TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The founder of the controversial Taiwanese land developer Pau Jar Group was named among 15 Asian billionaires who are this year’s "Heroes of Philanthropy," according to Forbes Asia.
The unranked list was unveiled on Tuesday (Dec. 14). Among the listees is Lin Chen-hai (林陳海), who was selected for contributing NT$3 billion (US$100 million), the largest donation of its kind in Taiwan, to establish the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science at the country's top-ranking National Tsing Hua University. The school's first students enrolled in September.
Other top philanthropists in the Asia-Pacific region included Vietnam’s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, who gave significantly to alleviate COVID-19’s impact on local communities; Hong Kong’s billionaire siblings Gerald and Ronnie Chan, who made donations to a medical school; Japanese manufacturing tycoon Takemitsu Takizaki, who funded scholarships for university students in his country; Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, who signed the Giving Pledge; Filipina businesswoman Teresita Sy-Coson, who supported medical treatments for 1.2 million underprivileged patients and funded various education projects across the country; and Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, whose financial commitments to nonprofits tackle the climate crisis.
Top builder Pau Jar Group is believed to own over 70 construction companies nationwide and builds 15,000 to 20,000 new homes every year on average, making it the largest property developer in the country. Lin is believed to have a net worth of over NT$100 billion.
The property tycoon has made headlines in the past year for a government pension fund scandal in which top executives from the group's affiliate PJ Asset Management Co. (寶佳資產管理) were prosecuted last February for alleged share price manipulation that resulted in massive losses for the national labor fund.
