China’s Richest Man: A Solar Magnate
14th Nov 2006, 16:44 GMT
Last month, we reported that China’s (and the world’s) richest woman built her wealth on recycling. In another sign of the country’s shift from red to green, its wealthiest man (by some estimates) is making a windfall on solar energy. While Shi Zhengrong, the founder and CEO of Wuxi-based Suntech Power, is known as the richest man on the mainland or just China’s wealthiest energy magnate, his Australian citizenship means he cannot hold the title of the richest Chinese man according to Forbes (that just went to Huang Guangyu, an electronics entrepreneur). But that's a technicality, and who’s counting anyway? What counts more are the waves Shi’s making in China. Since 2005, when Shi’s Suntech became the first hi-tech Chinese company to make an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, on the strength of his business savvy and commitment to innovation, the company’s revenue has zoomed to $226 million last year from just $14 million in 2003 (it’s made $218 million so far this year). These days, analysts count Suntech as one of the world’s top ten producers of photo-voltaic (PV) cells, with a new U.S. subsidiary and a dramatic cost advantage: its high-efficiency solar modules go for $3.78 a watt, well below the average global market price of $4.30. Shi’s story is a nice healthy reminder for China and everyone else of the link between green innovation and green backs, and proof of how fast solar energy is bounding out from the fringes and into the sunlight. (This post continues on the site please click the title)
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