John Chuang Tiong Choon (born 1948) is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an business magnate best known as the co-founder of chocolate confectionery organisation Petra Foods, which is allegedly one of the world's biggest cocoa-producing firms. He now serves as the company's Group chief executive officer.

Personal life

John Chuang Tiong Choon was born 1948 in Singapore. He attended the England-based

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in 1973. Two years later in 1975, he completed his master's in business administration course at Cranfield Business School. Chuang is married with two children. He resides in Singapore.

Business career

Chuang co-founded Petra Foods, a manufacturer of cocoa goods, in 1984 with his two brothers Joseph and William. Prior to establishing Petra Foods, Chuang tried his hand at other industries. Among others, he served as both the California-based Wardley Development's President and the Independence Bank of California's Vice-President from 1979 to 1983. On 5 November 2004, Chuang was appointed as Group chief executive officer of Petra Foods. Petra Foods now claims to be the third-largest cocoa producer in the world.

Wealth and recognition

Chuang's net worth in 2011 was an estimated $510 million. That year,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

ranked him as the twenty-fourth richest man in Singapore. In 2012, he dropped in ranking to number twenty-seven. In 2013, his net worth was estimated to be $965 million, increasing his rank to number twenty-two. Chuang's rise in wealth was attributed to part of Petra Foods being purchased by the Switzerland-based

Barry Callebaut Barry Callebaut is a Belgian-Swiss cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer, with an average annual production of 2.3 million tonnes of cocoa & chocolate (fiscal year 2021/2022). It was created in 1996 through the merging of the Belgian ...

for some $950 million. For his contributions to the cocoa industry, the title of "Businessman of the Year 2011" was bestowed upon Chuang during the 2012 Singapore Business Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chuang, John 1948 births Living people Singaporean businesspeople Businesspeople in confectionery Chocolate industry Alumni of the University of Liverpool