Kao Ching-yuen (; 24 May 1929 – March 2016, aged 86) was a Taiwanese businessman. Kao was born to a poor family in Gakkō Village, Hokumon District,

Tainan Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County. Population Administrative divisions ...

, Japanese-era Taiwan (modern-day Syuejia,

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

). Kao began working upon graduating from elementary school. He got into Taiwan Spinning (台南紡織), a

textile processing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

company in 1954, and became a manager later. Kao left Taiwan Spinning in 1966. He established the

Uni-President Corporation Uni-President Enterprises Corporation () is an international food conglomerate based in Tainan, Taiwan. It is the largest food production company in Taiwan as well as Asia, and has a significant market share in dairy products, foods and snacks, ...

in 1967 and served as company chairman until 2013. In 1997, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Management from

National Sun Yat-sen University National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU; ) is a public research-intensive university renowned as an official think tank scholars' community, located in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. NSYSU is listed as one of six national research universities, ...

(NSYSU). In 2003 he was awarded a Management Medal by the Chinese Management Association. Kao's death was confirmed by Uni-President on 1 April 2016, and a funeral was held the same day.

References

1929 births 2016 deaths Businesspeople from Tainan 20th-century Taiwanese businesspeople {{Taiwan-business-bio-stub