Brothers Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), took the top spot in Forbes magazine’s list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, despite an 8 percent fall in their net worth.
The two brothers were among 22 of the top 50 billionaires in Taiwan who saw their net worth shrink, but they still rose two spots from last year to reclaim the No. 1 position after a five-year gap, the magazine said.
The wealth of the Tsai brothers shrank to US$8.8 billion as Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) took a hit from COVID-19 insurance claims, which pushed down the company’s earnings and share price last year, Forbes said.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
In addition to their financial empire, the Tsai family owns telecom Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and e-commerce platform momo.com Inc (富邦媒體).
After the Tsai brothers, the four Wei brothers — Wei Ing-chou (魏應州), Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交), Wei Ying-chun (魏應充) and Wei Ying-heng (魏應行) — who control food and beverage conglomerate Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), took second place with a net worth of US$8.3 billion, Forbes said.
Ting Hsin owns Master Kong, one of the largest instant noodle suppliers in China which reported record-high sales of US$11.4 billion last year, the magazine said.
Taking the No. 3 spot was Lin Shu-hong (林書鴻), cofounder of the petrochemical conglomerate Chang Chun Group (長春集團), who benefited from rising chemical prices and saw his wealth grow to US$7.9 billion.
Also affected by hefty COVID-19 insurance claims, the brothers Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖) and Tsai Cheng-ta (蔡政達) of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) fell to No. 4 this year from No. 2 a year earlier with a net worth of US$7.7 billion, Forbes said.
Falling from the top spot last year, low-key and self-made footwear tycoon Zhang Congyuan (張聰淵) took fifth spot in the latest list as his wealth contracted in US dollar terms by US$4.5 billion to US$7.6 billion.
Zhang’s wealth shrank as shares of his Guangdong-based Huali Industrial Group (華利實業集團), which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, dropped due to decreased orders amid COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruptions.
Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of the world’s largest contract electronics maker, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), came in sixth after his wealth rose to US$7.4 billion this year from US$6.8 billion.
Gou’s wealth largely comes from iPhone assembler Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn (富士康) globally, whose sales rose 11 percent from a year earlier to US$217 billion last year.
The Chang brothers — Jason Chang (張虔生) and Richard Chang (張洪本), who are chairman and vice chairman of chip packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) respectively, took seventh place with a net worth of US$6.3 billion, ahead of chairman of snack and beverage brand Want Want Group’s (旺旺集團) Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), with US$6.1 billion in net worth.
Tsai was followed by Barry Lam (林百里), chairman of contract notebook computer maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), with US$5.6 billion, and chairman of electronics component maker Yageo Corp (國巨) Pierre Chen (陳泰銘), with US$5.5 billion.
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS