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Wu Brothers Unite To Form Taiwan's Fourth Largest Financial Holding Company
Eugene Wu (left) and Thomas Wu.
This story is part of Forbes' coverage of Taiwan's Richest 2025. See the full list here.
Taiwan's Taishin Holdings and Shin Kong Financial Holding, respectively founded by billionaire brothers Thomas Wu (No. 30, $2.2 billion) and Eugene Wu (No. 44, $1.6 billion), said last year that they would merge to create the island's fourth-largest financial holding company with NT$8.3 trillion ($274 billion) in total assets.
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The deal, set to close in July, will see Taishin remaining as the listed entity while Shin Kong will be delisted. The current shareholders of Taishin and Shin Kong will own about 52% and 48%, respectively, in the combined firm to be called TS Financial Holding.
The merger will speed up the financial giant's market expansion with more diversified products and services in banking, insurance and securities, and support the government's initiative to build Taiwan into an asset-management center in Asia, Taishin said in October.
The merger follows a failed takeover bid of Shin Kong by Jeffrey Koo Jr.'s (No. 13, $4.7 billion) CTBC Financial Holding, which was blocked by regulators. The brothers, previously estranged in the 1990s over control of their late father Wu Ho-su's textile conglomerate Shin Kong Group, reportedly facilitated the deal.
Thomas struck out on his own with Taishin and serves as its chairman; his older brother Eugene took over Shin Kong Group after their father died in 1986 and went on to create the financial company in 2002. He stepped down as chairman from the latter in 2020.
