Want Want Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) remained the richest person in Taiwan, according to this year’s list of the world’s billionaires released by Forbes magazine.
While Tsai continued to be the wealthiest person in Taiwan, his net worth fell to US$6 billion from US$8.9 billion last year.
Analysts said the decline of Tsai’s wealth reflected an economic slowdown in China, where many Taiwanese entrepreneurs, including Tsai, have invested heavily.
Tsai was ranked 201st on the latest global billionaire list, down from 147th a year earlier.
Forbes said Tsai transformed his father’s small trading firm I Lan Foods Industrial into the snack food giant Want Want China Times Group, which sells beverages and snacks ranging from rice crackers to spicy peanuts.
Tsai has also diversified his business into other industries, including the finance and media sectors.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder and chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) was ranked second-richest among the Taiwanese on the list, unchanged from a year earlier, though his net worth fell to US$5.6 billion from US$6.1 billion.
Gou ranked 228th on the Forbes list, up from 240th last year.
Hon Hai, known as Foxconn outside Taiwan, is the world’s largest contract electronics maker whose main client is Apple.
A total of 25 Taiwanese entrepreneurs made it onto Forbes’ list of 1,810 billionaires, down from 38 last year, according to Forbes.
The leading Taiwanese on the list after Tsai and Gou was Lin Yu-lin (林堉璘), head of property developer Hong Tai Group, with US$5 billion in net worth, ranking him 270th in the world.
Barry Lam (林百里), chairman of the world’s largest notebook computer contract maker, Quanta Computer, came in fourth among Taiwanese and 549th globally with a net worth totaling US$3.1 billion.
Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co chairman Luo Jye (羅結) was ranked fifth among Taiwanese and 569th in the world on the Forbes billionaire list with a net worth of US$3 billion.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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