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Eugene Wu
Taiwanese businessman (born 1945) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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. As of November 2025[update], Forbes estimated his net worth at US$1.6 billion.[1]
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,[2][3] which include Eric and Thomas,[4][5] as well as Wu Tung-hsien.[6] Eugene's eldest sister is Wu Ju-yueh.[7][8]
Wu earned a bachelor's degree from Waseda University.[9]
Career
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After his father's death in 1986, Eugene Wu assumed control of several of his father's holdings.[3][10] Eugene partnered with construction magnate James Lin to build many buildings owned by the Shin Kong Group.[11] In June 2002, Thomas Wu proposed a merger between his Taishin Financial Holdings and Eugene's Shin Kong Financial Holding.[12] After eight days of formal consideration, Thomas withdrew the offer.[13] In August 2005, Eugene was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office on charges of insider trading,[14][15] a violation of the Securities and Exchange Law related to the failed merger of 2002.[16][17][18] That October, Shin Kong Financial completed a merger with Macoto Bank to form Shin Kong Bank.[19][20] That same year, Wu was targeted by the Financial Holding Company Act announced by the Financial Supervisory Commission,[21][22] which made it illegal for top executives at financial holding companies to hold equivalent leadership positions at other non-financial businesses.[23][24] In 2006, Wu expressed an interest in forming a partnership with a financial institution that had international reach.[25] Later that year, Wu's Shin Kong Financial Holding increased its investment in Shin Kong Bank.[26] Wu also considered acquiring First Financial Holding.[20][27] In his later career, Eugene Wu focused on the acquisition and sale of real estate on behalf of Shin Kong Life Insurance.[28][29][30] Notable investments include office space in the Neihu Science Park and in London.[31][32] 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.[33][34] Eugene Wu announced in June 2020 that he was stepping down from his position as chair of Shin Kong Financial.[35] Wu was suspended from his post as chairman of Shin Kong Life Insurance on 15 September 2020, by the Financial Supervisory Commission.[36] The company was fined for a reckless investment, and Wu was suspended for poor supervision.[36] Wu was barred from rejoining the company board until his term ended in June 2023.[37]
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Personal life
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Wu has spoken favorably regarding the economic influence of China on Taiwan.[38] He attended an annual forum organized by China's Taiwan Affairs Office in 2004.[39] Wu has served the Formosa Foundation as a board member and the General Association of Chinese Culture as an executive member.[40][41]
Fortune valued Wu's net worth at $1.8 billion in 1992.[10] Wu was ranked on Forbes list of Taiwanese billionaires in 2006, with a net worth of $1.9 billion.[42] By 2008, his net worth had risen to $2.3 billion, ranked eleventh.[43][44] Forbes reported that Wu lost one billion of his net worth in the 2009 rankings, placing twelfth in Taiwan.[45] In 2010, Wu's fortune was valued at $1.5 billion, and ranked fourteenth.[46] 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.[47] The 2017 Forbes rankings slid Wu to forty-first, with his fortune valued at $1.1 billion.[48] The 2020 list ranked Wu the thirty-seventh richest Taiwanese billionaire, and valued his net worth at $1.2 billion.[49]
Wu is married to Hsu Hsien-hsien,[50] the daughter of banker and politician Hsu Sheng-fa.[51] Wu and his wife raised three children. His eldest daughter, Cynthia Wu, married Tommy Lin, an executive at Hua Nan Securities, in 2010.[52] His middle child is Wu Hsin-ju.[53][54] Wu's youngest child and only son is Wu Yi-tung.[55][56]
Wu acquired the gorilla later named Bao Bao after he was smuggled to Taiwan in 1987, and donated the primate to the Taipei Zoo.[57]
References
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