Chinese 'crack professor' who beat Elon Musk: Wang Chuanfu

Wang Chuan Fu, who reached a fortune of several billion dollars with BYD, which he founded by borrowing 300 thousand dollars in 1995, and rose to the position of 'one of the richest Chinese', said, "I had dreams, but I did not expect this much. “Smart Chinese working 7 days a week for little money have contributed to my success,” he says.

Wang Chuan Fu, who founded BYD (Build Your Dreams) company in 1995 with a debt of 300 thousand dollars from his relatives and became both the richest in China and the largest mobile phone and battery manufacturer in the world in a short time, described the success he achieved as “I had dreams. but I didn't expect this much.” Wang Chuan Fu's new goal is to become the largest in the automotive industry, which he stepped into in 2003, first in China and in 2025 in the world. Seen by the authorities as a mixture of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch, the 43-year-old Chinese entrepreneur talks about the secrets of his empire, his partnership with billionaire Warren Buffett, and his electric car goals:

Who is Wang Chuan Fu?

- I was born in 1966. My family was farmers. I lost them when I started high school. My brother and sister raised me. I studied chemistry at university. While working as a researcher in a company in 1995, I decided to start my own company as China opened its economy to the world. At that time, I founded BYD for 300 thousand dollars. My aim was to produce cell phone batteries whose usage is increasing rapidly. After 2-3 years of trouble, we developed our own production technology and succeeded. Then we started to produce for big companies.

What is the secret of bringing BYD to this point in a short time?

- We are a typical Chinese company. We are smart and we work hard. We create opportunities from current situations. We are smarter than our Western competitors and we work harder. The biggest advantage of China is the size of its market and the quality of its people. 5 million people graduate from Chinese universities every year. This figure is more than the population of many European countries. Chinese university graduates work for much less money than their competitors in the west or Japan. Today, more than 130,000 people work at BYD Group. Half of this is in the automotive field. In 10 years, the number of engineers working in the automotive industry will reach 30 thousand. Our American or Japanese competitors can't hire that many. Because the costs are too high. We recruit most of our administrators from universities without any hesitation. We created a campus atmosphere within the group. Our employees start working after going through a training process. Inside the factory, we built apartments like student dormitories for them. They continue their lives there. My house is among them. I live with my family in the place founded by BYD.

Is your life just working?

- Working 7 days a week in China is not a punishment. Maybe living in the western world is first, working is second. But in China, working is first, living is second. Especially in my generation. I don't know if the next generation will be the same. I take great pleasure in working. If you were to tell me 'go have fun,' I probably wouldn't like it.

In 2009, American billionaire Warren Buffett became a partner in your company. What was your plan?

- Warren Buffett's 10 percent partnership has made us attract more attention in the world. He made a great contribution both financially and morally. It also showed the whole world how bright the future of BYD is. A door has been opened to enter the American market.