Li Auto’s L9 is seen at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai, China, April 21, 2023.
Share price gains by fast-growing Chinese EV maker Li Auto have generated a second billionaire from the eight-year-old business.
Stock held by Fan Zheng, a company director, was worth approximately $1.9 billion on Friday, based on company shareholding figures. Li Auto’s Nasdaq-traded shares have more than doubled from a 2023 low of $21.35 on March 15. They closed at $45.84 on Friday, down from an all-time high of $46.54 on Thursday.
CEO Li Xiang had a fortune worth $8.2 billion on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List at the end of last week.
Li Auto has emerged as one of China’s most popular EV makers in the past few years. At $48 billion, its market capitalization on Friday rivals Ford ($51 billion) and GM ($50 billion). The company ranked No. 1,691 on the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s top publicly traded companies.
Li Auto delivered 34,134 vehicles in July 2023, an increase of 227.5% from a year earlier, according to company figures.
Fan was cofounder and vice president of auto information website Autohome from June 1999 to October 2016. Fan holds a degree in computer science from Hebei University of Science and Technology.