 billion yuan) on July 27, 2026, a staggering increase of 3850%, ranking first in wealth growth among the 3,356 billionaires worldwide.

When will DeepSeek officially initiate its IPO process, and will Liang Wenfeng successfully claim the title of China’s wealthiest individual? Leida Finance will continue to monitor developments.