Who's Hyun Shik Park, Ola Electric's top earner, eclipsing Bhavish Aggarwal

Hyun Shik Park, with over 36 years at LG, leads Ola Electric's Gigafactory operations. He earned Rs 8.7 crore in FY24, surpassing founder Bhavish Aggarwal

In the financial year 2024, the top earner at Ola Electric was not founder-chairman Bhavish Aggarwal, nor the chief financial officer, chief technology and product officer, or head of vehicle engineering.

Instead, Hyun Shik Park, an expert in battery manufacturing with over 36 years experience at South Korean consumer-electronics giant "LG", received the highest compensation package at Ola Electric during the past fiscal year, according to a report by Moneycontrol.

Park, who joined the electric vehicle company last year, oversees operations at Ola’s Gigafactory, focusing on mass-producing cells that make up batteries.

Park, overseeing the cell segment, earned Rs 8.7 crore in FY24, the highest among senior management in the company and its subsidiaries, as revealed in the company's red herring prospectus.

 

Additionally, Park received 17.3 lakh shares in Ola Electric during the fiscal year, potentially worth over Rs 13 crore post-IPO. However, employee stock options typically vest over 4-5 years.

Park's official title is chief operations officer of Ola Cell Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ola Electric.

Ola Gigafactory

Located on 110 acres in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district, the Ola Gigafactory began operations with an initial capacity of 5 GWh (Gigawatt hours). The facility aims to expand to 100 GWh in phases, with an initial investment of over Rs 800 crore (approximately $100 million) in the project's first phase, under Park's leadership.

“The cell is the core of the EV in terms of cost, contributing to one-third of the total cost of any typical EV. By manufacturing it in India, we further improve our modules,” said Ola chief Aggarwal on July 30.

Who is Hyun Shik Park?

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Pusan National University in South Korea, Park began his career at LG in Cheongju as a production engineer in 1987. By 2006, he had risen to head of automotive battery for LG Energy Solution.

Park then spent six years in Nanjing, China, managing LG's battery manufacturing facility, supplying to companies like Apple, Motorola, and Lenovo. By 2013, he returned to South Korea as a senior vice-president, head of the mobile battery division, attracting clients like Huawei and Xiaomi.

In his second stint in China from 2017, Park served as LG Chemical's representative, managing 14 subsidiaries and building government relations.

Before joining Ola in August 2023, Park was involved in management coaching and developing a training program for LG Energy Solution in Poland.

Other top earners in Ola electric

Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal earned Rs 2.88 crore in FY24, with the Board approving a new salary structure in December, allowing up to Rs 9 crore (including variable pay) for the next five years. This means Aggarwal could surpass Park in compensation in FY25 if Park's salary remains unchanged.

Another high earner is Shaun William Calvert, chief operations officer of Ola Electric Technologies, who received Rs 4.79 crore in FY24. Before joining Ola, he was deputy CEO of Vietnamese EV company Vinfast and had nearly two decades at General Motors.

Chief financial officer Harish Abichandani earned Rs 1.67 crore in FY24, plus an employee stock option grant of 25.3 lakh shares potentially worth over Rs 18 crore post-IPO.

Ola electric IPO and market valuation

At a share price of Rs 72-76, Ola Electric's valuation would be around $4 billion (Rs 33,500 crore) in the IPO, a 25.8 per cent decrease from $5.4 billion in September due to a global tech stock correction and a strategy to increase investor participation. The IPO, opening for subscription on August 2, comes as the Indian market trades at record highs.

The IPO includes a fresh issue of Rs 5,500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 84.94 million shares, totaling Rs 645.96 crore at the upper price band. The issue size is Rs 6,145.96 crore, closing on August 6.

Ola Electric had a 35 per cent market share in the electric two-wheeler segment at the end of fiscal 2024, up from 21 per cent the previous year.

The company reported consolidated revenue of Rs 2,782 crore for the financial year ending March 2023, a nearly 510 per cent increase, despite a net loss of Rs 1,472 crore.