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The ranking of the ten richest people in the world in the automotive industry
The automotive world, on the back of this whole new green wave that is flooding the market, is experiencing a second youth, allowing even tycoons in this field to become incredibly rich thanks to their investments. But who are the richest people in the world operating in the car business?
SkyTG24 compiled a special ranking of these people, the richest people around the world in the automotive industry. What emerges is quite predictable, and speaks of Chinese and US dominance over Europe. More than half of the richest people are from Chinese companies, with a few minor exceptions.
And while the presence of Tesla tycoon Elon Musk is not surprising, a few other names might not be so obvious.
The ranking of the 10 richest people in the world in the automotive industry
The automotive world, on the back of this whole new green wave that is flooding the market, is experiencing a second youth, allowing even tycoons in this field to become incredibly rich thanks to their investments. But who are the richest people in the world operating in the car business? SkyTG24 has produced a special ranking of these people, the world's richest people in the automotive industry. What emerges is quite predictable, and speaks of Chinese and US dominance over Europe. More than half of the richest people are from Chinese companies, with a few minor exceptions. And if the presence of Tesla tycoon Elon Musk is not surprising, some other names might not be so obvious.
Elon Musk (1971)
Owner of Tesla, Twitter and Starlink, as well as many other companies in various industries, he is one of the richest men in the world. Marked by the extravagance of his behaviour, his current wealth is around $182.9 billion.
Robin Zeng (1968)
Zeng is the founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology, one of the world's largest suppliers of batteries for electric vehicles. This company supplies electric batteries for the world's largest car manufacturers, such as BMW and Volkswagen. Its assets are in the region of USD 32.2 billion.
Susanne Klatten (1962)
The only female representative in this top ten, she is the richest woman in Germany, owning around 19% of the car manufacturer BMW.
Stefan Quandt (1966)
When they say money stays in the family, Stefan Quandt is Klatten's brother, and is the vice chairman of the supervisory board of the German car manufacturer. He also owns 23.6% of BMW, and has an estimated wealth of $24.1 billion.
Wang Chuanfu (1966)
Chuanfu is the owner and founder of Byd, the rising star of Chinese electric mobility. Chuanfu co-founded Byd in the mid-1990s as a rechargeable battery company. To date, SkyTG24 reports, his fortune is about USD 18.6 billion.
Li Shufu (1963)
A nice diversity in the Chinese automotive scene is Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings, one of China's largest car manufacturers and one of the few not controlled by the state. Its assets stand at USD 18.3 billion.
Automobile Italia - Flickr.com
Huang Shilin (1967)
Let us now return to the aforementioned Contemporary Amperex Technology, the company that supplies Chinese batteries for the electric vehicle industry, founded by Robin Zeng (ranked second). Shilin was the vice-president of this company, stepping down from the board of directors in 2022. His assets appear to be $14.6 billion.
Wei Jianjun (1964) and family
Jianjun is the boss of China's largest SUV manufacturer, Great Wall Motor. He has owned the company since 1990, after taking it over from an existing one. His assets stand at around USD 13.3 billion.
By Alexander Migl - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12865959
Lu Xiangyang (1962)
Lu Xiangyang is the cousin of Wang Chuanfu (ranked fifth here), the owner and founder of Byd. Lu Xiangyang was working at the People's Bank of China in 1995 when he and his cousin founded Byd. His current assets are $13.2 billion.
Shahid Khan (1950)
Khan bought the auto parts supplier Flex-N-Gate. Its success is due to the introduction of one-piece truck bumpers. To date, the company has 69 plants and over 25,000 employees. Its net worth is valued at $12.1 billion.