This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Taiwan’s Richest 2026. See the full list here.
Amid the AI-driven boom in demand for chips, shares of Taipei-based Transcend Information, a maker of digital storage products such as memory modules and flash drives, more than tripled from a year ago, ushering chairman and CEO Peter Shu back onto the list after an eight-year gap. He appears at No. 36 with a $2.7 billion fortune shared with his family.
The company’s net profit more than doubled to NT$5.6 billion ($177 million) in 2025 on revenue that soared 70% to NT$17.1 billion. The stellar performance reflects higher prices for Transcend’s products as well as the company’s ability to secure long-term contracts for essential workhorse memory chips. These are in short supply as semiconductor makers scramble to meet rampant demand for more advanced AI chips.
In a push into AI-enabled products, the company last September introduced camera modules with vision sensors used for applications such as product inspection and surveillance. With a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Cheng Kung University, Shu worked as a project manager at U.S. tech giant HP in Taiwan before setting up Transcend in 1989. His brother Chung-Cheng and son Dao-An have board seats.