This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Taiwan’s Richest 2026. See the full list here.
In the past year, Pierre Chen made notable progress in achieving his goal of making Yageo, the company he founded and where he is chairman, into a one-stop shop for electronic components. In January the Taiwan Stock Exchange-listed company completed the $703 million acquisition of Japan’s Shibaura Electronics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers by market share of thermistor sensors, which are used in cars, air conditioners and other home appliances.
In October Yageo paid NT$3.7 billion ($117) million to acquire around 21% of Anpec Electronics, a company based in the tech hub of Hsinchu that designs power semiconductor chips for products such as computers and automotive electronics. Daiki Takayama, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Japan, forecasts in an April report that these acquisitions and its more diversified portfolio will give Yageo a 39% bump in revenue this year to NT$185 billion.
Shares of the company surged more than fivefold over the past 12 months, boosting Chen’s net worth by $12.1 billion to $18.2 billion. The billionaire, who’s also an avid art collector, founded the company in 1977, building it into a global supplier with 65 factories worldwide and customers such as Apple and Nvidia.