Elon Musk and More Billionaires Who Have Struck It Rich by Going Green

It turns out “going green” can be as good for your wallet as it is for the environment. In a recent analysis, Bloomberg Green identified billionaires who owe at least part of their fortune to technologies that reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Many have gotten rich thanks to the explosive growth in demand for electric vehicles, batteries and solar power in recent years.

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Take a look at how Elon Musk and other billionaires are profiting from the fight against climate change.

• Company: Tesla
• Net worth: $199.2 billion
• Green net worth (portion of wealth driven by businesses that reduce greenhouse gas emissions): $180.7 billion
• Country: U.S.

Tesla’s electric vehicles are making the world a greener place. According to Bloomberg, Tesla vehicles have been driven more than 10 billion miles to date, resulting in combined savings of more than 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

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• Company: CATL
• Net worth: $61.6 billion
• Green net worth: $60.7 billion
• Country: China

CATL is the world’s largest maker of electric vehicle batteries. It supplies EV batteries to Tesla, BMW, Volvo and more.

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• Company: Longi
• Net worth: $16.1 billion
• Green net worth: $16.1 billion
• Country: China

Established in 2000, Longi is the world’s biggest manufacturer of solar wafers — the building blocks of solar panels. The company supplies roughly a quarter of the solar wafers and modules that are used worldwide.

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• Company: BYD
• Net worth: $33.5 billion
• Green net worth: $13.4 billion
• Country: China

The carmaker is working to convert Shenzhen, China’s entire fleet of buses, taxis and trucks into plug-in electric vehicles. Berkshire Hathaway has owned a stake in the company since 2008.

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• Company: Eve Energy
• Net worth: $10.9 billion
• Green net worth: $10.9 billion
• Country: China

Eve Energy is the fifth-largest supplier to China’s electric vehicle sector. Its clients include BMW and Daimler.

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• Company: XPeng
• Net worth: $10.3 billion
• Green net worth: $10.3 billion
• Country: China

Automaker Xpeng manufactures an EV sedan and an EV SUV, with an all-electric sedan due to be introduced later this year. The company also provides free EV charging services at 670 stations across 100 Chinese cities.

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• Company: Pratt Industries
• Net worth: $9 billion
• Green net worth: $9 billion
• Country: Australia

Pratt Industries is the largest privately-held producer of 100% recycled paper and packaging in the world. The company said that its operations — which utilize clean energy plants — save 85,000 trees, 35 million gallons of water and more than 5,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each day.

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• Company: Nio
• Net worth: $9 billion
• Green net worth: $9 billion
• Country: China

Electric vehicle maker Nio is currently building out a network of 500 power-swap stations. At these stations, people can change their car’s battery rather than recharge it.

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• Company: Enercon
• Net worth: $8.9 billion
• Green net worth: $8.9 billion
• Country: Germany

Enercon is one of the world’s largest wind turbine companies. It was founded by Aloys Wobben, who developed his first wind turbine in the 1970s.

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• Company: Hangzhou First Applied Material
• Net worth: $8.7 billion
• Green net worth: $8.7 billion
• Country: China

First Applied Material makes more than half the world’s ethylene vinyl acetate films, an essential component of solar panels.

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• Company: Li Auto
• Net worth: $6.9 billion
• Green net worth: $6.9 billion
• Country: China

Founded in 2015, Li Auto delivered more than 32,000 electric vehicles in 2020.

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• Company: Sungrow Power Supply
• Net worth: $6.3 billion
• Green net worth: $6.3 billion
• Country: China

Sungrow Power Supply controls about 15% of the global market for solar inverters. These devices convert solar energy from solar panels into alternating current that can be used to power a home or business, or utility grid.

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• Company: Yadea
• Net worth: $5 billion
• Green net worth: $5 billion
• Country: China

E-scooter company Yadea was founded by husband-and-wife team Dong Jinggui and Qian Jinghong in 2001.

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• Company: Wuxi Lead
• Net worth: $4.6 billion
• Green net worth: $4.6 billion
• Country: China

Wuxi Lead is the largest publicly traded manufacturer of lithium battery equipment in China. It counts Panasonic and Sony among its clients.

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• Company: JA Solar Technology
• Net worth: $4.5 billion
• Green net worth: $4.5 billion
• Country: China

JA Solar Technology is one of China’s largest manufacturers of several solar panel components. The company sells its products to more than 135 countries and regions.

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