Food tycoon and aspiring media mogul Tsai Eng-meng has assumed the title of Taiwan's richest person this year.
Boosted by his mainland-based business, the outspoken chairman of food company Want Want China has seen his net worth rise to an estimated US$8 billion from US$6.1 billion last year, Forbes magazine reported last month.
Tsai ranked third on Forbes' Taiwan rich list last year, but the rice cracker empire he has been building on the mainland since 1994 propelled him to the top this year, supplanting Cher Wang, chairwoman of smartphone maker HTC.
She fell to 8th place as her combined wealth with husband Chen Wen-chi plummeted by nearly two-thirds to US$3.05 billion amid stiff competition from rivals Apple and Samsung.
Tsai and Wang both have reputations for dogged persistency and their support for stable cross-strait relations. Both backed Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's campaign for a second four-year term because of his policy of engagement with the mainland. Both consequently have faced calls from the island's proindependence camp for consumers to boycott their firms' products.
They have also taken a strong interest in the mass media after establishing their business empires, but analysts say their approaches have been very different.
Tsai, 55, established his food empire by producing snacks, rice crackers, dairy products and juices on the mainland, with revenue rising to US$2.9 billion last year.