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Barry Lam (; born 24 April 1949) is a Taiwanese
billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The ...
businessman, and the founder and chairman of
Quanta Computer Quanta Computer Incorporated () () is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of notebook computers and other electronic hardware. Its customers include Apple Inc., Dell, Hewlett-Packard Inc., Acer Inc., Alienware, Amazon.com, Cisco, Fujitsu, Gericom, Le ...
.Quanta Computer
Quantatw.com.
He is also a patron of the arts and a philanthropist in the area of culture and education.http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/who_1b_l2o.html On 25 May 2021, ''
Bloomberg Billionaires Index The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...
'' estimated his net worth at $5.98 Billion. Barry Lam was born in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
and raised in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. His father was an accountant for the Hong Kong Club. He studied engineering in Taiwan, graduating from
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...
with bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering. In 1973, he and some former classmates founded ,Barry Lam, Founder, Quanta Computer, Taiwan (int'l edition)
''Bloomberg BusinessWeek''. (14 June 1999).
a manufacturer of handheld calculators. As president of the company he built it into the largest contract manufacturer of calculators. In the late 1980s, he became convinced that notebook computers would be the next big product. He left Kinpo and founded
Quanta Computer Quanta Computer Incorporated () () is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of notebook computers and other electronic hardware. Its customers include Apple Inc., Dell, Hewlett-Packard Inc., Acer Inc., Alienware, Amazon.com, Cisco, Fujitsu, Gericom, Le ...
in 1988. He set up Quanta Computer with the help of a colleague, C. C. Leung, with capital of less than US$900,000. It had a turnover of NT$777 billion in 2007, US$23.7 billion.CommonWealth Magazine
English.cw.com.tw.
In 2006, '' Fortune Magazine'' included Quanta in the
Fortune Global 500 The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by '' Fortune'' magazine. Methodology Until 1989, it listed o ...
Companies, and in 2007, ''Forbes'' placed Quanta 15th in its ranking of the world's most admired computer companies, the highest of a Taiwanese company. Quanta designs and manufactures for clients such as
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
,
Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...
,
Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
, Gateway, BlackBerry Ltd., Hewlett-Packard,
Alienware Alienware is an American computer hardware subsidiary of Dell. Their product range is dedicated to gaming computers which can be identified by their alien-themed designs. Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, and i ...
,
Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
,
Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...
, Gericom,
Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related se ...
, LG, Maxdata,
MPC MPC, Mpc or mpc may refer to: Astronomy * Megaparsec (Mpc), unit of length used in astronomy * Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ** ''Minor Planet Circulars'' (MPC, M.P.C. or MPCs), astronomical publication from the Minor ...
,
Sharp Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more tha ...
, Siemens,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
,
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...
, and
Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems ...
. It is the largest manufacturer of PC notebooks worldwide and has diversified into servers, storage, and liquid-crystal display terminals.Quanta Computer
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Quanta

Lam established the Quanta Research and Development Center at its headquarters in Taiwan. The center works on many collaborative projects with major institutions such as
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
,
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...
and
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...
on producing next generation products.


MIT Project T-Party

In 2005, Lam and Quanta joined forces with
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
on Project T-Party, (0M project sets sights on future of computing , MIT News Office
Web.mit.edu (13 April 2005).
a five-year initiative to create the next generation of platforms for computing and communication. The project aims to create new interfaces and explore new ways of managing and accessing information.


One Laptop per Child

Lam decided that Quanta would be the
original design manufacturer An original design manufacturer is a company that designs and manufactures a product that is eventually rebranded by another firm for sale. Such companies allow the firm that owns or licenses the brand to produce products while having to engage i ...
(ODM) for the
OLPC XO-1 The OLPC XO (formerly known as $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, 2B1) is a low cost laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to " ...
by the One Laptop per Child project. Quanta took orders for one million laptops as of 2007-02-15. The OLPC project was also part of Quanta's
Blue Ocean Strategy ''Blue Ocean Strategy'' is a book published in 2004 written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, professors at INSEAD, and the name of the marketing theory detailed on the book. They assert that these strategic moves create a leap in value for ...
, entering new market segments which are uncontested in terms of competition.


Arts patronage and philanthropy

Lam is one of the foremost patron of the arts in Taiwan. He has a personal collection of more than 1,000 works of art and in particular, he collects Chinese paintings and calligraphy. One of his favourite painters is Zhang Daqian, and he has more than 250 of his works. He is a sponsor of the Zhang Daqian Museum, which is housed in the artist's former home. He has incorporated a Museum of Art and Technology in the headquarters of Quanta in Taiwan, and he displays his personal art collection there. He is chairman of the Advisory Committee of the
National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...
, Taipei, one of the leading museums worldwide. It has the largest collection of Chinese artefacts in the world. He is chairman of the Contemporary Art Foundation which manages the
MoCA Taipei The Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (MoCA Taipei; ) is a museum of contemporary art, located in Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan. History The museum building was built during the Japanese rule in 1921 for what later became Jiànchéng Element ...
. He is director of the
Cloud Gate Dance Theater Cloud Gate Dance Theater () is a modern dance group based in Taiwan. It was founded by choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973, and later he shared its management with his late protégé, choreographer Lo Man-fei. The troupe was inactive from October ...
group, a Taiwanese modern dance group, which has performed in the
Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...
in New York, and toured Europe extensively. He is founder and chairman of the Quanta Cultural and Educational foundation, which promotes culture, art and education in Taiwan. It promotes educational exhibitions and programs for schools free of charge. It has held more than 20 exhibitions in 291 schools, with more than 1.3 million young people participating in its educational activities. The foundation has received the Wen Hsin Golden Award from the
Council for Cultural Affairs The Ministry of Culture (MOC, ) is the ministry of the Republic of China ( Taiwan) that promotes cultural and creative industries. The ministry also maintains thNational Repository of Cultural Heritage History Established in 1981 by Executive Y ...
, Taiwan, for its outstanding promotion of social education many times.Quanta Computer
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In November 2002, Barry Lam announced that he would fund a new College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at his alma mater
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...
. It opened in July 2004, and is known as the Barry Lam Hall. It houses the Barry Lam Art Gallery in its basement. He is chairman of the
Dwen An Social Welfare Foundation DWEN (100.5 FM), broadcasting as 100.5 Boom Radio, is a radio station owned and operated by Hypersonic Broadcasting Center. Its studios and transmitter are located at Purok 4, LTO Compound, Brgy. Alawihao, Daet Daet (), officially the Mun ...
, a charitable organisation funded by leading business people in Taiwan. He is a board director of the China Exploration and Research Society (CERS), a Hong Kong-based group dedicated to understanding the natural wonders of China.


Honors

*2019 First Class Science and Technology Profession Medal,
Ministry of Science and Technology A Science Ministry or Department of Science is a ministry or other government agency charged with science. The ministry is often headed by a Minister for Science. List of Ministries of Science Many countries have a Ministry of Science or Ministry ...
*2012 Honorary Doctorate, National Tsing Hua University *2007 Honorary Doctorate, National Taiwan University *2005 Honorary Degree: Doctor of Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University *2006 'Second Class Bright Star Medal' Taiwan Government *2006 and 2002 Wen Hsin Silver Award for outstanding promotion of social education, Council of Cultural Affairs, Taiwan *2005 Entrepreneur of the Year, Ernst and Young *2002 One of '25 Managers of the Year', Business Week Magazine *2001 and 1999 One of 'The Stars of Asia', Business Week MagazineThe Stars of Asia (int'l edition)
. ''Bloomberg BusinessWeek''. (14 June 1999).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Barry Collectors of Asian art Hong Kong emigrants to Taiwan National Taiwan University alumni 20th-century Taiwanese businesspeople 1949 births Living people Taiwanese billionaires Businesspeople from Shanghai Taiwanese chief executives Quanta Computer Taiwanese people from Shanghai 21st-century Taiwanese businesspeople