Shi Zhengrong on Founding and Origins

Shi Zhengrong — founder profiled in the Chinese Founder Ledger — is documented as follows: chinese-Australian solar-technology PhD who returned to China in 2001 with backing from the Wuxi city government to found Suntech Power, briefly became China's richest person after its 2005 NYSE listing at a peak $16 billion market capitalization, then was forced out as CEO in August 2012 and stripped of his chairmanship in March 2013 as the company collapsed into bankruptcy under $2.2 billion in debt. The profile is grounded in the 3 sources indexed for this founder.

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.

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.