Richlister Trevor St Baker stake surges $123m in Novonix stake
A Brisbane richlister’s stake in a battery company has skyrocketed $123m after the company hired a scientific advisor who works with Elon Musk’s Tesla.
RICHLISTER Trevor St Baker’s stake in Novonix has skyrocketed $123m in one week after the battery technology company hired a scientific advisor who works with Elon Musk’s Tesla.
Mr St Baker, who serves as a non-executive director of the company, saw his 60.08m shares increase in value from $94m on January 18 when shares were trading at $1.56 per share to $217m on Monday when the stock closed at a record high of $3.61. This time last year the stock was trading at just 32c.
Novonix, one of the world’s top researchers in lithium-ion batteries, announced on January 19 it had retained Nova Scotia-based Professor Jeff Dahn as its chief scientific Adviser.
Dr Dahn also will continue his work with Tesla, fuelling continued speculation that a tie-up between Novonix and the electric carmaker may eventuate.
Tesla Motors began a five-year partnership with Dr Dahn in 2016 to develop longer-lasting batteries and accelerate its dream of building cheaper, mass-market electric cars.
That includes building a $5bn gigafactory in Nevada that will supply the batteries in its cars and double the production of lithium-ion batteries in the world.
Fellow Novonix director and former Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris’ 6.6m shares in Novonix surged from $10.3m to $24m over the same period. Mr St Baker’s son Philip saw his 21.4 million shares increase from $33.38m to $77.25m.
Novonic announced on January 21 that it had received a grant from the US Department of Energy for new technology development.
After a stint with the Queensland power commission in the 1970s, Trevor St Baker formed his own electricity consultancy that eventually became electricity retailer ERM Power.
In 1996, ERM bought Oakey Power Station before going on to operate a string of gas-fired generators around the state. In 2008, it diversified into electricity retailing before listing on the stock exchange in 2010. The company was acquired by Shell in 2019.
Mr St Baker’s St Baker Energy Innovation Fund invests in everything from electric vehicle charging systems to smart energy devices.
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