Here’s why a Chinese billionaire just lost over a billion dollars from Tesla

And you thought you hated Mondays.

Wang Chuanfu's week got off on a decidedly sour note Aug. 14 when the founder, chairman and CEO of BYD BYD, China's biggest electric vehicle maker, got a jolt to his bank account that he surely could have done without.

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Up until recently, things had been going pretty well. The company marked the production of its five millionth electric vehicle last week with a ceremony at its Shenzhen headquarters.

“China has yet to create a single international marquee of its own that is universally recognized and respected,” Wang said at the event, according to the South China Morning Post. “It is time for Chinese carmakers to upend the order of the global automotive industry and chart a course into a new vast territory.”

BYD overtook Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report to become the world’s top EV maker in terms of sales last year. Most of its sales come from mainland China, the world’s largest electric-car market. Total EV sales in China represented about 60% of the global total in 2022.

'Demolish the old legends'

“I believe the time has come for Chinese brands," Wang said. "It's an emotional need for the 1.4 billion Chinese people to see a Chinese brand becoming global."

Wang said BYD and its Chinese peers intend to build themselves into powerhouses like General Motors  (GM) - Get Free Report, Volkswagen  (VWAGY) - Get Free Report and BMW  (BMWYY) - Get Free Report.

BYD showed a video at the event that commemorated the establishment of 12 competitors, including Xpeng  (XPEV) - Get Free Report, Nio  (NIO) - Get Free Report, and Li Auto  (LI) - Get Free Report and called upon China's automakers to "demolish the old legends and achieve new world-class brands," under the slogan, "Chinese Autos".

And then Elon Musk had to come along and spoil all the fun.

Fears that Tesla had started another price war spooked investors, who dumped shares of China’s electric-vehicle companies across the board.

As a result, Wang's net worth tumbled by as much as $1.5 billion, Forbes reported.

Two Chinese versions of Tesla’s Model Y crossover, priced at 299,000 and 349,000 yuan, have been discounted by 14,000 yuan, or around $2,000.

The Model 3 will have a “limited-time insurance subsidy” of 8,000 yuan, or around $1,100. The insurance subsidy will last until September, Tesla said in a post on China’s Weibo microblogging platform.

BYD's domestic rivals also came under heavy selling pressure, Forbes said, with a 3% drop posted by billionaire He Xiaopeng’s Xpeng, and a 3.2% slide at William Li’s Nio.

Tesla started it

Tesla had kicked off the price war last October, and followed this year with more discounts that make its best-selling Model Y and Model 3 cars retail for about one-third less than their respective prices in the U.S.

The company has been losing ground lately and Tesla saw sales of its China-made vehicles fall by about one-third in July from June, while BYD extended its lead with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs.

Musk told investors last month that "it does make sense to sacrifice margins in favor of making more vehicles because we think, in the not too distant future, they will have a dramatic valuation increase."

The China Passenger Car Association said last week that domestic vehicle sales fell 2.6% last month from July of last year, with 1.79 million units changing hands.

Tesla, the CPCA said, sold 64,285 vehicles, a 31% slump from June and a 16.5% slide from July of last year.

Wang’s fortune comes from his 17.6% personal stake in BYD, whose shares had plunged 8.7% before recovering some of the losses to finish 6.2% lower.

Despite the drop in his net worth, Wang is currently China’s ninth-richest person, worth an estimated $18.2 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List.

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