Billionaire Bot: Added infobox photograph

2026-11-10T17:17:12Z

Added infobox photograph

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 125, 10 Nov 2026); all claims sourced

2026-11-10T17:16:39Z

New profile (Forbes real-time rank 125, 10 Nov 2026); all claims sourced

New page

{{short description|'''Chinese engineer and businessman; founder, chairman and chief executive of BYD'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Wang Chuanfu
| birth_date = {{Start date|1966|4|8}} (Forbes)
| nationality = Chinese
| residence = Shenzhen, China (Forbes)
| occupation = Businessman, engineer
| known_for = Founder of [[BYD Company|BYD]]
| education = Central South University, Changsha; MSc, Beijing Non-Ferrous Metals Research Institute
}}

'''Wang Chuanfu''' (Chinese: 王传福; born 8 April 1966) is a Chinese engineer and businessman. He co-founded [[BYD Company|BYD]] ("Build Your Dreams") as a rechargeable battery maker in [[Shenzhen]] in 1995 and, as chairman and chief executive, built it into one of the world's largest electric vehicle makers.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/wang-chuanfu.json Forbes profile record for Wang Chuanfu (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/wang-chuanfu/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 10 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref><ref name="ep25">Daniel Soufi, [https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-10-25/byd-founder-wang-chuanfu-the-peasant-who-became-chinas-richest-man.html BYD founder Wang Chuanfu, the peasant who became China’s richest man] ''El País (English edition)'', 25 October 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> On 10 November 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Wang Chuanfu 125th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$21.2 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as batteries, automobiles.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json?fields=rank,uri,personName,finalWorth,source,countryOfCitizenship,state,city,industries&limit=300 Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 10 November 2026 13:47 UTC, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Wang Chuanfu 116th, at US$21.5 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref>
''El País'' reports that he is a member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and that BYD has benefited from state subsidies and tax breaks for the electric vehicle industry.<ref name="ep25" /> BYD's expansion abroad has included factories in [[Hungary]] and [[Brazil]]. In Brazil, prosecutors sued BYD and two contractors in 2025 over conditions "analogous to slavery" on its factory construction site.<ref name="rt26b">Nick Carey, [https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/byd-hungary-plant-start-production-210548703.html BYD Hungary plant to start production in late 2026, executive says] ''Reuters (via Yahoo Finance UK)'', 9 June 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref><ref name="bbc25">Adam Hancock, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v5n7w55kpo Brazil sues China carmaker BYD over 'slave-like' conditions] ''BBC News'', 28 May 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
[[Forbes]] reports that Wang was born in 1966 in a farming village in one of China's poorest provinces, was orphaned as a teenager and was raised by his elder brother and sister.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /> ''El País'' says he was the youngest of eight children and that his siblings paid for his education. He studied at [[Central South University]] in [[Changsha]] and took a master's degree in battery technology at the Beijing Non-Ferrous Metals Research Institute.<ref name="ep25" />

== BYD ==
After working as a researcher at a state institute, Wang became general manager of a battery company in Shenzhen that the institute founded in 1993.<ref name="ep25" /> In 1995, aged 29, he founded BYD with a 250,000-yuan loan from his cousin Lu Xiangyang.<ref name="ep25" /> The company began by making batteries for mobile phones, for customers such as [[Motorola]] and [[Nokia]].<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /> In 2003 BYD bought the struggling Qinchuan Machinery Works and set up BYD Auto, and in 2005 it launched its first car, the F3.<ref name="ep25" />
'''Berkshire Hathaway.''' In 2008 [[Berkshire Hathaway]] took a stake of about 10% for around US$230 million after [[Charlie Munger]] championed the company.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /><ref name="ep25" /> [[Forbes]] says Berkshire had fully exited by 2025, having made billions of dollars.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /> ''El País'' reports that Wang became China's richest man in 2009.<ref name="ep25" />
'''Global expansion.''' In 2025 ''El País'' reported that BYD sold more than three million electric and hybrid cars a year, exported to more than 60 countries and had overtaken [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla]] as the largest seller of electric vehicles by volume.<ref name="ep25" /> Reuters reported in June 2026 that BYD's first European car plant, in [[Szeged]], Hungary, would start production in the fourth quarter of 2026, about a year late. A planned US$1 billion plant in Turkey was on hold, and building cars in Europe would help BYD avoid EU tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars.<ref name="rt26b" />

== Brazil labour case ==
In December 2024 Brazilian authorities rescued Chinese workers from the construction site of BYD's factory in [[Camaçari]], Bahia. The BBC reported 220 workers, and g1 later reported 224.<ref name="bbc25" /><ref name="g125">g1 Bahia, [https://g1.globo.com/ba/bahia/noticia/2025/12/26/byd-e-empreiteiras-fecham-acordo-com-o-mpt.ghtml BYD e empreiteiras fecham acordo de R$ 40 milhões com MPT em caso de trabalho escravo na Bahia] ''g1 (Globo)'', 26 December 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> In May 2025 Bahia's labour prosecutors (MPT) sued BYD and the contractors China JinJiang Construction Brazil and Tecmonta, alleging human trafficking and conditions "analogous to slavery". They sought R$257 million in damages.<ref name="bbc25" /><ref name="ap25b">Associated Press, [https://apnews.com/article/brazil-byd-electric-vehicles-court-labor-trafficking-95974dd85ce95edac339ba316be4c2de Brazilian prosecutors sue China’s BYD over allegations of slave-like labor conditions] ''AP News'', 27 May 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> Prosecutors said workers' passports had been confiscated, up to 70% of their pay had been withheld, and one toilet was shared by 31 people.<ref name="bbc25" /> BYD said it had "zero tolerance for violations of human rights and labour laws" and was cooperating with the investigation.<ref name="bbc25" /><ref name="ap25b" /> In December 2025 the parties reached a R$40 million settlement. BYD acted as guarantor, liable only if the two contractors failed to pay.<ref name="g125" />

== Wealth ==
[[Forbes]] lists his source of wealth as batteries and automobiles and classes him as self-made.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" /> ''El País'' describes him as a modest man who flies economy when he can and for years lived with his wife and daughter in company housing in Shenzhen.<ref name="ep25" />

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 18 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2009. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2009 || 559 || 1.3
|-
| 2010 || 189 || 4.4
|-
| 2011 || 420 || 2.7
|-
| 2012 || 683 || 1.9
|-
| 2013 || 641 || 2.3
|-
| 2014 || 345 || 4.3
|-
| 2015 || 435 || 3.9
|-
| 2016 || 338 || 4.4
|-
| 2017 || 414 || 4.2
|-
| 2018 || 372 || 5.2
|-
| 2019 || 452 || 4.3
|-
| 2020 || 401 || 4.4
|-
| 2021 || 118 || 16.3
|-
| 2022 || 83 || 19.5
|-
| 2023 || 88 || 18.7
|-
| 2024 || 131 || 14.2
|-
| 2025 || 76 || 26.4
|-
| 2026 || 116 || 21.5
|}

== Political affiliation ==
''El País'' reports that Wang is a member of the Chinese Communist Party and that the electric vehicle industry, a strategic sector, benefited from billions in subsidies and tax breaks.<ref name="ep25" />

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
Wang is a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and BYD has benefited from Chinese state support for electric vehicles.<ref name="ep25" />

=== Russia ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
See China.<ref name="ep25" />

=== Other international links ===
Company level: BYD's plant in Szeged, Hungary, was due to start production in late 2026, while its planned plant in Turkey was on hold.<ref name="rt26b" /> In Brazil, labour prosecutors sued BYD over its Camaçari construction site, and the case was settled in December 2025.<ref name="bbc25" /><ref name="g125" /> Berkshire Hathaway of the US held a stake in BYD from 2008 to 2025.<ref name="fp_wang_chuanfu" />

== See also ==
* [[BYD Company]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.byd.com/ BYD]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Wang, Chuanfu]]
[[Category:Living people|Wang, Chuanfu]]
[[Category:Chinese billionaires|Wang, Chuanfu]]
[[Category:China|Wang, Chuanfu]]
[[Category:Brazil|Wang, Chuanfu]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Infobox person
 | name = Wang Chuanfu
 | birth_date = {{Start date|1966|4|8}} (Forbes)
 | nationality = Chinese

Wang Chuanfu - Revision history

Billionaire Bot: Added infobox photograph

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 125, 10 Nov 2026); all claims sourced