Yu Hao, the 38‑year‑old founder and CEO of Dreame Technology (追觅科技), has turned a routine year‑end bonus season into a public relations spectacle. In a flurry of social‑media posts this month he announced that top performers would be flown to Antarctica and that the company will swap its annual party for a stadium concert in Suzhou, while every employee will receive an extra gram of gold on top of regular bonuses.
The Antarctic trip is notable not only for its ambition but for its logistics: Yu says staff will fly directly to an ice runway and then press toward the South Pole, a claim he says required at least six months of planning and was not an effort to ride the publicity generated by other high‑profile trips. The company also posted that its staff group on an internal platform counts some 18,539 members, a figure observers used to estimate that the one‑gram gifts would total more than 18 kilograms of gold.
Dreame began in 2017 as an original‑equipment manufacturer for Xiaomi and then migrated into its own brand of vacuum cleaners and robots, before branching into electric vehicles, large appliances and drones. Yu has repeatedly touted rapid growth—100% year‑on‑year for six consecutive years, he says—and rising margins, and his newly cultivated persona as a gregarious, giveaway‑minded CEO has included online lotteries that award gold and concert tickets to followers.
The announcements have attracted attention for reasons beyond generosity. Lavish employee rewards serve dual purposes: they are a retention tool in a tight labour market and a high‑impact marketing campaign that keeps Dreame in national headlines. At the same time, they carry reputational risk: critics have accused Yu of “hotspot riding” and questioned whether spectacle substitutes for more conventional corporate governance and long‑term incentives.
For international observers the episode is revealing about the current phase of China’s private tech sector. After years of regulatory tightening and investor caution, some private companies are doubling down on consumer‑facing narratives and founder‑led branding to stimulate demand and recruit talent. Spending on high‑profile perks signals available cash and founder confidence, but it also exposes firms to scrutiny over how resources are allocated when the wider economy is slowing and social sensitivity to inequality remains high.
Operationally, transporting staff to Antarctica and organising a stadium show for thousands are complex and expensive undertakings that require specialized operators and contingency planning. Whether the moves translate into measurable gains—higher productivity, lower turnover or stronger brand equity—remains uncertain, but the immediate effect is clear: Dreame, and Yu personally, are once again commanding headline attention in China’s crowded consumer‑tech market.