Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) Creates Wealth: A Single Investment Yields 100 Billion in Returns

CEO of CATL has made another move.

Tianhua New Energy recently announced that Pei Zhenhua and Rong Jianfen, the actual controllers of the company, will transfer part of their shares to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), with the transfer price exceeding 2.6 billion yuan.

Without this transaction, the outside world might not have noticed Pei Zhenhua, a regular on the wealth list. He went into business in his early years and founded Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Tianhua New Energy). It was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market in 2014. The next year, Pei Zhenhua made one of the most important decisions in his life —— investing 89 million yuan in the then - unlisted CATL through Ningbo United Innovation.

That's how the story of a thousand - billion - yuan return emerged.

A Hidden Return of a Thousand Billion

By sorting through CATL's past announcements, the story of this investment gradually came to light:

In 2015, Amperex Technology Limited transferred a 15% stake in CATL Co., Ltd. to Ningbo United Innovation for 89 million yuan. The latter, Ningbo United Innovation New Energy Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), has Zhejiang University United Innovation as the general partner. Pei Zhenhua is the largest limited partner, with a capital contribution ratio of 79.9% and is also the beneficial owner of the fund.

The outside world knows that Zhejiang University United Innovation has made a fortune from CATL, but few know that Pei Zhenhua is the bigger winner. It was rumored in the industry that Pei Zhenhua met Li Ping, the co - founder of CATL, when he was studying at CEIBS EMBA, which led to this investment opportunity.

At that time, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology, under Pei Zhenhua's management, had been listed on the Growth Enterprise Market for one year and had sufficient funds. Meanwhile, CATL was preparing for a shareholding reform in preparation for its domestic listing, presenting an excellent investment opportunity.

After that, as CATL's listing approached, the number of its investors increased. In 2017, Ningbo United Innovation successively transferred its old shares to Yin Wei and CICC Jiyuan, with a total transaction value of 600 million yuan. That is to say, just two years after the investment, Ningbo United Innovation had recovered its investment cost.

In 2018, CATL was officially listed on the A - share Growth Enterprise Market. At that time, Ningbo United Innovation held an 8.5% stake, making it the third - largest shareholder. Since then, CATL's stock price has soared, and it became the first company on the Growth Enterprise Market with a market value of one trillion yuan.

The only public reduction of CATL shares by Ningbo United Innovation occurred in July 2020. According to the announcement, it reduced its holdings by 8,299,925 shares. Calculated at the average price of 183.9 yuan, the cash - out amount was approximately 1.5 billion yuan. Not to mention that CATL has distributed dividends to its shareholders many times over the years.

Currently, Ningbo United Innovation still holds a 6.23% stake in CATL, making it the fourth - largest shareholder. Based on CATL's A - share market value of 1.8 trillion yuan, the value of this part of the equity held by Ningbo United Innovation exceeds 110 billion yuan.

A Couple from Yixing Rides the Wave

Looking back, this was an opportunity full of chance and luck, but actually, fate had already laid the groundwork.

In 1959, Pei Zhenhua was born in Yixing, Jiangsu. He once worked at the Jiangsu Textile Research Institute. In the 1990s, with the rapid rise of domestic electronics factories, the market demand for anti - static products such as anti - static shoes and gloves increased significantly. Pei Zhenhua keenly sensed the opportunity. In 1997, he went to Suzhou Industrial Park and founded Suzhou Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology Co., Ltd., which specialized in the production and sales of anti - static dust - free clothing and gloves.

In 2014, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Market. In the year of listing and the next year, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology's net profit attributable to the parent company was 41.64 million yuan and 47.07 million yuan respectively. Therefore, Pei Zhenhua was fully capable of investing tens of millions of yuan at that time.

Life often hinges on one or two crucial opportunities.

The investment in CATL was not only about financial returns but also opened up a new avenue for Pei Zhenhua.

In 2018, CATL was successfully listed. While the outside world was still immersed in the huge returns it brought to shareholders, Pei Zhenhua led Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology to initiate the business layout in the field of new - energy lithium - battery materials.

Perhaps due to the Chinese traditional virtue of "repaying kindness with gratitude", CATL later became an important partner of Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology in the new - energy field. In November of that year, the two parties jointly invested in the establishment of Tianyi Lithium Industry, which is mainly engaged in the production and sales of battery - grade lithium hydroxide. As both a shareholder and a customer, CATL ensured the business of Tianyi Lithium Industry.

(Photo from the official website)

In the second half of 2020, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology initiated a major asset restructuring. It purchased a 26% stake in Tianyi Lithium Industry for a cash consideration of 162.2 million yuan, making Tianyi Lithium Industry a subsidiary of Tianhua New Energy. After injecting the core assets, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology's market value soared from billions to over tens of billions, and it once became the new leader in the lithium - battery sector pursued by the capital market.

Today, the new - energy lithium - battery materials business has gradually become the dominant part of Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology's main business and has become the main source of the company's operating income and profit. In 2023, to highlight its strategic positioning of developing the new - energy industry centered around lithium - battery materials, Tianhua Ultra - Clean Technology officially changed its name to Tianhua New Energy.

Over the years, riding on the wave of the lithium - battery revolution led by CATL, Tianhua New Energy's stock price has risen from about 1.52 yuan in 2018 to the latest 39.74 yuan, with a current market value of 33 billion yuan.

So far, a low - key wealthy couple has emerged. According to the recently released 2025 Hurun Rich List, Pei Zhenhua and Rong Jianfen's combined wealth amounts to 76.5 billion yuan.

CATL Creates Wealth

As a giant with a market value of one trillion yuan, CATL has long demonstrated the wealth - creation characteristic of a leading company driving the group. Forbes released data in 2021 indicating that the number of billionaires created by CATL had exceeded that of US technology giants such as Google and Facebook.

As the leader, the story of Zeng Yuqun leading CATL to rise is well - known. However, few people know that there are two other key right - hand men.

Huang Shilin, one year older than Zeng Yuqun, is not only a fellow villager from Ningde, Fujian but also a high - school classmate. In 1991, Huang Shilin received an invitation from Zeng Yuqun and joined Dongguan New Technology Magnetic Factory. Later, they founded CATL together. According to the shareholder structure, Huang Shilin still holds a 10.21% stake in CATL, making him the third - largest shareholder, with a market value of his shares of about 180 billion yuan.

Li Ping, who graduated from the Department of Materials Science's Polymer Major at Fudan University, met Zeng Yuqun in 2014 and resolutely decided to join CATL, becoming one of the co - founders. The equity structure shows that Li Ping is the fifth - largest shareholder of the company, with a market value of his shares approaching 78 billion yuan.

In the recently released "2025 Hurun Rich List", many people related to CATL are on the list. Specifically, in addition to the three founders, there are also Zhao Fenggang, the co - president of CATL's R & D system and engineering manufacturing system; Wu Kai, the chief scientist; Chen Qiongxiang, an early investor; and Wu Yingming, the chairman of the board of supervisors.

The winners also include a group of investors behind the scenes. Wang Hongbo, the then - chief investment officer of CMB International, revealed at the "22nd China Private Equity Annual Forum" of Zero2IPO that in 2015, CMB International invested 1 billion yuan to lead the Series A financing of CATL. Obviously, this investment brought substantial returns later. TCL Capital also successfully obtained the quota for the Series B investment in CATL; Yunfeng Capital also appeared among CATL's investors. In addition, He Zhiqiang, the president and founding partner of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group, flew to Ningde City twice for on - site inspections. Finally, Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group invested 300 million yuan in CATL at once... There are countless lucky ones behind the scenes.

CATL's wealth - creation goes far beyond this.

In 2010, when ATL (Amperex Technology Limited) first entered Ningde City, the industrial output value of large - scale industries in Ningde was just over 90 billion yuan, and its GDP ranked second from the bottom in Fujian. Today, driven by the leading effect of CATL, the market share of consumer batteries, power batteries, and energy - storage batteries in Ningde has ranked first in the world for 13 years, 8 years, and 4 years respectively. In 2024, the total output value of the four major leading industries was close to 550 billion yuan.

Ningde, a small city in Fujian, has rewritten its destiny with the help of emerging industries.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment World". Author: Wu Qiong & Liu Bo. Republished by 36Kr with permission.