Factory worker turned billionaire Luxshare founder named Asia's second-most powerful businesswoman

The 59-year-old billionaire, also known as Grace Wang, placed behind Singapore’s DBS Group CEO Tan Su Shan on Fortune's 2026 Most Powerful Women Asia list, which ranks 100 executives and entrepreneurs across 14 markets.

Luxshare’s first-half revenue jumped 40% to 174.5 billion yuan ($26 billion), driven by electronics, automotive and AI data-center products. Wang has a real-time net worth of $11.7 billion as of Oct. 6, according to Forbes.

The Asia ranking, released Oct. 6, evaluates women based on the scale and performance of their businesses, innovation, influence, career trajectory and broader impact.

Wang also ranked second in Asia in 2025 after topping the inaugural ranking in 2024. She also ranks eighth on Fortune's 2026 global Most Powerful Women list released in May, ahead of prominent executives including Alphabet President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat and Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei.

Wang Laichun, chairwoman and CEO of Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry. Photo courtesy of Luxshare

Despite repeatedly ranking among Asia's most powerful businesswomen, Wang has played down gender differences in professional life. "There is not much difference between women and men in the workplace," she told Forbes China in a 2023 interview.

She described her own leadership style as combining toughness with a softer side, saying that when employees face intense pressure, she sometimes takes on the role of a mother or older sister to help them through difficult periods.

Her path to becoming one of Asia's most influential business executives began on factory floors in southern China. Born in Shantou, Guangdong Province, she moved to Shenzhen and worked for Japanese electronics company Sanyo before joining Foxconn's newly opened factory in 1988 as an assembly-line worker.

She was among Foxconn's first 100 mainland Chinese employees and rose into management during about a decade at the company before leaving in 1997. Wang and her brother, Wang Laisheng, later went into business together, establishing Luxshare Precision Industry in Shenzhen in 2004. The company initially made electronic connectors before entering Apple's supply chain and expanding into increasingly sophisticated manufacturing.

Luxshare began assembling AirPods in 2017 and eventually became the world's largest manufacturer of the wireless earbuds. It later expanded into Apple Watches, iPhones and the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, becoming one of Apple's major manufacturing partners.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly praised Wang and her company. During a 2017 factory visit, he praised Luxshare's "phenomenal precision and care" and said, "Chairman Grace Wang has built a culture of excellence," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Luxshare is now expanding beyond consumer electronics into automotive technology, AI data-center equipment and robotics. Wang said in a 2024 interview that she wanted the company to become a "solutions provider" rather than remain a contract manufacturer that "does not have a soul."