Business Week magazine portrayed him in a dragon robe and called him "Software's Tough Guy" and a "Record-breaker" at the same time.
In fact, Charles Wang (
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Computer Associates has never smoked and doesn't like to waste his time on music, either.
Nor does he entertain the notion of retiring from his work like his good friend Stan Shih (
"I love my work," Wang said yesterday, adding that his philosophy of work is "you have to be first and right." That's why he was nicknamed "The king of mergers."
The short cut to becoming the top dog in developing countries is to pay the highest price for a company, thus saving the cost of research and development.
Wang's latest record-breaking action was the US$4 billion purchase of Sterling Software Inc on Feb. 14.
But Wang modified his strategy in Asia, where lower prices are possible but workers are highly experienced. There's also a tangle of government regulations to worry about as well. Wang said, "It's better to joint venture."
Born in China, Wang knew well that "China is different, so we joint venture with the government," he said.
Wang was born in Shanghai in 1944 and moved to the US with his family in 1952. He earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in mathematics from Queens College and began his computer career at Columbia University's Riverside Research Institute as a programming trainee when Microsoft's Bill Gates was still in junior high school.
Wang also serves on the boards of several public, private and philanthropic organizations.
When asked once why he didn't go into politics, Wang replied, "I can't be President of the United States because I wasn't born here. And I can't be President of China because I don't speak Chinese well enough."
But he might make a go of it in Italy. Richard A. Grasso, Chiarman of New York Stock Market, has always joked: "Charles, you are too Italian."
With a Shanghai accent, Wang said, "It's not a fair world."
Wang is a supporter of the "Make-A-Wish Foundation" and the "National Center for Missing and Explioted Children," whose national headquarters bears his name.
He also established "The Smile Train," an unprecedented medical and technology initiative dedicated to helping children throughout the world with cleft lips, palates and other facial deformities.
When "The Smile Train" launched in China last week, former US President George Bush said he and Wang were both grandfathers.
Wang corrected Bush immediately, saying that he was not, indeed, a grandfather.
But while Wang, at age 55, may not be old enough yet to play with grandsons and granddaughters, he does have fun playing with 18,000 employees in more than 100 countries.
Fortune magazine has named his company one of "America's Most Admired Companies" and a "Best Company to work for in America."
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