Eric Li

A small manufacturing business moved into automobiles

Li grew up as the son of a farmer in Zhejiang province and has said his family could not afford toys when he was a child. Forbes identifies him as self-made, while Geely traces the company’s entrepreneurial beginnings to 1986 in Taizhou rather than to an inherited automotive business. ^[1][2]

He began in refrigerator and refrigerator-parts manufacturing, moved into motorcycles in the 1990s and entered automobile manufacturing in 1997. That sequence matters because the wealth engine was built through successive operating businesses before Geely became a major automaker. ^[3][4]

Geely later expanded well beyond its original Chinese car business. Forbes lists Volvo Cars, Lotus and investments in other automakers among the group’s holdings, while Volvo Cars identifies Li as Geely Holding’s founder and chairman and records a multibillion-share related-party holding in Volvo Cars. ^[1][5]

Ownership across the group links the businesses to his fortune

The value of Geely’s vehicle sales or the revenue of its subsidiaries is not Li’s personal net worth. His wealth depends on the value of the ownership interests attributable to him across listed and private entities after company liabilities, minority shareholders and other claims are considered. ^[1][5]

Public filings make part of that ownership chain observable. A 2026 SEC filing identifies Eric Li as Li Shufu and describes companies he controls as holding ECARX shares, providing direct evidence that his economic exposure extends through controlled holding entities rather than through operating-company revenue alone. ^[6]