Gim Seong-gon was running a steel-manufacturing business in the late 1980s when he became fascinated by wind power. The South Korea native saw growth potential in the field and decided to get involved.
It was a good decision. With an early injection of capital from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., his CS Wind Corp. has become the world’s biggest manufacturer of wind towers. The firm’s shares have rallied for the past four years, surging almost fivefold in 2020 alone, and expectations are running high for even more growth with the change of administrations in Washington.
Gim, 67, the son of a farmer, is now one of the wealthiest people in South Korea. The 51% stake in the company he owns with his family is valued at $1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“Gim was quick to identify the growth potential globally,” said Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Seoul-based Eugene Investment & Securities Co. “The industry has seen faster growth than other traditional businesses.”
Goldman Investment
Gim made the shift to renewable energy in 2003, setting up CS Wind’s first wind-tower factory in Vietnam to take advantage of lower labor costs. Five years later, his company received an investment of 47.2 billion won ($43 million) from Goldman Sachs, which helped it expand into seven countries.
CS Wind now operates plants in countries including Malaysia, China and the U.K., selling its wind towers to firms such as Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, General Electric Co. and Vestas Wind Systems A/S. It also plans to build factories in the U.S., where newly elected President Joe Biden has pledged to prioritize suppliers based in the nation. Read More…
