BYD Owner Is China's Richest Man
More recognition for the manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and electric cars
Wang Chuanfu, owner of BYD, has gone from being China's 103-richest man to being first, according to a report this week in the Financial Times. BYD, besides being a major world supplier of lithium ion batteries, has got into hybrid-electric car manufacturing in a big way, and has announced its intention of becoming China's and then the world's largest car maker. The company got a big boost a year ago when Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took a 10 percent stake in the company. (The value of that stake has gone in the meantime from $230 million to $1.7 billion, making it one of Buffett's more successful recent investments.)
The second richest person on the China list is a woman whose family owns the country's leading paper recycling and packing company, prompting comments on the prominence of green technology enterprises among the leading Chinese enterprises. However, the owners of two top solar companies--LDK Solar and Suntech--dropped out of the top ten:
