Lin Rong-San

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lin.

Lin Rong-san (Chinese: 林榮三; 27 May 1939 – 28 November 2015) was a Taiwanese politician, publisher, real estate developer and businessman. He was the founder of Union Bank of Taiwan, and the publisher of Liberty Times group that also includes its English-language version Taipei Times.^[1]

Lin Rong-san
Born	(1939-05-27)27 May 1939 Roshū Village, Shinshō District, Taihoku, Taiwan, Empire of Japan
Died	28 November 2015(2015-11-28) (aged 76) Taipei, Taiwan
Nationality	Taiwanese
Occupation(s)	Founder, Union Bank of Taiwan; publisher of Liberty Times (and its English counterpart)
Children	4

Career

Former Residence of Lin Rong-San in Shilin District, Taipei.

He was a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party from 1977 to 2015. He won a controversial election against Tangwai candidate Kuo Yu-hsin [zh] to the Legislative Yuan in 1975. He was later accused of involving electoral fraud, which was published in "The Tiger Falls in Pingyang: The Election! Lawsuit! Kuo Yu-hsin (虎落平陽－選戰！官司！郭雨新)". He was named Vice President of the Control Yuan in 1992, but stepped down to focus on the Liberty Times.^[2]

In June 2008, Forbes magazine ranked him as the seventh richest of Taiwan, with a net worth of US$2.7 billion.^[3] Lin fell to eighth on the same list in 2010,^[4] then slid to tenth in 2011.^[5] In November 2015, his fortune was valued at US$3.9 billion.^[6] Lin was awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon by Lee Teng-hui in 2000, followed by the Order of Propitious Clouds with Grand Cordon from Chen Shui-bian in 2008.^[7]

His older brother is the billionaire real estate developer Lin Yu-lin.

Personal life

Lin died at home in Taipei on 28 November 2015, from cardiopulmonary failure caused by a tumor.^[8]