Cao Dewang (; born May 1946), also known as Cho Tak Wong or Tak Wong Cho, is a Chinese entrepreneur. He is the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Fuyao Group, one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world. He is also a member of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference from

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, and chairman of both the China Automobile Glass Association and the Fujian Golf Players' Association.

Early life

Cao was born in 1946 in

Fuqing (; Foochow Romanized: Hók-chiăng; also romanized as Hokchia) is a county-level city of Fujian Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou. Geography Fuqing is located in the north-central part of ...

into a wealthy

ese family.

Business career

In 1983, while working as a sales manager in a glass factory which produced glass for water meters, Cao saved enough money to buy out the factory. In 1985, he saw Japanese automakers bringing their manufacturing to China, and as a result, Cao directed his factory to begin producing automotive glass. In 1987, he established the Fuyao Group and in 1993 the company was listed on the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exc ...

. In 2009, Cao was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year. His brother Cao Degan was the vice governor of Fujian province from 1998 to 2003. In March 2005, his son took over Fuyao Group as the chief executive, while Cao retains the chairmanship. In the 2019 documentary '' American Factory'', Cao is followed as he tours his new American addition to Fuyao. While overseeing the growth of his company in America, Cao leads fellow native Chinese to help grow the company in America. Nearly 200 workers moved to America leaving their lives behind to help grow Fuyao. Upon the new American factory opening, American workers pushed to unionize the factory claiming unsafe work conditions and unfair pay.

Philanthropy

Cao is one of China's biggest

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

s. He cites

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, an American industrialist and philanthropist, as one of the main inspirations behind his charity work. He established the Heren Foundation, to which he has donated 300 million shares of his company. In 2012, he donated US$580 million to charity. He is quoted as saying that the more money he gives away, the less need he has for the money. He would rather share with others and educate children.

Personal life

Cao is a devout Buddhist. He authored an autobiography titled ''A Heart like

Bodhi The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect ...

'' () which was published in 2014. He is married to Chen Fengying, with whom he has three children; Cao Hui, Cao Yanping, and Cao Daiteng.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Dewang 1946 births Living people Businesspeople from Fuzhou Billionaires from Shanghai People from Fuqing Chinese company founders Businesspeople from Shanghai Billionaires from Fujian Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference