Barry Lam (林百里), chairman of Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of notebook computers and other electronics, has been named the richest person in Taiwan, as the artificial intelligence (AI) trend continues to boom and boost the value of his company, Forbes magazine said.
Forbes’ real-time billionaires list showed Lam’s net worth at US$9.3 billion as of 1pm on Friday last week, securing him the top spot in Taiwan and the 226th worldwide.
After Lam, footwear tycoon Zhang Congyuan (張聰淵), who founded shoe manufacturer Huali Industrial Group (華利實業集團) in 2004 and now runs factories in China, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, took the second spot in Taiwan and was ranked 297th in the world on the back of his net worth of US$7.7 billion.
Photo: CNA
With a net worth of US$7.4 billion, Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of the world’s largest contract electronics maker, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), ranked third in Taiwan and 326th worldwide, followed by Lin Shu-hong (林書鴻), cofounder of the petrochemical conglomerate Chang Chun Group (長春集團), who ranked fourth in Taiwan and 347th worldwide with a net worth of US$7.2 billion.
Next on the list is snack and beverage brand Want Want Group (旺旺集團) chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), who took the fifth spot in Taiwan and 430th worldwide with a net worth of US$6.3 billion.
The value of Lam’s company, Quanta, has moved sharply higher partly due to a statement in May by Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), founder and CEO of graphics processing unit maker Nvida Corp, on how his company needed the support of Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達科技) to manufacture world-class servers and data centers, market analysts said.
Lisa Su (蘇姿丰), chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), is also scheduled to visit Taiwan soon, further boosting the AI frenzy on the local stock market and leading to greater demand for Quanta shares, analysts added.
Since the beginning of May, Quanta shares have risen 127 percent and closed at NT$195 on Thursday, with the stock peaking at NT$206.50 during the session, its highest level in 23 years.
At its annual general meeting on June 16, Lam told Quanta’s shareholders that the company decided six years ago to focus on AI gadget development, and that the company “was just lucky as it made a right decision.”
One Asian brokerage said in a recent research report that Quanta was expected to benefit from rising demand for gadgets used in AI and electric vehicles, adding that the company could grab more than 20 percent of the global AI server market.
Lam, who was born in Shanghai in 1949 and raised in Hong Kong, has a master’s degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University.
In 1988, Lam and C.C. Leung (梁次震), a friend from Hong Kong, set up Quanta with paid-in capital of NT$30 million (US$971,094 at the current exchange rate).
Quanta, which counts top global brands such as Dell among its clients, saw its notebook computer shipments top 1 million for the first time in 1998.
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