Five Taiwanese entrepreneurs on Forbes list of billionaires

This article was published on the Taiwan News on March 11, 2006. It reports that five Taiwanese entrepreneurs have been included on the Forbes magazine's list of the world's billionaires in 2006.

A record 793 billionaires worth a combined US$2.6 trillion are on the list. Of the five Taiwanese included in the list, Formosa Plastics Group Chairman Wang Yung-ching ranks 107th with a net worth of US$5.4 billion. Hon Hai Precision Chairman Terry Guo ranks 147th with a net worth of US$4.3 billion. Fubon Group Chairman Tsai Wan-tsai and family rank 207th with a net worth of US$3.3 billion. Via Technologies Inc. Chairman Cher Wang and her husband, the company's president Chen Wen-chi, rank 365th with a net worth of US$2.1 billion. Finally, Quanta Computer Chairman Barry Lam ranks 486th with a net worth of US$1.6 billion.

On the list, a total of 115 billionaires are from the Asia-Pacific region, with Japan having the largest number at 28. While there are 17 billionaires from Hong Kong, the number of those from China has increased from only two in 2005 to eight in 2006.

Meanwhile, India has seen the birth of 10 new billionaires in 2006, bringing the country's total number to 23.