Serge Pun (, Theim Wai;
; born 1953 in
Rangoon
Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
) is a Burmese businessman of
Sino-Burmese descent. He is the founder of Serge Pun & Associates (SPA) in Myanmar and Hong Kong, First Myanmar Investment (FMI), and FMI Air.
He previously served as the chairman of
Serge Pun & Associates Group (SPA Group), a multinational real estate firm, and
Yoma Bank, a Burma-based bank.
Early life
Pun was born in 1953 in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar).
Pun belonged to an upper middle class family; his father worked for a Chinese bank.
He attended
Saint Paul's High School (now BEHS No. 6 Botataung) in Rangoon until 1962.
Following the
1962 Burmese coup d'état
The 1962 Burmese coup d'état marked the beginning of one-party rule in Burma (Myanmar) and the political dominance of the military in Burmese politics. In the 2 March 1962 coup, the military replaced the civilian AFPFL-government headed ...
by
Ne Win
Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...
, Pun's father relocated the family to
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
in 1965.
With the outbreak of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
in 1966, Pun was separated from his family, and relocated to a state-owned farm in Yunnan with 1,500 other children.
Career
In 1973, Pun left China for
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, where he began a career in real estate.
In 1983, he founded
Serge Pun & Associates.
Pun returned to Burma in 1991 to establish SPA (Serge Pun & Associates) Myanmar, which is a conglomerate with interests in automobile manufacturing, financial services, real estate development, technology, construction and healthcare.
He became Executive Chairman of First Myanmar Investment (FMI) in 1992.
Pun was ranked #38 in Singapore's Richest 50 in the August 2013 issue of ''
Forbes Asia
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...
'', with a net worth of USD $500 million.
In November 2022, the military junta, the
State Administration Council
The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, February 2021 c ...
, awarded Pun with the
Thiri Pyanchi title.
In June 2024, Pun was detained along with other Yoma executives for violating financial lending regulations in Myanmar.
In July 2024, he vacated his leadership in 105 Yoma firms, and Yoma Strategic appointed his eldest son, Melvyn, as its chair.
Between July and August 2024, the Burmese military government charged Pun with money laundering, illegal transactions, misuse of public funds, and use of criminal proceeds from
online scam centers to expand Star City in Yangon's
Thanlyin Township
Thanlyin Township () is a township in Thanlyin District, southeast Yangon Region, Myanmar. The township has only one town- the principal town of Thanlyin, which has seventeen urban wards. The township also has 57 villages grouped into 28 vill ...
.
Personal life
Pun married a
Hongkonger
Hongkongers (), Hong Kongers, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people are demonyms that refer to a resident of Hong Kong, although they may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory.
The earliest inhabitants of Ho ...
,
and has four sons, including Melvyn, Cyrus, Ivan, and Sebastian.
Pun's brother, Martin Pun, is the vice chairman of SPA Group.
See also
*
Yoma Bank
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pun, Serge
Burmese businesspeople
1953 births
Living people
Burmese people of Chinese descent
Businesspeople from Yangon