On November 5, 2009, Forbes released the 2009 Mainland China 富豪 (fùháo) Rich List. The No.1 was Wang Chuanfu, the CEO of BYD (Build Your Dream) Company Ltd. Mr. Wang is an 汽车大亨 (qìchē dàhēng) auto tycoon in China. BYD Company has received investment from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett who invested about 10% of BYD one year ago. The investment further enhanced BYD’s financial 实力 (shílì) strength, and its stock price has been increased six times this year. BYD has achieved excellent results in the field of electric vehicle 电池 (diànchí) batteries. It surpasses Sanyo, Panasonic, Sony, and other big companies by 30% in terms of cost advantage in the battery area. “The simple reason why I invest in BYD is that it can recharge my dream of moving forward for 2000 times.” Buffett once commented on BYD.
But what’s funny was that after only a half day, the No.1 spot on the rich list was replaced by Xu Jiayin, the chairman of Evergrande Real Estate Group’s 董事会 (dŏngshìhuì) board. On the same day, Evergrande was listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and closed by 4.7 Hong Kong dollars which drived Xu Jiayin’s 资产 (zīchăn) asset surmounting Wang Chuanfu’s. Xu Jiayin captured the No.1 spot immediately after the IPO. Mr. Wang was the richest man in China in 2009 for only half day.
1. 富豪(fùháo) n. a man of great wealth
2. 汽车大亨(qìchē dàhēng) n. auto tycoon
3. 实力(shílì) n. strength; power
4. 电池(diànchí) n. battery
5. 董事会(dŏngshìhuì) n. board of directors