Xie is co-founder and president of Fortinet, a network security company. The Sunnyvale, California-based firm sells cybersecurity software to more than 900,000 customers and analyzes over 100 billion potential security threats daily. Xie founded Fortinet in 2000 with his brother Ken, who serves as the company's CEO.
The majority of Xie's wealth comes form his stake in Fortinet, the company he founded with his brother Ken in 2000. The Sunnyvale, California-based network security firm sells software to more than 900,000 customers and analyzes over 100 billion potential security threats daily, according to its website.
Xie has a 7% stake in the company, held directly and through multiple GRATs and family trusts, according to a February 2026 Form 4 filing. Shares held by the Xie Foundation are credited to his brother and aren't included here.
Xie also holds more than 550,000 Fortinet stock options, according to the 2025 proxy statement and Form 4 filings to February 2026.
Xie has sold over $330 million in Fortinet stock since the company's IPO in November 2009. His cash balance reflects the proceeds from those sales adjusted for taxes, charitable contributions, dividends and market performance.
A Fortinet spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Xie's net worth in February 2025.
Xie was born in 1968, six years after his older brother, Ken. Xie's parents were both professors at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Xie followed them to the school, graduating with a degree in engineering in 1994.
After graduating from Tsinghua, Xie left China and moved to Winnipeg, Canada to attend the University of Manitoba, earning another engineering degree in 1996. In the 1990s, Xie served as Vice President of Engineering for network security provider ServGate Technologies and Senior Software Engineer for Milkyway Networks Corporation.
Xie founded Fortinet with his older brother Ken in 2000. Ken had previously co-founded NetScreen Technologies with two other Tsinghua alumni in 1996; the company was later sold to Juniper Networks for $4 billion.
Fortinet introduced its first product, FortiGate, in May 2002. The company debuted on the Nasdaq in November 2009 after completing an initial public offering. By 2023, its annual revenues had climbed above $5 billion.