Suntech Power

Shi returned to China in 2001 to found Suntech Power with support from the Wuxi city government, which held a 25% stake in the company; in a 2010 address, Shi acknowledged Wuxi Communist Party officials Yang Weize and Wang Rong as key contributors to his rise, per Reuters.

Following his 2013 removal, Shi Zhengrong publicly characterized the board's action against him as procedurally flawed and lacking lawful basis, a disputed claim presented against the board's own account of the ouster.

Suntech accumulated $2.2 billion in debt and defaulted on a $541 million bond; five days after that default, its main operating subsidiary, Wuxi Suntech Power, filed for bankruptcy protection.

A Jiangsu provincial intermediate court formally accepted an insolvency and restructuring petition for Wuxi Suntech filed by a group of eight Chinese banks (including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China) owed as much as $1.14 billion (7.1 billion yuan), per Forbes citing Xinhua.

At its peak, Suntech -- majority-owned by Shi and his family -- was valued at $16 billion on the New York Stock Exchange; by the time of its 2013 collapse, its market capitalization had fallen to approximately $106 million, and Shi's own fortune had dropped from a 2008 peak of $2.9 billion to less than $250 million, per Reuters and Forbes.

Was forced to resign as CEO by Suntech's board in August 2012, and was stripped of the executive chairman title in March 2013 amid the company's debt crisis.

Suntech defaulted on a $541 million bond, its main subsidiary Wuxi Suntech Power filed for bankruptcy protection after a group of eight Chinese banks petitioned a Jiangsu court, the company's market value collapsed from a peak of $16 billion to about $106 million, and Shi's personal fortune fell from $2.9 billion to under $250 million. Shi called his removal 'misconceived and unlawful,' disputing the board's characterization of the ouster, though the underlying financial collapse and bankruptcy filing are independently documented, undisputed facts.

After Suntech's 2005 NYSE listing, Shi became the richest person in China, with a peak net worth of $2.9 billion in 2008 (ranking No.

396 on Forbes' World's Billionaires List);, his post-listing wealth created a demonstration effect that prompted local governments across China to invest heavily in the solar industry.

Shi, an identical twin (his brother Chen Henglong is also a tycoon), studied at Changchun University of Science and Technology, earned a master's at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, then obtained a doctorate in solar power technology at the University of New South Wales under Professor Martin Green, acquiring Australian citizenship along the way.

Founded Suntech Power in 2001 with Wuxi municipal government backing and led its rapid growth through a 2005 NYSE listing.

Suntech's 2005 listing made Shi briefly the richest person in China (peak net worth $2.9 billion in 2008) and triggered a wave of local-government investment in solar manufacturing across China.