Wang Yung-ching (; 18 January 1917 – 15 October 2008), also called YC Wang, was a Taiwanese businessman. He was best known for being the chairman of Formosa Plastics Corporation, one of Taiwan's foremost plastic manufacturing establishments until his retirement in June 2006, where he stepped down at the age of 89. In 2008, ''

Forbes ''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 co ...

'' ranked him as the 178th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of US$5.5 billion. Despite lacking any formal schooling beyond elementary school, he was ranked 2nd in the ''

'' list of Taiwan's Richest in 2008.

Early life and career

Wang was born in Chyokutan jō, Shinden ku, Shinden shichō, Taihoku Chō (modern-day Chitan Village,

Xindian District Xindian District () is an inner city District (Taiwan), district in the southern part of New Taipei City, Taiwan. Name Xindian's name originated during the Qing Dynasty close to 300 years ago. According to legend, a person named Lin and others ...

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

) in then-Japan-ruled-Taiwan. In 1995, Wang signed a contract with Marco Terragni (chairman of Italproducts) to create Inteplast, the biggest company in the world for the production of

Cartonplast Cartonplast is a trademark that was first given by Covema spa (Italy) in the early seventies to a specific model of extrusion line manufactured and sold world wide by the aforesaid. In subsequent years such name was used as well to identify the ...

. Wang served as the chairman of the board of Formosa Plastics Corporation, one of the largest plastic manufacturers in the world, until June 2006, when he stepped down at the age of 89. He remained chairman of the boards of Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Formosa Chemistry & Fibre Corporation, and Cyma Plywood & Lumber Co. Ltd, but indicated his intention to gradually resign from these positions to focus on his retirement. He was chairman of Ming-chi Institute of Technology, and

Chang Gung Medical Foundation The Chang Gung Medical Foundation (CGMH; ), also known as Chang Gung is a medical and hospital network located in Taiwan. It was founded in 1973 by Wang Yung-ching to commemorate his father Wang Chang-gung (). The hospital network has a total of ...

. After his death, Wang's position at Chang Gung was taken over by his younger brother

Wang Yung-tsai Wang Yung-tsai (; 24 January 1921 – 27 November 2014) was the younger brother of Wang Yung-ching, founder of Formosa Plastics Group. Life and career He was born in Chyokutan, Shinden Town, Bunsan District, Taihoku Prefecture, Japanese Taiwa ...

, and then third wife Lee Pao-chu. He had been a vocal supporter of the

Three Links The Three Links or Three Linkages () was a 1979 proposal from the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to open up postal, transportation (especially airline), and trade links between mainland China and Taiwan, with th ...

between

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. Wang's first marriage was to Wang (née Guo) Yueh-lan, with whom he had no children. His second marriage to Yang Chiao produced Wang's first child, making a total of five. Wang later married a third time in 1935 to Lee Pao-chu. Wang and Lee had another five children; Wang fathered a total of ten. His eldest son from his second marriage with Yang Chiao, Winston Wang, founded Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing with

Jiang Mianheng Jiang Mianheng (; born 8 April 1951) is a Chinese scholar, entrepreneur, and political figure. He has served as Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of ShanghaiTech University. His father is Jiang Zemin, General Secre ...

, the son of former

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

General Secretary

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

in 2000. A daughter from his second marriage, Charlene Wang founded Taiwan-based

First International Computer First International Computer, Inc. (FIC; zh, t=大眾電腦股份有限公司, p=Dàzhòng Diànnǎo Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is a Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer and system integrator for automotive electronics and smart building ...

, Inc. Another daughter,

Cher Wang Cher Wang ( zh, t=王雪紅, p=Wáng Xuěhóng; born 15 September 1958) is a Taiwanese businesswoman and entrepreneur. As co-founder and chairperson (since 2007) of HTC Corporation and integrated chipset maker VIA Technologies, she is one of t ...

, founded

High Tech Computer HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...

(HTC) and

VIA Technologies VIA Technologies, Inc. () is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory. It was once the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets. As a fabless semiconductor company, ...

. Among the Wang siblings, Cher has come closest to rivaling her father's wealth. In 2011,

estimated Cher Wang's personal fortune at $8.8 billion, making her the wealthiest individual in Taiwan at the time. Wang passed away in his sleep on October 15, 2008 at his home in

Short Hills, New Jersey Short Hills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) situated within Millburn, in Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. The community is a commuter town for resi ...

. He was 91 years old. The family struggles which followed his death led to the discovery that he had engaged in extensive

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

and had stashed billions of dollars offshore.

Early life and career

See also

References

Further reading