Crown new materials stock surge: How an ex-school teacher who left his job to make adhesive tapes became a billionaire
Written By Bobins Vayalil Abraham
Crown New Materials Technology, the Chinese manufacturer of industrial adhesives, electronic-grade tapes, and functional films, made its stock market debut on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on November 3. Some 56.3 million shares, priced at CNY 16.98 per share (around ₹240) were up for grabs on the first day of trading on Tuesday.
Crown New Materials raised CNY 956 million ($144 million), with the stock surging as much as 787% during the day before closing up around 398%.
The stock surge has also made the co-founders of Crown New Materials billionaires. According to Forbes, Mai Michael, the Chairman and CEO of Crown New Materials, has a net worth of $2.5 billion. His sister, Mai Huixia, the company's vice chairman, has an estimated net worth of $2 billion after the IPO.
According to Newsweek, 62-year-old Michael worked as an elementary school teacher in Zhongshan, China, before leaving teaching in 1984.
Michael, who now holds Australian citizenship and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, then got into the materials business and spent the next two decades working at factories, including overseeing an adhesive tape manufacturer.
Michael and his sister founded Crown New Materials Technology, a Zhongshan-based company that manufactures adhesive materials and protective films used across the automotive, electronics, and semiconductor industries to hold various components together.
Its products have been divided into three broad categories:
Functional Film Material
In its mission statement, Crown New Materials Technology says that the company is committed to advancing innovation in functional composite materials, providing reliable solutions to customers worldwide, and making a meaningful contribution to a sustainable future.
According to Newsweek, Crown New Materials Technology’s products are supplied to major companies from BYD and Apple to Tesla. The company says it competes internationally with companies including 3M and Japan's Nitto Denko.
According to its IPO prospectus, the siblings jointly controlled 87.17% of the company before its stock market listing. The Mai family has a firm grip on the business, with one of Michael’s daughters, Mai Christal (also an Australian citizen and a permanent resident of Hong Kong), sitting on its board. Michael’s spouse, his other daughters, as well as sister Mai Huixia’s daughter, are also indirect shareholders, according to the company’s prospectus.
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