Too impressive! "Ning Wang" earned a net profit of 72.2 billion yuan, distributed 36.1 billion yuan in dividends, how much can Zeng Yuqun receive?

Car sellers are better off selling auto parts than cars themselves, isn’t that frustrating? Now I understand why Huawei decided not to enter the car manufacturing industry. As long as you master core technology, you can make big money too.

“Ning Wang” has achieved explosive performance, with 2025 revenue reaching 423.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.04%; net profit has surged by 42.28%, reaching 72.2 billion yuan, which is nearly 2 billion yuan earned daily.

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What does 72.2 billion yuan mean? Compared not to banks or oil companies, but to private enterprises, this profit ranks fourth among private companies, only behind Tencent, Alibaba, and Pinduoduo, surpassing Huawei.

In the automotive industry, the total profit of above-scale auto manufacturing in 2024 is 462.3 billion yuan, about six times that of CATL. Adding the combined profits of BYD, Geely, and Great Wall is only around 70 billion yuan.

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No wonder there was friction between Peng and Ning Wang before; Ning Wang is too powerful and is gradually gaining influence in the automotive industry.

If they are making so much money, shouldn’t they share more? Absolutely. In 2025, CATL will distribute dividends twice: an interim dividend of 4.568 billion yuan and a year-end dividend of 31.532 billion yuan, totaling 36.1 billion yuan, which accounts for 50% of net profit—half of the profit is distributed, a big move.

With so much dividend, how much can founder Zeng Yuqun get? The ownership structure of CATL is quite simple. Among the top ten shareholders, besides the three founders Zeng Yuqun, Huang Shilin, and Li Ping, most are institutional shareholders.

Among them, Zeng Yuqun holds 22.45% through Xiamen Ruiting Investment Co., Ltd., making him the largest shareholder. Co-founder Huang Shilin directly owns 9.21%, and founder Li Ping owns 4.33%. Based on these holdings, their dividends in 2025 will be approximately 8.1 billion yuan, 3.3 billion yuan, and 1.56 billion yuan respectively.

As chairman of CATL, Zeng Yuqun’s salary over the past few years has been around 4-5 million yuan, not high; his main income still comes from dividends. From 2021 to 2025, CATL’s total dividends amount to 95.2 billion yuan, and according to Zeng Yuqun’s shareholding, he received about 21.4 billion yuan.

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Some might think “Ning Wang” pays too many dividends. In fact, 50% is quite high but still normal; companies like Gree Electric also distribute dividends at similar rates annually.

Whether to distribute large dividends depends on a company’s debt and cash flow situation. In 2025, CATL’s debt ratio is 65%, with cash flow exceeding 100 billion yuan, which is very healthy.

This is different from Evergrande. Back then, Evergrande also paid about 50% in dividends, but it had high debt and a large proportion of interest-bearing liabilities. As a result, the money went into the Xu family’s pockets, leaving the debt to the company.

Some netizens complain that earning so much money still comes from frontline employees working two shifts, 12 hours a day. What can I say? Manufacturing work environments are like that; overtime is normal. In comparison, Ning Wang’s wages are quite decent.

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Data shows that CATL’s average monthly income is 25,788 yuan, higher than the industry average. Since January this year, CATL has also increased salaries for all employees from levels 1 to 6, with a monthly raise of 150 yuan per person.

But CATL is enjoying big profits—do ordinary people contribute? Data shows that in 2021, CATL’s net profit margin was about 13%, rising to 17% by 2025. Is this due to technological improvements or price increases?

“Ning Wang” makes big money—it’s their skill, but they still don’t want a monopoly. After all, the nature of capital is the same; once a monopoly forms, they will try every means to extract more profit, and consumers still have to pay the price.

Author’s note: Personal opinion, for reference only.