Robin Zeng Yuqun is a Chinese businessman. He is the founder and chairman of the battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).
The majority of Zeng’s fortune is derived from his 23% stake in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., a battery products manufacturer. CATL is the largest supplier of electric vehicle batteries in the world, according to its website.
He owns the shares through holding company Ruiting Investment, according to CATL’s 2023 semi-annual report.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes and market performance.
Elaine Huang, a spokeswoman for the company, declined to comment on the billionaire’s net worth.
Biography
Education: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiaotong University
Zeng is from Fujian Province. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zeng was born in a village in Ningde, Fujian Province, southeast of China in 1968. He went to Shanghai Jiaotong University to study marine engineering at the age of 18.
He joined an electronic parts factory after graduation where he worked for 10 years. Zeng co-founded Amperex Technology in 1999 with two former colleagues. The company produced batteries for digital gadgets, including iPhones, according to a Financial Times report in 2018.
He did further study on electronic information at South China University of Technology and received a masters degree in 2001. He later obtained a PhD degree in physics from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., was spun off Amperex Technology in 2011. It was the largest supplier of electric vehicle batteries by sales in the world in 2017. The company began trading publicly in Shenzhen in June 2018.
Career
In 1999, Zeng founded Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), a company manufacturing lithium polymer batteries. In 2005 ATL was acquired by Japan’s TDK company, but Zeng continued as a manager for ATL.
In 2012, Zeng and vice-chairman Huang Shilin spun-off the EV battery operations of ATL into the new company CATL, which manufactures lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and rose to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers in the years that followed. In 2017, the company went public on Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
As of March 2022, his fortune was estimated at $46.8 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world
Milestones
- 1968 Born in a village in Fujian, southeast of China.
- 1985 Studies marine engineering in Shanghai Jiaotong University.
- 1999 Co-founds Amperex Technology.
- 2006 Obtains a PhD degree in Physics from Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- 2011 CATL was founded.
- 2014 Begins partnership with BMW.
- 2017 Sets up offices in France, U.S., Canada and Japan.
- 2018 Company starts trading in Shenzhen.
