Staff writer, with CNA
Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), the brothers who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), topped the Forbes list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, released on Wednesday in New York.
The magazine said that a stronger New Taiwan dollar pushed the combined wealth of Taiwan’s 50 richest people up 13 percent, from US$174 billion to US$197 billion, with 36 of the people on the list seeing their wealth increase.
Photo: CNA
That came as Taiwan’s economy grew 4.6 percent last year, its fastest pace in three years, driven by the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, the magazine said.
The Tsai brothers, with a net worth of US$13.9 billion, returned to top spot with a US$3.2 billion increase from the previous year, Forbes said, adding that the rise was driven by a 16 percent gain in Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) shares thanks to expanded banking operations.
Last year’s richest person, Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) chairman Barry Lam (林百里), dropped to second place despite an 8 percent increase in his wealth, which brought his net worth to US$12.6 billion, the magazine said.
Quanta is the world’s largest contract laptop manufacturer by sales volume.
Coming in third were brothers Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖) and Tsai Cheng-ta (蔡政達) from financial conglomerate Lin Yuan Group (霖園集團), which owns Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), with a net worth of US$10.9 billion.
Next on the list is Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, with a net worth of US$10.98 billion, the magazine said.
Rounding out the top five are the 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 Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), one of China’s largest beverage and noodle companies.
The Koo brothers — Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) and Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩) — who hold stakes in CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and KGI Financial Holding Co (凱基金控) respectively, saw the biggest percentage gains in wealth, with their fortunes more than doubling to US$4.7 billion (13th) and US$3.3 billion (20th) respectively, Forbes said.
Three people made their debut on this year’s list, with two of them benefiting from the global surge in demand for artificial intelligence servers.
They include Lin Tsung-chi (林聰吉), founder of King Slide Works Co (川湖科技), one of the largest suppliers of server rails. Lin’s net worth is estimated at US$2.9 billion and he ranked 24th.
Another is the Chao brothers — Chao Chung-hsin (趙宗信) and Chao Yung-tsang (趙永昌) — of Jentech Precision Industrial Co (健策精密), a supplier of cooling devices and other semiconductor components. They ranked 32nd with a net worth of US$2.1 billion.
The third newcomer to the list is Robin Chang (張重興), chairman of Taichung-based Apex Dynamics Inc (台灣精銳科技), one of the world’s largest suppliers of high-precision gearboxes. He ranks 47th with a net worth of US$1.51 billion, the magazine said.
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