Chinn Ho (26 February 1904 – 12 May 1987) was a Hawaiian of Chinese descent who became an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, businessman,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and self-made millionaire, pioneering Asian involvement in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an business community.

Career

For generations before the rise of Ho, the business community in Hawaii was controlled by a small group of white family business interests. Ho was able to overcome the conservative business conditions and "cracked Hawaii's bamboo curtain and gained a toehold in the haole establishment; he was the first Oriental named a trustee of one of Hawaii's landed estates, the huge Robinson estate, a bastion of Hawaiian conservatism." In 1944, Ho founded the ''Capital Investment Company'' with $200,000. Three years later, he bought $1.2 million of stock in the

Waianae Waianae () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 13,614. Its name means "waters of the mullet". Its etymology is shared with the far norther ...

Sugar Company, the first time an Asian had executed such a large purchase. In 1959, he bought the Ilikai, Hawaii’s biggest condominium-apartment project, and transformed it to Hawaii’s first high-rise luxury resort when it opened in 1964. The building is featured in the balcony scene during the opening credits of the TV show ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

''. (One of the fictional detectives in the series was named Chin Ho Kelly). He was the head of the Honolulu Stock Exchange, the first Asian president of a Triple-A professional baseball team, the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

, the first Asian trustee of a landed estate, and the first Asian director of Theo H. Davies & Co., one of the influential “Big Five” group of former

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

managers that were deeply involved in Hawaiian politics. In 1961, he purchased the ''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honol ...

'', becoming the first Asian board chairman and sole owner of a major Honolulu daily newspaper. In 1968, he received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. Known for his philanthropy, he was dubbed the "Chinese Rockefeller." Ho was popularly considered to be the inspiration for the character Hong Kong Kee in

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

's novel, ''

''. He died on 12 May 1987, due to heart failure.

Family

He was born Ho Chin. His father is Ho Ti Yuen and his mother is Ho Kam Lan. He changed his name to Chinn Ho later, to adopt the Western practice of placing the surname last. Ho's grandfather emigrated from China in 1875. Ho married Betty Ching on 13 October 1934 and had six children. # Stuart Tse Kong # Dean Tse Wah # Karen Seu Han (Mrs. Stanley Hong) # John Tse Nien # Robin Seu Moy (Mrs. John Lee) # Heather Seu Chinn (Mrs. Malcolm Lee)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Chinn American people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from Hawaii 1904 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople

Career

Family

References

Further reading

External links