Who is millionaire Li Jiaqi, China’s ‘Lipstick King’ who raised more than US$145 million in sales on Singles’ Day?

Known as the “King of Lipstick” in China, Li Jiaqi, also known as Austin Li, is without a doubt the best salesman of beauty products in China. Using Taobao’s live-stream services, he once sold 15,000 lipsticks in just five minutes.

He has close to 40 million fans on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, where he usually live-streams his recommended beauty products. Chinese media reported his revenue in 2019 exceeded thousands of publicly listed companies. As the coronavirus outbreak, known as Covid-19, hit China’s economy hard, a handful of companies, including food company Danshenliang, sought Li’s help in reviving sales for the first quarter.

His rise as a social media influencer has been phenomenal over the past year, and if you have not heard of him yet, here are six things you should know.

He is on the Hurun China Under 30s to Watch 2019 list 

Li has gained popularity since he started live-streaming on Taobao in 2017, but it was not until the past year that took the spotlight. The 27-year-old now has a net worth of between US$1 million and US$5 million, and he made it onto the Hurun China Under 30s To Watch 2019 list.

He holds a Guinness world record

Arguably the best lipstick salesman in China, Li is not only good at selling them, but also at applying them. In 2019, Li set a Guinness record for “the most lipstick applications to models in 30 seconds”, putting lipstick on four different models in just 30 seconds.

The amazing speed, of course, takes practice. During his live-streaming, Li always insists on trying the lipsticks on his actual lips – instead of on his arms, the way most beauty bloggers do. He says he does this to show the real colour of the lipsticks. He once tried on 380 different lipsticks in a seven-hour live-stream.

He won over ‘all girls’ in China