Eugene Wu

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 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.[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.[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 increased its investment in Shin Kong Bank.[25] Wu also considered acquiring First Financial Holding.[19][26] In his later career, Eugene Wu focused on the acquisition and sale of real estate on behalf of Shin Kong Life Insurance.[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 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 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, 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
  1. "Will the rightful Shinkong Fibers chief stand up?". Taipei Times. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. Flannery, Russell (28 June 2017). "The Price Of Good Fortune: Trials Of Taiwan's Wealthy Wu Family". Forbes. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  3. Hsu, Crystal (22 October 2013). "Bank of Taipei to expand beyond Greater Taipei". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  4. Huang, Joyce (12 October 2004). "FSC to launch probe into alleged insider trading by Wu brothers". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  5. Huang, Joyce (23 November 2004). "Wu family ends chairmanship feud". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. "Investigators solve burglary of Hsin Kuan Group heir". Taipei Times. 2 April 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  7. Ko, Shu-ling (20 April 2000). "City police punished for Shin Kong theft debacle". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "Tung Chin Wu". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. "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.
  11. Chen, Kevin (26 June 2002). "Taishin and Shin Kong to merge holding firms". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  12. Huang, Joyce (5 July 2002). "Merger plan's demise a wise decision, says economist". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  13. "Executives indicted". Taipei Times. 13 August 2005.
  14. Chang, Rich (14 August 2005). "Two indicted for insider trading". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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  16. Kathrin, Hille (4 September 2005). "Taiwan plans to tighten insider trading rules". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  17. Chung, Amber (23 August 2005). "Shinkong expects hedging costs to soar". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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  19. Chung, Amber; Lin, Jackie (6 October 2006). "Financial group expects steady profits this year". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
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  27. Chung, Amber (30 January 2007). "Consumers shy away from hot property market". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
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  29. Chen, Kevin (11 October 2008). "Shin Kong Life shifts investments". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  30. Chen, Kevin (13 December 2008). "Shin Kong Insurance buys Neihu Science Park office building". Taipei Times.
  31. Chen, Ted (15 December 2015). "Shin Kong buys London office building for ￡136m". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  32. Chen, Kevin (4 March 2009). "Shin Kong to sell Xinyi property to raise cash". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  33. Hsu, Crystal (13 August 2015). "Shin Kong's Xinyi office building set for auction". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  34. Kao, Shih-ching (20 June 2020). "Shin Kong Financial chair retires". Taipei Times. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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  47. "#41 Eugene Wu & family". Forbes. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  48. "#37 Eugene Wu". Forbes. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
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  50. Chung, Amber (12 May 2007). "Cosmos Bank says local and overseas investors secured". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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  52. 陳瑩欣 (3 July 2017). "吳欣盈豪爽強勢 吳欣儒低調沉穩". Apple Daily (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  53. 盧冠誠 (7 July 2017). "二公主接董事 2個女人無戰事". Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  54. 蔡靜紋 (18 August 2009). "新光少東吳昕東：30歲 再回去接班". United Daily News (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  55. 廖千瑩 (28 May 2018). "新光三代 吳東賢家族接班最快". Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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