The combined wealth of Taiwan’s top 50 billionaires rose 12.23 percent in a year amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, with Barry Lam (林百里), chairman of AI server maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), taking the top spot for the first time, according to Forbes.
After increasing at a modest pace of 1.3 percent last year, Taiwan’s economy rose 6.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the fastest growth in almost three years, due to an increase in exports related to solid global demand for AI applications, Forbes said.
The TAIEX has also increased by about one-third since the magazine last measured it 14 months ago, Forbes said.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, the combined net worth of the top 50 richest people in Taiwan rose to US$174 billion from US$155 billion, it said.
Lam’s net worth more than doubled to US$11.7 billion, the highest among the top 50 richest people in Taiwan, after his company’s share price surged to record highs over the past year, putting him at the top of the list for the first time.
Forbes said that Quanta’s net profit jumped by more than one-third to US$1.2 billion last year after it began providing products such as notebook computers and AI servers to clients such as Apple Inc and Google.
Quanta’s performance also helped company vice chairman and president C.C. Leung (梁次震) earn a spot on Taiwan’s top 50 richest people list for the first time.
He was ranked No. 42 with a net worth of US$1.45 billion, Forbes said.
Brothers Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興) from financial conglomerate Fubon Group (富邦集團) took second place this year, down from the top spot last year.
Their net worth rose 22 percent to US$10.7 billion partly due to their investments in biotech venture capital firm Diamond Biofund Inc (鑽石生技), which went public in September last year.
Also boosted by the AI frenzy, Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, saw his net worth rise by US$3 billion to US$10.4 billion, boosting his ranking from No. 6 to No. 3.
In fourth, self-made footwear tycoon Zhang Congyuan (張聰淵), who founded shoe manufacturer Huali Industrial Group Co Ltd (華利集團) in 2004 and now runs factories in China, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, recorded a net worth of US$10.1 billion.
Brothers Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖) and Tsai Cheng-ta (蔡政達) from financial conglomerate Lin Yuan Group (霖園集團) placed fifth with a net worth of US$9.3 billion, while brothers Jason Chang (張虔生) and Richard Chang (張洪本), who run the world’s largest IC packaging and testing service company, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), ranked sixth with a net worth of US$7.8 billion.
The four Wei brothers — Wei Ing-chou (魏應州), Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交), Wei Yin-chun (魏應充) and Wei Yin-heng (魏應行) — who control food and beverage conglomerate Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), took seventh place with a net worth of US$7.6 billion.
The Wei brothers fell from second last year as shares in their group’s listed subsidiary Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), one of the largest instant noodle producers in China, tumbled 25 percent due to weaker demand, Forbes said.
Electronics component maker Yageo Corp (國巨) chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) was eighth with a net worth of US$6.2 billion, followed by snack and beverage brand Want Want Group (旺旺集團) chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) with US$6 billion, and Lin Shu-hong (林書鴻), cofounder of petrochemical conglomerate Chang Chun Group (長春集團), with US$5.4 billion.
Morris Chang (張忠謀), founder of the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), moved up eight spots to No. 16 with a net worth of US$3.3 billion.
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
RSS