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Eugene Wu ( Chinese: 吳東進; pinyin: Wú Dōngjìn; born 1945) is a Taiwanese business executive. He led the Shin Kong Group and several affiliated subsidiaries.

Early life

Eugene Wu was born one of six children to Wu Ho-su [ zh] and Wu Kuei-lan, and is the eldest of his brothers, [1] [2] which include Eric and Thomas, [3] [4] as well as Wu Tung-hsien [ zh]. [5] Eugene's eldest sister is Wu Ju-yueh. [6] [7]

Wu earned a bachelor's degree from Waseda University. [8]

Career

After his father's death in 1986, Eugene Wu assumed control of several of his father's holdings. [2] [9] Eugene partnered with construction magnate James Lin to build many buildings owned by the Shin Kong Group. [10] In June 2002, Thomas Wu proposed a merger between his Taishin Financial Holdings and Eugene's Shin Kong Financial Holding. [11] After eight days of formal consideration, Thomas withdrew the offer. [12] In August 2005, Eugene was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office on charges of insider trading, [13] [14] a violation of the Securities and Exchange Law related to the failed merger of 2002. [15] [16] [17] That October, Shin Kong Financial completed a merger with Macoto Bank to form Shin Kong Bank [ zh]. [18] [19] That same year, Wu was targeted by the Financial Holding Company Act announced by the Financial Supervisory Commission, [20] [21] which made it illegal for top executives at financial holding companies to hold equivalent leadership positions at other non-financial businesses. [22] [23] In 2006, Wu expressed an interest in forming a partnership with a financial institution that had international reach. [24] Later that year, Wu's Shin Kong Financial Holding [ zh] increased its investment in Shin Kong Bank. [25] Wu also considered acquiring First Financial Holding [ zh]. [19] [26] In his later career, Eugene Wu focused on the acquisition and sale of real estate on behalf of Shin Kong Life Insurance [ zh]. [27] [28] [29] Notable investments include office space in the Neihu Science Park and in London. [30] [31] As Shin Kong Life fell into debt, Shing Kong Group has sold buildings within the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi joint venture, home to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store [ zh] in Taiwan. [32] [33] Eugene Wu announced in June 2020 that he was stepping down from his position as chair of Shin Kong Financial. [34] Wu was suspended from his post as chairman of Shin Kong Life Insurance on 15 September 2020, by the Financial Supervisory Commission. [35] The company was fined for a reckless investment, and Wu was suspended for poor supervision. [35] Wu is not permitted to rejoin the company board until his current term ends in June 2023. [36]

Personal life

Wu has spoken favorably regarding the economic influence of China on Taiwan. [37] He attended an annual forum organized by China's Taiwan Affairs Office in 2004. [38] Wu has served the Formosa Foundation as a board member and the General Association of Chinese Culture [ zh] as an executive member. [39] [40]

Fortune valued Wu's net worth at $1.8 billion in 1992. [9] Wu was ranked on Forbes list of Taiwanese billionaires in 2006, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. [41] By 2008, his net worth had risen to $2.3 billion, ranked eleventh. [42] [43] Forbes reported that Wu lost one billion of his net worth in the 2009 rankings, placing twelfth in Taiwan. [44] In 2010, Wu's fortune was valued at $1.5 billion, and ranked fourteenth. [45] The next year, according to Forbes, Wu's net worth had recovered to a total of $2.2 billion, and he was listed thirteenth on the list of Taiwanese billionaires. [46] The 2017 Forbes rankings slid Wu to forty-first, with his fortune valued at $1.1 billion. [47] The 2020 list ranked Wu the thirty-seventh richest Taiwanese billionaire, and valued his net worth at $1.2 billion. [48]

Wu is married to Hsu Hsien-hsien, [49] the daughter of banker and politician Hsu Sheng-fa. [50] Wu and his wife raised three children. His eldest daughter, Cynthia Wu, married Tommy Lin [ zh], an executive at Hua Nan Securities, in 2010. [51] His middle child is Wu Hsin-ju. [52] [53] Wu's youngest child and only son is Wu Yi-tung. [54] [55]

Wu acquired the gorilla later named Bao Bao after he was smuggled to Taiwan in 1987, and donated the primate to the Taipei Zoo. [56]

References

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  3. ^ Hsu, Crystal (22 October 2013). "Bank of Taipei to expand beyond Greater Taipei". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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  9. ^ a b "The billionaires". Fortune. 7 September 1992.
  10. ^ "H. Rept. 105-829 - INVESTIGATION OF POLITICAL FUNDRAISING IMPROPRIETIES AND POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS OF LAW INTERIM REPORT". United States Congress. 5 November 1998. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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