Wong Yip Yan
Singaporean Chinese businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wong Yip Yan (Chinese: 黄业仁; pinyin: Wáng Yèren), also known as Y.Y. Wong, is a Singaporean Chinese businessman, and founder of the Wywy Group of Companies.[1][3][4] According to Businessweek, the Wywy Group controlled 76 companies and had annual sales of over $900 million.[1]
Wong Yip Yan | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1946 (age 79–80)[1] |
| Other name | Y.Y. Wong |
| Citizenship | Singapore |
| Organization | Wywy Group of Companies |
| Spouse | Geok Choo[2] |
Career
When Wong was 26, he became the first Singaporean director at Borneo Company Limited, a British trading company. Wong said his boss told him that a Chinese couldn't get promoted to the company's main board of directors, causing Wong to start his own business.[1]
To start the Wywy Group, Wong got funding from executives of Fujifilm, who had worked with Wong at Borneo. They helped him get a credit line of $178,000 from The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which allowed him to start the Wywy Group as a distributor of copy machines.[1]
Wong was the chairman of Yeo Hiap Seng, Singapore's largest drink manufacturer.[5]
Family
Wong is married and has three grown children.[2] Wong's oldest son, Dr. Wong Meng Ee, contracted retinitis pigmentosa when he was 11 years old.[1] The condition resulted in permanent blindness. Dr. Wong Meng Ee is currently the president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Society Singapore.[6]
Wong is the brother of Wong Yip Chong and uncle of Wong Meng Cheong. Meng Cheong is a prominent Singaporean physician who famously took his father's mistress to court over his $7 million house after his death. He ultimately lost his case against his father's mistress.[7]
Education
Wong is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.[2]