Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Daniel Tsai and his brother Richard Tsai of Taiwan's Fubon Group ranked the richest men in the country, according to Forbes Taiwan's 50 Richest 2017 list.
Morris Chang, chairman of contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) entered the top 50 list for the first time to take 50th place as TSMC shares hit a record high in June, Forbes said.
The two Tsai brothers took first place in the annual list for the third consecutive year with their fortune totaling US$10 billion after shares of Fubon Financial Holding Co., the flagship entity of Fubon Group and Taiwan Mobile Co. soared.
In addition to financial and telecom services, Fubon Group also runs momo.com, a TV shopping business, Forbes said.
The magazine said that Taiwan's tycoons have largely benefited from a strong showing of the domestic equity market.
For his part, TSMC's Chang, who owns a roughly 0.5 percent stake in TSMC, the world's largest pure wafer foundry operator, his fortune hit about US$930 million, making him the 50th-richest person in Taiwan.
Although Chang was placed on the Taiwan's top 50 richest men list for the first time, it was not the first recognition by Forbes, due to his achievements in the semiconductor industry.
According to Forbes, Chang, who has been called the "Silicon Godfather" by the New York Times, was put on the cover of the international edition of the magazine as "The Catalyst" in 2001. In 2012, Chang appeared on the cover of Forbes Asia as Businessman of the Year.
On the 2017 Taiwan richest list, Terry Gou, chairman of iPhone and iPad assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., came in second with a total fortune of US$9.5 billion.
Apple Inc. is one of Hon Hai's prominent customers. The Taiwanese manufacturer employs about 1 million workers in its broad production site in China, rolling out high-tech devices for many international brands.
Tsai Hung-tu and his brother Tsai Cheng-da of Cathay Financial Holding Co. took third place on the 2017 list, with fortunes of US$7.2 billion, ahead of Tsai Eng-meng, who chairs food conglomerate Want Want Group with US$6 billion and Lin Yu-lin, head of property developer Hong Tai Group with US$5.6 billion.
The Wang family, who owns conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, came in sixth with US$5.4 billion, followed by the Wei Family of food conglomerate Ting Hsin International Group with US$5.3 billion, Quanta Computer Inc.Chairman Barry Lim with US$4.2 billion, Jason Chang and his brother Richard Chang of IC packaging and testing firm Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. with US$4 billion, and Luo Jye, founder of Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. with US$3.8 billion.
