Co-founder of Chinese EV battery giant pockets US$239 million windfall from 1% stake sale
Huang Shilin retains more than 9 per cent of CATL, whose shares have skyrocketed in Shenzhen and Hong Kong
The engineer-turned-entrepreneur agreed to offload 45.6 million yuan-denominated A shares to 16 corporate and institutional investors at 376.12 yuan 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.
In 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 77.6 per cent from the offer price, closing at HK$465 on Friday.
“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.”
Born 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.