Terry Gou (
Gou, 54, was ranked 176th richest on the Forbes list for last year, with assets of US$2.8 billion, while Lin Yuan Group founder Tsai, who died in September of respiratory failure at the age of 79, was ranked No. 94 last year with assets of US$4.6 billion.
Gou built his fortune after starting the company in 1974 with an investment of NT$300,000 to make plastic knobs for television sets. Now Hon Hai Precision mainly produces electrical connectors and assembles personal computers for Dell and Hewlett-Packard, and is tapping into mobile phone and flat-screen liquid-crystal-display manufacturing.
Several Taiwanese billionaires are on this year's list. They are: Formosa Group chairman Wang Yung-ching (
Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa (
Asia-wide, Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of Mittal Steel Co, overtook Li Ka-shing (
Mittal, 54, had the biggest increase in personal wealth in the annual survey by Forbes, jumping to the No. 3 spot behind Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway Inc Chairman Warren Buffett as his fortune increased by US$18.8 billion to US$25 billion. Hong Kong's Li, 76, was 22nd with US$13 billion.
Indian-born Mittal has bought steel mills from Poland to South Africa since 2003, benefiting from soaring demand from shipyards and building sites in China. Li, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, has concentrated on expanding his mobile-phone businesses.
"It shows the rise of commodities and the fall of tech," said Manu Bhaskaran, head of economic research at Centennial Group.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018