The status of Chinese billionaires can offer a useful indicator of a sector’s health. Since Alibaba founder Jack Ma lost the title of China’s richest man earlier this year, tech stock prices have slid downhill. The latest mega-rich local to overtake Ma on China’s top wealth list is Zeng Yuqun, founder of the country’s biggest electric car battery maker CATL.
Zeng’s $49.5bn net worth has overtaken Ma’s $48bn, according to Bloomberg data. His 25 per cent stake in Contemporary Amperex Technology, better known as CATL, rose 170 per cent in the last year.
It benefits from the impressive local sales growth of new energy cars, which includes battery driven ones. In June, units rose 139 per cent even as total car sales fell 12 per cent. Expect more to come. Electric cars still account for just 7 per cent of the total.