TAIWAN’S 50 RICHEST
FORBES ASIA
- Kenneth Yen
$975 MILLION T
SOURCE: AUTOS
AGE: 51. MARRIED, 1 CHILD
Yen, who heads China Motor and Yulon Motor
of Taiwan, has adapted his business strategy to
cope with stagnant auto growth in Taiwan and
slowdown in China. While it continues to stay
in its core business and build up its own vehicle
brand, Yulon, it also plans to invest $105 million in
a commercial and residential real estate project
in Taiwan. - Leslie Koo
$1.18 BILLION T
SOURCE: CEMENT
AGE: 61. MARRIED, 2 CHILDREN
Koo leads Taiwan Cement, one of Asia’s largest
cement producers, which has been hit by slowing
growth on the mainland. Son of businessman-
diplomat C.F. Koo, he lives under one roof
in Taipei with siblings. His cousins are listed
separately (No. 27). - Archie Hwang
$1.17 BILLION Ì
SOURCE: TECHNOLOGY
Hwang debuts this year on news that ASML of
the Netherlands is buying his semiconductor-
making equipment supplier Hermes-Microvision
for $3.1 billion. Hwang is the largest shareholder in
Hermes-Microvision, indirectly owning 39%, and
is chairman of the company, which he founded in
1977 as a distributor of semiconductor equipment. - Tsai Ming-Kai
$1.05 BILLION T
SOURCE: SEMICONDUCTORS
AGE: 66. MARRIED
Shares of semiconductor design firm MediaTek,
which he runs, are down for a second year, due
to tough competition and slower growth in the
mobile phone market. The company teamed up
this year with NTT DoCoMo of Japan to work
together on new 5G air interface and chipsets for
fifth-generation phones. - Duncan Wang
$1.04 BILLION T
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED
AGE: 46. SINGLE, 1 CHILD
Chairman of Taipei-based United Daily News
Group, he and his family get most of their fortune
these days from their real estate holdings. The
family also owns French fashion brand Lanvin,
bought in 2001 and led by Wang’s aunt Wang
Shaw-Lan, but label is under pressure since cutting
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in October, a move that France’s former culture
minister reportedly called “incomprehensible and
shocking.”
SUP TDOWN WXUNCHANGED ÌNEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE- Lee Tien Tsai
$970 MILLION 3
SOURCE: BEVERAGES
AGE: 78. MARRIED. 2 CHILDREN
Lee started out selling mosquito-repelling
incense. He set up a manufacturing plant in
1959 to produce pesticides and built it into
one of the main suppliers of household
cleaning products in Taiwan. In the 1970s
he entered the beverage industry. Today
Lee’s unlisted King Car Group is Taiwan’s
largest producer of ready-to-drink canned
coffee. It also has an award-winning whisky
brand, Kavalan, named after a district in
Lee’s hometown. The chairman personally
brought King Car’s R&D team to Scotland
for field observations. - Wu Chung-Yi
$1.02 BILLION S
SOURCE: MANUFACTURING
AGE: 57
Also known as Tony, Wu heads auto parts maker
Fine Blanking, founded by his father Wu Tsung-
Chi in 1988 in central Taiwan. Most of his money
comes from his own astute move, selling a stake in
beverage and instant noodle maker Tingyi in 2007.
He still sits on the food company’s board. - Thomas Wu
$1 BILLION S
SOURCE: FINANCE
AGE: 66
Chairman of Taishin Financial Holdings, a financial
services business. The company lost control of
Chang Hwa Bank in 2014 apparently due to political
tensions but now hopes to regain control under
the nation’s new president Tsai Ing-wen. Wu’s father
Wu Hu-So led one of Taiwan’s first textile empires
after World War II. It eventually transformed into a
financial powerhouse now run by Wu’s older brother
Eugene (No. 49). Thomas went his own way years
ago. - Huang Chung-Sheng
$990 MILLION T
SOURCE: METALS
AGE: 58. MARRIED
Huang and his wife, Lin Sheng Chih, are chairman
and vice chairman, respectively, of Shanghai-listed
Yechiu Metal Recycling, a scrap aluminum recycler
and processor, in which they together own a 47%
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of New York-listed scrap recycler Metalico, in which
they were controlling shareholders. Huang started
a smelting company in Malaysia in 1984 before
expanding into China. - Ho Show Chung
$980 MILLION 3
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED
AGE: 71. MARRIED, 2 CHILDREN
S.C. Ho leads Yuen Foong Yu Group, with sprawling
interests in paper, financial services, electronics and
biotech. He returns to the list this year thanks to
new information on previously uncounted unlisted
assets.
TODAY ASIA IS OUR SECOND HOME MARKET
WITH A PRESENCE IN SINGAPORE, HONG KONG,
JAKARTA AND SHANGHAI.