James Henry Ting Wei (丁謂, born 1951) is a

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 flow ...

-born

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former business executive who was once one of

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 Delt ...

's most successful businessmen before being charged with illegal business practices.

Early years

Ting was born in Shanghai in 1951 and moved to

in 1958, where he studied at Rosaryhill School from 1963. Ting moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with his wife to study engineering at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. After graduation, Ting founded International Semi Tech Microsystems, a computer assembler, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1981.

Building the empire

With Semi-Tech Ting expanded beyond computer components to acquire various high profile businesses like

Singer Corporation Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Ma ...

Sansui Electric was a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it was part of the Bermuda conglomerate (from 2011). The company was founded in Tokyo in 1947 by Kosaku Kikuchi, who had worked for a radio parts distr ...

, G.M. Pfaff and

Akai Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produc ...

. At its peak in 1997, Ting's business empire employed 100,000 people in 120 countries with sales of $5 billion. Before the empire collapsed in 1999, Ting sold them to

Grande Holdings Grande Holdings Ltd () () is a Chinese manufacturer of consumer and professional audio and HiFi components based in Kowloon, Hong Kong. In the past, Grande Holdings has purchased several Japanese HiFi manufacturers, including Akai and Nakamichi. ...

, which he founded in 1987.

Collapse and downfall

These businesses Ting was involved in and improper business practices brought down his empire, tarnished the businesses he led or acquired. Singer made a loss of $238 million in 1997, while Semi-Tech and Akai both went bankrupt in 2000. Ting fled Canada to avoid investigation by Canadian and US authorities and eventually Hong Kong to Macau. He was forced to return to Hong Kong, but left for China to avoid being investigated by Hong Kong regulators from 2000 to 2003. He was arrested after flying back from Macau by helicopter in March 2003 and was then investigated by

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

's Commercial Crimes Bureau. On 29 June 2005 he was convicted to two counts of false accounting relating to a fake HK$300 million stake in MicroMain Systems, and was sentenced to six years in prison. After serving only one year, Ting's conviction was overturned by Hong Kong's Court of Appeals and he escaped retrial in 2006. He escaped another retrial in November 2007. Ting's whereabouts after his legal problems are unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ting, James Businesspeople from Shanghai Businesspeople from Toronto Hong Kong business executives University of Toronto alumni 1951 births Accounting scandals Living people 20th-century Canadian businesspeople 21st-century Canadian businesspeople Canadian Catholics