Giulia Marchi/BloombergChinese entrepreneur William Li has tumbled out of the billionaire ranks as shares of his electric-car company, NIO, fell 58% this year. The 44-year-old tycoon, who’s been dubbed the "Elon Musk of China," has seen his net worth plunge $1.2 billion in less than four months to its current level of $457 million. During the January to April period, China’s private EV companies received $783 million in funding, a steep drop from the $5.97 billion raised the same period a year ago, according to data provider Pitchbook. What’s more, the competition will heat up even further when Tesla starts to produce and sell its mass-market Model 3 locally in China. “Those have bigger scale and adapt better to local policies will continue to do well,” says L.E.K.’s Teng.

Source: Forbes July 02, 2019 11:26 UTC