Co-founder of Chinese EV battery giant pockets US$239 million windfall from 1% stake sale

Huang Shilin, co-founder of Contemporary Amperex Technol­ogy (CATL) and its third-largest shareholder, has cashed in on a rally in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery giant’s shares, selling a 1 per cent stake worth 1.7 billion yuan (US$239 million).\nThe engineer-turned-entrepreneur agreed to offload 45.6 million yuan-denominated A shares to 16 corporate and institutional investors at 376.12 yuan (US$52.92) apiece, according to a filing by CATL to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The billionaire still holds more than 9 per cent of the company after the share sale.\nCATL, listed in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, saw its mainland-traded shares advance 46 per cent this year, buoyed by its improved technological strength and accelerated overseas expansion. The transaction price represents a 0.9 per cent discount to CATL’s closing price of 379.39 yuan on Thursday.\nIn Hong Kong, the EV battery giant raised US$5.22 billion in May through the world’s largest initial public offering this year. Its H shares had since jumped 84 per cent from the offer price, closing at HK$483 on Thursday.\n\n“CATL is one of the top winners among Chinese manufacturers over the past decade as its batteries are powering more than one-third of electric cars around the world,” said Ding Haifeng, a consultant at Shanghai-based financial ­advisory firm Integrity. “Huang, as one of the major shareholders, has reasons to cheer for his successful career after building the company into a global EV battery powerhouse.”\nBorn in 1967, Huang was a key founding member of CATL – alongside chairman Robin Zeng Yuqu, the company’s largest shareholder – in Ningde, eastern China’s Fujian province. A graduate of Hefei University of Technology, Huang focused on research and development (R&D) involving batteries at a new energy firm in Dongguan, southern Guangdong province, before taking charge of R&D at CATL. He served in different roles in the company, including general manager and vice-chairman.\nCATL said earlier this week that Huang had relinquished his role at the company and was no longer an employee.\nAccording to the China Rich List published by the Hurun Research Institute last month, Huang ranked the 23rd wealthiest Chinese individual, with a personal fortune of 150 billion yuan. He moved up 10 notches from a year ago.\nA total of seven senior executives at CATL, including Zeng and Huang, made the rich list, which counted individuals with at least 5 billion yuan in wealth.\nCATL delivered 297.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of EV batteries between January and September, up 31.5 per cent on the year. The company held a 36.6 per cent share of the global market during the same period.\nCATL said it planned to start operations at its second European factory in Debrecen, Hungary, by the end of 2025. The plant would have an annual production capacity of 100 GWh, enough to power 2 million EVs, each capable of a 500km driving range.\nSales outside mainland China account for about 30 per cent of CATL’s global total.\nCATL, whose clients include Tesla and Fiat owner Stellantis, said in April that it would begin mass production of its Naxtra sodium-ion battery this year.\n