China’s electric vehicle price wars have spilled into the attention economy.
As profits plunge, Chinese auto executives are reinventing themselves as influencers, Nikkei reported: Xiaomi’s Lei Jun livestreamed a 15-hour nonstop road trip from Beijing to Shanghai, while Nio’s founder streamed himself cooking inside an SUV and sleeping in its trunk.
The “online CEO” is a global phenomenon, with a 2025 survey showing that 74% of Fortune 500 CEOs maintain social media accounts. But some are discovering that chasing clout comes with pitfalls. One US executive was derided as the “Crying CEO” after posting an emotional video following layoffs. “When smearing you drives more online traffic, hate speech will surge like a tsunami,” Lei cautioned.
