The Chinese billionaire accused of stealing Britain’s chip industry

He was accused of taking more than just fellow employees. In 2005, a court sentenced him to 17 months in prison for stealing trade secrets from ZTE in order to grow his own company.Zhang boasts a scrappy entrepreneur story that matches the boy-wonder tales of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Born in the regional city of Meizhou to a farming family, he worked for local mobile phone manufacturers at the dawn of China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, including national champion ZTE, before leaving to set u ...