22 Comments
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钟建英's avatar

Thanks for this article. The best investment made in this story is the one that Wang's older brother made in his sibling! He must be so proud of his 弟弟.

shiv's avatar

Loved the article. I think the year in “To put the timing in context, Tesla was incorporated in July 2023, a few months after BYD bought Qichuan Motors.” Is incorrect.

Kevin Xu's avatar

oops, you are right, typo fixed! Tesla incorporated in 2003, Musk's first investment was in 2004.

Sridhar Prasad's avatar

Keep writing about founders in china. Very impressive

Eugene O's avatar

This is so so good. Great research paired with great writing.

Dr Wealth's avatar

great piece on Wang Chuanfu's origin story, thanks for putting this together!

Teresa Schofield's avatar

Thanks for the interesting bio of the man behind the business, naturally it reminds me of Morris Chang and his approach including the errors made. It is worth noting both start with an understanding of the materials and are humbled by their treatment of people. I'm curious to know more about the supply chain they have, which suppliers are they dependant on? Obviously, TSMC cannot do what they do without ASML and I wonder what BYD relies on from others who keep the innovation in technology going?

The Rational Walk's avatar

Outstanding article. Thanks for writing it!

Kevin Xu's avatar

Thank you for reading and sharing!

David Huang's avatar

"King [to] Transmit Fortune"

Beachman🏖️☀️'s avatar

Very interesting. Thanks!

Kalani Scarrott's avatar

loved this one mate!

Pradeep Taneja's avatar

Shenzhen had been a Special Economic Zone since 1979. It was not designated a SEZ after Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 visit. Shenzhen, along with Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen are the original four SEZs in China. During his 1992 ‘Southern tour’ or 南巡, Deng declared that Shenzhen’s development proves that the open door policy was correct.

ChinArb's avatar

The war is over for Detroit. The war has just begun for Austin.

You are absolutely right. The narrative that "China is catching up to the US" is wrong. System B (Wang/BYD) has already physically liquidated System A (GM/Ford).

System A (The MBAs) tried to outsource everything to keep the balance sheet light.

System B (The Chemists) insourced everything to keep the physics tight.

Result: The MBA is now begging the Chemist for batteries.

1. The Only Hope is System C America's industrial base (System A) is dead. Its only pulse comes from System C (Tesla). Musk is the Great Filter. He is the only one who understands that you cannot beat System B by playing System B's game (Scale/Labor/Chemistry). You have to change the game to System C (Code/AI/Robotics).

2. The New Bipolar World

System B (Wang): Wins by "Chemical Brute Force." 110,000 engineers, vertical integration, controlling the molecule.

System C (Musk): Wins by "Digital Optimization." FSD, Dojo, deleting parts via code.

The Irony: System C currently buys from System B (Tesla uses Blade Batteries). Even the Code needs the Atom.

3. The Verdict Wang Chuanfu isn't fighting Mary Barra (GM). He doesn't care about her. He is fighting Elon Musk. It is the "Tyrant of Atoms" vs. the "Tyrant of Bits." Everyone else is just a rounding error.

shuzheng's avatar

Were you born stupid, or simply raised and indoctrinated that way, a Banana, yellow outside, white inside?