Eugene Wu

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]

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]

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]