Kao Ching-yuen

Kao Ching-yuen was a Taiwanese businessman best known as the founder of Uni-President Enterprises Corporation.

Biography

Kao was born to a poor family in Gakkō Village, Hokumon District, Tainan Prefecture, Japanese-era Taiwan on 24 May 1929. In 1942, at the age of 13, Kao began working in a sandal factory. In 1946, he joined a firm owned by his cousin-in-law Wu Hsiu-chi, the Xinhexing Cloth Shop, as an apprentice before starting his own company, Dexing Cloth Shop, in 1949.
He joined Tainan Spinning, a textile processing company founded by Wu Hsiu-chi, in 1955 as a sales manager.
Kao left Tainan Spinning in 1967 to establish the Uni-President Corporation, and served as company chairman until 2013.
In 1997, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Management from National Sun Yat-sen University and an Order of Brilliant Star award on 23 December 1999. In 2003, he was awarded a Management Medal by the Chinese Management Association.
Kao's death was confirmed by Uni-President on 1 April 2016, and a funeral was held the same day.