ENERGY TYCOONS TAKE OFF
16 October, 2006. HURUN REPORT RELEASES ENERGY RICH LIST, A PART OF THE 2006 CHINA RICH LIST SERIES
- COAL MINERS DOMINATE ENERGY RICH LIST
- SHI ZHENGRONG, CHINA’S TOP ENERGY TYCOON, LEADS RISE IN SOLAR ENERGY
Shi Zhengrong’s Story
In just five short years, Shi Zhengrong has built Suntech Power into one of the world’s leading solar cell manufacturers listing on the NYSE at the end of 2005 with a market cap today of US$3.5 billion. Born in Jiangsu, Shi completed his undergraduate and masters in China before heading off to Australia to complete his doctorate.
“The stories of these energy tycoons tell the story of China’s energy boom,” says Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO of Hurun Report, a luxury business magazine in China.
Coal miners dominate
Energy in China is dominated by the state with only a few medium-sized private companies able to get a look-in. This past year has seen another round of consolidation for the coal industry, led Shanxi Datuhe and Meijin. Fourteen of the fifty energy tycoons operate coal mines, ten operate oil and gas distribution, nine power plants and seven solar energy. Led by Shi Zhengrong, new energy sources represents a filed of opportunity for entrepreneurs.
Expect to see several more energy-related listings this coming year.
Interesting People
- Citic Pacific, headed by Rong Zhijian, has a total installed capacity of 11,490MW of which 1,400MW Ligang Power Plant is the largest.
- Cashed-out: In September this year Huo Zhenxiang sold 75% of his consumer lubricants business to Shell.
- Jia Tingliang and his wife export coal whilst Zhang Xinming sells domestically.
- In the spring NewBridge, a private equity fund, invested US$200 million into a liquefied natural gas plant, previously controlled by Sun Guangxin.
- Lu Guanqiu and Ni Zhaoxing both wildcat for oil in North America.
Some interesting stats
- Shanxi boats the highest number of China’s top fifty energy tycoons with eight individuals, followed by Jiangsu, Guangdong and Zhejiang with six each. The Shanxi and Inner Mongolia players are predominantly in cola, whilst the Jiangsu players are into new energy.
- Eight of the fifty were born in Shanxi, followed by seven in Zhejiang, five in Jiangsu and three in Inner Mongolia.
- Average wealth of the top fifty property tycoons is US$175 million. As a group, the top fifty have US$8.7 billion.
- This year Hurun Report expanded the Energy Rich List to fifty individuals with a cut-off of US$35 million, up from 31 individuals last year.
Methodology
The Energy Rich List is a sublist of the Hurun Report 2006 China Rich List series and only takes into account wealth generated from the energy sector. In the case of Wang Yusuo, for example, we subtracted his non-energy assets (primarily property worth US$60 million) when calculating his wealth for the purpose of the Energy Rich List.
Valuing the wealth of China’s Rich is as much an art as it is a science. Our team of researchers has - for the eighth year running - traveled the length and breadth of the country cross-checking information with entrepreneurs, industry experts, journalists, bankers, and regulators, as well as previous years’ databases. The cut-off date for valuation of listed companies was August 31, 2006. For non-listed companies we valued by comparing them with their listed equivalents using prevailing industry P/E ratios. This list relates to Mainland China only. For the purposes of this list, we define Mainland Chinese as someone who was born and brought up in China, no matter what passport they might hold today.
learn more on ENERGY RICH LIST
