Four Men Get $10 Billion Richer Fast in Bid to Save the Planet
Four Men Get $10 Billion Richer Fast in Bid to Save the Planet
(Bloomberg) -- Climate change -- or at least their efforts to thwart it -- has been good to the top four shareholders of China’s biggest electric-vehicle battery maker.
Their collective fortunes have swelled by almost $10 billion since Nov. 1, with shares of their Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. almost doubling in that span. The quartet now has a combined net worth of $21.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun accounts for more than half of the total, followed by Vice Chairman Huang Shilin, with $4.9 billion.
Like Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, much of their wealth is derived from the burgeoning business of climate solutions, and they top a rarefied list of billionaires leading the fight against global warming.
On Wednesday, shares of Ningde-based CATL jumped 10%, China’s daily trading cap, after reporting preliminary 2019 net income rose as much as 45%. That prompted analysts at CICC to lift their price target on the stock by more than 14%, citing the firm’s stable domestic market share and the prospect of stronger exports.
The battery maker struck deals with Volvo, Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen. It also was said to have held talks with Tesla, whose Shanghai factory recently began delivering Model 3 sedans to Chinese consumers. Last year, the company started construction of its first overseas factory in Thuringia, Germany, putting it closer to key clients, including Volkswagen.
“The combination of Germany’s industrial tradition and CATL’s tradition of innovative battery technology will greatly accelerate the electrification of the automotive industry in Europe,” a company spokeswoman said in an email.
--With assistance from Tom Maloney.
To contact the reporter on this story: Venus Feng in Hong Kong at vfeng7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum
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