Electric car maker BYD's Wang Chuanfu tops China Rich List
- Source: Global Times
- [16:51 December 08 2010]
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Wang Chuanfu, the founder of Chinese battery and electric car maker BYD, has become China's richest person thanks to US billionaire investor Warren Buffet, according to a list published Monday.
Wang, 43, leapt 102 places to top the Hurun Rich List after his fortune increased more than five-fold to $5.1 billion, said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which publishes the annual list of the 1,000 richest people in China.
Wang's worth grew from $880 million last year after a unit of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway paid $230 million to buy a 10 percent stake in BYD September. The company's F3 has also become China's bestselling car this year, as BYD pushes beyond its traditional focus on making rechargeable batteries for mobile phones.
The company has a market value of HK$140.7 billion ($18.2 billion), according to Bloomberg data. Wang owns 28 percent of battery giant, according to the Hurun Report statement.
BYD's shares, which have surged 387 percent this year, fell 7.5 percent to HK$61.85($7.98) in Hong Kong trading yesterday.
Zhang Yin, the woman who founded paper-recycling company Nine Dragons Paper and China's richest person in 2006, was in second place.
The number of US dollar billionaires in China rose to 130 from 101 last year, Hoogewerf said.
There may be a similar number of billionaires not yet found, he added.
The full list will be released in October, the report said.
Agencies
