Chen Din Hwa was a Hong Kong industrial tycoon who had a net worth of $2.6 billion. Born in 1923 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, Mainland China to a poor family, he was only twelve when he became an apprentice to a silk merchant. He skipped school to work and help his father in the textile business that he started.
By the time he turned 22, he already served as chief manager of the family-owned company that run several shops and factories in Shanghai and Ningbo. It was in 1954 that he established Nan Fung Textiles, which eventually became a major property developer and shipping company. In 2009 he was declared incapable of “managing and administering his properties” by a Hong Kong court due to Alzheimer’s. The court-appointed committee named his daughter Vivien to head Nan Fung, passing by her older sister Angela, who is a longtime U.S. resident. But Chen’s wife, Yang Foo Oi, was not happy with the court’s ruling and later on sued her daughter Vivien accusing her of exercising undue influence. At the time of his death on 17 June 2012, Chen Din Hwa was the 14th wealthiest person in Hong Kong with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion. He also left behind the family’s D.H. Chen Foundation that has followed the teachings of Buddhism and made substantial donations to help the needy through education, welfare and medicine.
| Net Worth: | $2.6 Billion |
| Date of Birth: | 1923 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | China |