Shi Zhengrong

Zhengrong during the 2012 World Economic Forum

Shi Zhengrong ( Chinese  施正荣 , Pinyin Shī Zhèngróng ; * 1963 ) was a Chinese entrepreneur. He went to Australia in 1989 for a PhD on solar energy, but returned to China in 2001. He was the founder and owner of Suntech Power , the largest producer of solar modules in 2012 . He was CEO of the company until he was replaced by David King (Jin Wei) in August 2012 , from which time he held the functions of Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board . On March 6, 2013, he was removed from his position as Chairman of the Board and replaced by Susan Wang after falling victim to a large-scale financial fraud.

Life

Shi was born as a twin brother in Yangzhong, China, into a farming family. The poverty led the parents to give him up for adoption as the younger twin brother, especially since they already had two children. He was promoted by his adoptive parents and went to study in Manchuria when he was 16 .

He received his master's degree in optics from the University of Shanghai , from there in 1989 he moved to the University of New South Wales in Australia , where he was actually looking for a job, but Martin Green from the ARC Photovoltaics Center of Excellence at the University of New offered him South Wales started a solar technology research center. He continued his studies at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering there , where he received his doctorate on solar energy within two and a half years. In 1995, Green and a colleague founded a spin-off to test the commercial use of the technology. Zhengrong Shi became a partner and was granted Australian citizenship.

In 2001 he returned to China. In Wuxi , he founded Suntech Power with $ 6 million in Chinese support . This company was so successful that in 2005 he was able to buy out the original investors with American capital and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange , and that he became the richest man in China with a net worth of 2.9 by Forbes Magazine in 2008 Billion dollars. Declining oil and gas reserves as well as rising prices in 2008 brought the company a sharp rise in the market value, which, however, fell sharply in the course of the global economic crisis.

A cooperation with the Australian Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne was developed. Together with the Chinese company, she is researching a new generation of solar cells, so-called nanoplasmonic solar cells . Those involved each invested $ 3 million in research. The University of Melbourne will primarily lead research and development, while Suntech Power took over the production.

The company equipped the Olympic Stadium in Beijing with solar cells for the 2008 Summer Olympics , as did the San Francisco Airport . In 2009 it employed around 4,300 people. The most recent projects use transparent modules called See Thru .

In March 2010 he was seen in the documentary The 4th Revolution - EnergyAutonomy . In March 2013, the company, which now had 15,000 employees, ran into serious financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy. The founder was not allowed to leave China.

Suntech had planned to carry out a huge solar system project in Puglia. To this end, the China Development Bank granted Suntech a loan of $ 554 million. In return, Suntech provided German government bonds in the amount of 560 million as security. However, the Brindisi public prosecutor's office grew suspicious and Nicolangelo Ghizzardi had 70 solar systems confiscated, 27 of which belonged to Suntech. Companies of Cosa Nostra had taken the opportunity to bring itself into the possession of significant properties. Ghizzardi prepared the indictment in December 2011. Disguised as small businesses, they had also received grants from the government's Green Energy project for projects that were not yet completed. So $ 6.5 million in subsidies disappeared.

At the same time, Suntech came under pressure due to payment obligations in the USA. To serve this, it sold its shares in the Global Solar Fund of the China Development Bank. But now it turned out that the German government bonds did not even exist. Shi confessed in July 2012 that Suntech had been the victim of a large-scale fraud. As a result, Suntech's shares plummeted 40% and Shi was forced to resign. In March 2013, the company was unable to meet its U.S. obligations.

Ignacio Romero Ledesma, who had initiated the Apulian business and which Suntech had sued in vain, left for Shanghai . Of the $ 6.5 million fraudulently received, Ghizzardi was only able to find 3 million as the funds are transferred from one tax haven to the next.

Remarks

1. ↑ People & Management ( Memento of the original dated May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 19, 2013 
2. ↑ Suntech Replaces CEO Zhengrong Shi With Finance Chief King , Bloomberg, August 15, 2012
3. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Heroes of the Environment. Shi Zhengrong, Time,
5. ^ School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
6. ↑ [2] and China: the Sun King, ABC Radio National, February 23, 2008
7. ↑ Photovoltaic manufacturer Suntech Power is researching a new generation of solar cells with an Australian university , Der Solarserver, April 28, 2009 ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Dana Heide: Suntech is struggling to survive. handelsblatt.com, March 18, 2013, accessed March 19, 2013
9. ↑ Solar manufacturer Suntech is broke. zeit.de, March 20, 2013, accessed on March 20, 2013
10. ↑ Founder of Suntech, Shi Zhengrong, Kept from Leaving China ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , NTD Television, March 25, 2013. 
11. ↑ Cecilia Anesi, Gianluca Martelliano, Michael Hudson: How Suntech, Chinese Solar Giant, Was Snared In An Italian Fraud Scandal , in: International Business Times, March 21, 2014.