The story
Founded by Peking University and Wang Xuan in 1986.1
History
Founder Group was established in 1986 by Peking University. Professor Wang Xuan of Peking University became Founder's first key person, as the Chinese-character laser phototypesetting system that he invented provided the foundation on which Founder was developed. Wang brought Founder into the television and radio industries, positioned the company to expand overseas, and supported the diversification of the group. By 1989, total orders for the phototypesetting system exceeded 100 million yuan.
Between 1990 and 1994, under the guidance of Wang Xuan, Founder released multiple technologies, including a long-distance newspaper transfer technology, a color desktop publishing system, a computer management system for gathering and editing news, and the new generation of software and hardware systems. Founder's publishing system became the most popular product of its kind, capturing 80% of the Chinese newspaper market in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and North America.
Starting in 1991, Founder started developing Chinese PostScript fonts in Windows.
Throughout the late 1990s, publishing systems developed by Founder's researchers dominated the domestic market. Additionally, they entered the international market, with products being exported to dozens of countries all over the world. In the meantime, Founder Group sold its core technologies with independent intellectual rights to global manufacturers, who then applied these technologies in their products around the world.
In February 2006, professor Wang Xuan died.
In early 2009, the Group established a new three-year development strategy and put forward its development goal to transform itself into a diversified investment holding group.
In 2016 Founder Group sold most of the shares of Founder BEA Trust to Wuhan Financial Holdings Group.
In 2020, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court ruled out the recognized leader for restructuring five children companies of the group. After three years, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission principally agreed on the bankruptcy of the group's Founder Financial.
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PKU Founder IT Group
PKU Founder IT Group (北大方正信产集团) is a leader in China's IT industry, possessing more than a dozen technological enterprises, two of which employ 15,000 employees. Its subsidiary, Founder Technology, is the second largest personal computer distributor in China. The industry group covers a wide range of products; from software and industrial solutions to the mobile internet, PCB, semiconductors, hardware, and value-added services.
Founder Financial
Founder Financial (方正金融) is an industry group that covers securities, futures, mutual funds, investment banking, direct investment, trusts, corporate financing, insurance, commercial banking, and leasing. The group controls ten enterprises.
Founder Commodities
Founder Commodities (方正物产) is an international bulk commodities supply chain provider that combines investment, manufacturing, logistics, and information services. Currently, its business scope mainly covers areas of bulk commodity futures & spot trading, warehousing & logistic services, and investment & production. The group also does international business and scale expansion.
Founder International
Founder International Software Co., Ltd. under Peking University Founder Information Industry Group Co., Ltd., pursues a development model integrating production, teaching, research with application, adheres to the path of independent innovation, and sets the goal of becoming a leading service provider of software and information technology.
From Wikipedia’s article on Founder Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3