--- description: Find out why Robin Zeng is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Robin Zeng: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3913e6a81b266700/698a3bee457a52fc3fd677c5/Robin-Zeng-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Robin Zeng by Charlie Campbell  Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), poses for a photograph in Ningde, Fujian province, China, on Wednesday, June 3, 2020\. CATL's battery products are in the vehicles of almost every major global auto brand, and starting this month they'll also power electric cars manufactured by Tesla at its factory on the outskirts of Shanghai. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), poses for a photograph in Ningde, Fujian province, China, on Wednesday, June 3, 2020\. CATL's battery products are in the vehicles of almost every major global auto brand, and starting this month they'll also power electric cars manufactured by Tesla at its factory on the outskirts of Shanghai. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesQilai Shen—Bloomberg/Getty Images Making transportation more sustainable will require a collective, global effort, though [Zeng Yuqun—otherwise known as Robin Zeng](https://time.com/6217992/china-electric-vehicle-catl/ "undefined")—will play a more significant role in decarbonization than most. Zeng is the founder of [Contemporary Amperex Technology](https://time.com/collection-post/6159395/contemporary-amperex-technology/ "undefined") (CATL), the world’s top provider of electric-vehicle batteries with 37% of the global market, supplying automakers including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Ford. The $142 billion firm, headquartered in Zeng’s hometown of Ningde in China’s southern Fujian province, boasts 13 production plants globally and saw revenue almost double year over year to $4.4 billion in 2022\. While environmentalists have raised concerns over CATL’s ballooning mining interests, Zeng’s track record of reducing the cost of established technology while pioneering the next breakthrough—such as sodium-based alternatives to the battery staple lithium—is helping to power the global push for EVs, propelling his personal wealth to some $32.2 billion. Zeng has said, “Innovation is in the genes of CATL.” _Campbell is a TIME correspondent_ Robin Zeng Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/"},"headline":"Robin Zeng","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:03.700Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023","T100Pioneers2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3913e6a81b266700/698a3bee457a52fc3fd677c5/Robin-Zeng-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3913e6a81b266700/698a3bee457a52fc3fd677c5/Robin-Zeng-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/","name":"Robin Zeng"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270008/robin-zeng-2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```