Lin Rong-san (; 27 May 1939 – 28 November 2015) was a Taiwanese politician, publisher and businessman. He was the founder of

Union Bank of Taiwan Union Bank of Taiwan (UBOT; ) is a bank in Taiwan. It is headquartered in Taipei and employs 3,628 people. ''Forbes'' states that Union Bank of Taiwan is a "medium-size lender", and is controlled by its founder, the billionaire Lin Rong-San Li ...

, and the publisher of ''

Liberty Times The ''Liberty Times'' is a national newspaper published in Taiwan. Founded by Lin Rong-San, it is published by the Liberty Times Group, which also publishes ''Taipei Times'', an English language newspaper . The newspaper was first published on 1 ...

'' and ''

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...

''.

Career

He won election to the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

in 1975, and was named Vice President of the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislative ...

in 1992, but stepped down to focus on the ''Liberty Times''. In June 2008, ''

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 ...

'' magazine ranked him as the seventh richest of Taiwan, with a net worth of US$2.7 billion. Lin fell to eighth on the same list in 2010, then slid to tenth in 2011. In November 2015, his fortune was valued at US$3.9 billion. Lin was awarded the

Order of Brilliant Star Order of Brilliant Star () is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of the nation. The order is instituted in 1941 and can be awarded to both domestic and foreign nationals. ...

with Grand Cordon by

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...

in 2000, followed by the

Order of Propitious Clouds The Order of Propitious Clouds () is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The center of the medal features a picture of clouds, as a token of auspiciousness. This order was instituted in 1941 and classified into nine ranks. As with ...

with Grand Cordon from

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

in 2008. His older brother is the billionaire real estate developer

Lin Yu-lin Lin Yu-lin (; 6 October 1936 – 9 June 2018) was a Taiwanese billionaire real estate developer, brother of fellow billionaire and politician Lin Rong-San. Biography Lin Yu-lin was born in 1936. He was a real estate mogul, owner of the commerc ...

Personal life

Lin died at home in Taipei on 28 November 2015, from cardiopulmonary failure caused by a tumor.

References

1939 births 2015 deaths Taiwanese bankers Taiwanese publishers (people) Taiwanese billionaires Businesspeople from New Taipei Senior Advisors to President Lee Teng-hui Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan New Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Yilan County Members of the Legislative Yuan Keelung Members of the Legislative Yuan Taiwanese Members of the Control Yuan Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Taiwanese newspaper founders {{Taiwan-business-bio-stub