Battery Giant CATL’s Co-Founder Resigns

What’s new: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world’s largest manufacturer of electric-vehicle (EV) batteries, said its vice chairman and deputy general manager Huang Shilin has resigned.

The departure has led to a broader management reshuffle, under which chairman Zeng Yuqun has taken over the general manager role from Zhou Jia, who has been named as vice chairman, CATL said in exchange filings published on Monday.

CATL said that Huang, the company’s second-largest shareholder with a 10.61% stake, was leaving for personal reasons and would explore business opportunities in fields including solar panels, energy storage and battery charging.

He will also continue promoting the development of the new energy industry with potential strategic collaboration with CATL in the future, the firm added.

The background: Huang co-founded CATL with Zeng and others in 2011 and became vice chairman and general manager in 2015. Two years later, Huang handed over the general manger role to Zhou, and filled the position of deputy general manager.

In the first half of 2022, CATL remained China’s largest EV battery-maker with a 47.7% market share in terms of installed capacity, according to data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)

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