Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) is the 23rd-richest man in the world’s high-tech sector, according to Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 richest tech businesspeople.
With US$10.2 billion in net worth as of Aug. 21, Gou rose eight notches from a year earlier to occupy the top spot among Taiwanese high-tech entrepreneurs in the latest rankings, the magazine said.
People active in hardware, software, social media, online gambling and high-tech manufacturing were considered for the list, Forbes said.
Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) outside Taiwan, is the world’s largest contract electronics maker.
It assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc.
Gou ranked second among the top-50 richest people in Taiwan and 182nd in the world in the previous two rankings released by Forbes this year.
Two other Taiwanese tech tycoons made the latest list.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) ranked 60th with a net worth of US$4.2 billion, while Largan Precision Co (大立光) cofounder Scott Lin (林耀英) ranked 76th with a net worth of US$3.2 billion.
Quanta is the world’s largest contract notebook computer maker and also one of the main suppliers of the Apple Watch.
Largan, which makes 90 percent of all rear lenses for Apple’s iPhones, generated about 40 percent of its total revenue from Apple last year, Forbes said.
The tech billionaire rankings were dominated by US-based entrepreneurs, who took 50 out of the 100 spots, including the top six places, Forbes said.
Microsoft Corp cofounder Bill Gates retained the top position with a net worth of US$84.5 billion, ahead of Amazon.com Inc chief executive officer Jeff Bezos (US$81.7 billion) and Facebook Inc cofounder Mark Zuckerberg (US$69.6 billion).
The combined net worth of the top 100 richest tech businesspeople topped US$1 trillion, up 21 percent from a year earlier, the magazine said.
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