[1] Zeng is the 40th wealthiest, with an estimated net worth of US$39.7 billion as of February 2025[update], according to Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index .

He earned a marine engineering degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University, an MSc in electronics and information engineering from South China University of Technology in 2001, and a PhD in physics from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006.

[3] Zeng worked at a state-owned shipbuilding company in Fujian Province early in his career.

The company produced lithium polymer batteries for digital gadgets, including iPhones, according to a Financial Times report in 2018.

In 2012, Zeng and vice-chairman Huang Shilin spun-off the electric vehicle battery operations of ATL into a new company CATL, which manufactures lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, and became a world leader in the following years.