Li Hejun
{{short description|Chinese businessman (born 1967)}}
{{for|the materials scientist|Li Hejun (materials scientist)}}
{{family name hatnote|Li|lang=Chinese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Li Hejun
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| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|李河君}}}}
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|08|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Heyuan, Guangdong, China
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| education = Beijing Jiaotong University
| occupation = Founder and chairman, Hanergy
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| spouse = Wu Wei
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Li Hejun ({{zh|c=李河君}}; born 13 August 1967) is a Chinese businessman. He is a former billionaire. He is the founder and chairman of Hanergy, as well as a member of the 11th/12th CPPCC National Committee, member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce's (ACFIC) First Advisory Committee, vice-chairman of ACFIC's 11th Executive Committee and honorary president of ACFIC's New Energy Chamber of Commerce.{{cite web|title=Our Chairman|url= http://en.hanergymobileenergy.com/channel/aboutChairman.html#zhici| website=Official website of Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.}}
According to Forbes, Li had a net worth of $10.3 billion in March 2014, $21.1 billion in March 2015, $3.2 billion in March 2016, $1.9 billion in March 2017.{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Li Hejun|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/li-hejun/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017183110/http://www.forbes.com/profile/li-hejun/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 October 2013|website=Forbes|accessdate=27 March 2018}}
In December 2022, Li was detained by police in northeast China's Liaoning province.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-11 |title=Billionaire Founder of Troubled Hanergy Under Arrest |url=https://www.caixinglobal.com/2023-01-11/billionaire-founder-of-troubled-hanergy-under-arrest-101987728.html |access-date= |website=www.caixinglobal.com |language=en}}
Early life
Li Hejun was born on 13 August 1967, to a Hakka family in Heyuan, Guangdong Province, China.{{cite web|title=Bloomberg Billionaires Index - Li Hejun|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/hejun-li/|website=Bloomberg LP|accessdate=27 March 2018}} Li graduated from Beijing Jiaotong University in 1988 with a BS (Bachelor of Science) degree in mechanical engineering. In 2002, he started his doctoral studies at University of Cambridge in Macroeconomics.
Business career
In 1989, Li Hejun borrowed 50,000 Chinese yuan from his university teacher to establish Hanergy. After almost 30 years, Hanergy has become a multinational renewable energy company, with active business in thin-film solar, wind, and hydropower generation.
From 2002 to 2011, Li led a team of more than 10,000 members to construct Jin’anqiao Hydropower Station, costing more than 20 billion yuan. The 3 million kilowatt-capacity Jinanqiao Hydropower Station was built over the Jinsha River in Yunnan Province, China, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters and with an installed capacity 10% larger than the Gezhouba Dam in China, and 30% larger than the United States’ Hoover Dam.
In 2009, Hanergy switched focus to thin-film solar power. From 2010 to 2015, the company invested more than 50 billion yuan on the mergers and acquisitions of Germany's Solibro Hi-Tech GmbH and Solibro Research AB, and United States’ MiaSolé, Global Solar Energy and Alta Devices.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/qcells-hanergy-idUSL5E8H56CH20120605|title=Hanergy to acquire Q-Cells's Solibro unit|publisher=Reuters}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-solar-miasole/chinas-hanergy-to-buy-u-s-solar-startup-miasole-source-idUSBRE8901G720121001|title=China's Hanergy to buy U.S. solar startup Miasole: source|publisher=Reuters}}{{cite web|url=https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/hanergy-acquires-global-solar-energy-its-third-cigs-pv-buy|title=Hanergy Acquires Global Solar Energy, Its Third CIGS PV Buy|publisher=Greentechmedia}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-08/14/content_18306596.htm|title=Hanergy acquires US solar cell firm|publisher=China Daily}}
In November 2013, Li published his first book, New Energy Revolution: the Power to Change China and the World. In the book, he emphasized that in the future, competition for energy will not be for resources, but for core technology. Li also argues "a combination of thin film power and internet will lead to the third industrial revolution." The English version of this book, China's New Energy Revolution, was published in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/business/energy-environment/li-hejun-chairman-of-hanergy-holding-group-on-the-energy-source.html|title=Solar as Industrial Revolution|work=The New York Times}}
In 2008, he invested and built the largest offshore WuDong wind power plant in Asia
From 2002 to 2011, he invested and built Jinanqiao, the world's largest private hydro-power station.
From 2015 until now, he has invested to build the largest Thin Film solar energy group.
He is the member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce's (ACFIC) First Advisory Committee, and the vice-chairman of the 11th Executive Committee of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce
He is the first founding president of the New Energy Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, a lifetime honorary president, a member of the All-China Youth Federation, the vice president of the China Young Entrepreneurs Association, and the permanent honorary president of the Guangdong Hakka Chamber of Commerce.{{fact|date=January 2025}}
In 2014 and 2015, he was recognized as the richest man in mainland China by New Fortune Magazine.{{fact|date=January 2025}}
In 2015, he was named as the richest man in mainland China by Forbes and Hurun Fortune.{{fact|date=January 2025}}
On 17 December 2022, he was arrested by the Liaoning police.{{cite web|url=https://www.caixinglobal.com/2023-01-11/billionaire-founder-of-troubled-hanergy-under-arrest-101987728.html|title=Billionaire Founder of Troubled Hanergy Under Arrest|date=11 January 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/01/12/the-fall-of-li-hejun-formerly-china-s-richest-man_6011313_19.html|title=The fall of Li Hejun, formerly China's richest man|date=12 January 2023|publisher=Le Monde}}
Philanthropy
During the course of his business career, Li has also launched multiple philanthropic programs. As one of the primary sponsors and the first executive director-general of the China Red Ribbon Foundation (a special fund for AIDS prevention and treatment in China), Li has made contributions to multiple anti-AIDS, education, poverty relief and anti-desertification programs in China and abroad.
Personal life
References
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Category:Beijing Jiaotong University alumni
Category:Businesspeople from Guangdong
Category:Chinese company founders
Category:Chinese energy industry businesspeople
Category:Chinese people of Hakka descent
Category:People associated with solar power