During her years studying at UC Berkeley, Olivia Wu had a brief stint as an extra in a Hollywood production. “I was far behind the main characters, maybe about a centimeter tall on the screen,” she told the media, making a hand gesture to show how small she looked.

Well, she doesn’t look so small now.

She’s being prepped to become president of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. Ltd. This financial empire was built by her grandfather Wu Ho-su (吳火獅) and her father Eugene over half a century. With NT$3.9 trillion in assets, it is the fifth-largest financial holding company in the country.

At first, Olivia was not the main character in this story.

She has an older sister: Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), the Deputy CEO of Shin Kong Life Insurance Co. (新光人壽). For a long while, Cynthia was Eugene’s choice for his successor. However, Cynthia’s “American” way of doing things was at odds with the Shin Kong families. So she elected to go into politics instead and run for a seat in the Legislative Yuan.

Olivia is only 41 years old. How did she go from being an “extra” to becoming the youngest president of a financial holding company in Taiwan, and holding the keys to a trillion-dollar empire?

A Woman of Science with a Warm Touch

Olivia studied biology in the United States. After returning to Taiwan and interning at Shin Kong Financial Holding for a while, she made another trip stateside, this time to get a master’s degree in business at Columbia University in New York City. At the time of her graduation, 50 candidates were vying for the chance to work for Citibank in the United States. She was one of the only two who made the cut. 

While Olivia was working for Citibank in Hong Kong, the financial crisis hit. The first time she spoke to the press after returning to Taiwan, the year was 2007. She and her sister Cynthia had started a company together to carry the British accessories brand Accessorize. 

But starting in 2013, Cynthia became involved in a grueling, five-year-long legal battle over her crumbling marriage. In her absence, Olivia picked up the reins.  

In 2015, Olivia assembled a team of her own, a digital finance team erected by a committee of senior managers. Within a few years, they were working with digital financial services providers such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay, not to mention numerous ecommerce companies. They did all this from the position of small, low-profile bank. 

The digital head of a major Taiwanese bank observes that, while Shin Kong Bank is not large, it works proactively to digitize its services. “They were very clever with their arrangement of financial certifications. They used digitization as a bridge to allow customers from different industries to exchange not only information, but also services. Just selling financial services to industries within their own group has been enough to keep them busy.”

When former colleagues talk about Olivia, the common denominator is the description “warm”.

While studying in America, she volunteered at a homeless shelter. Her father Eugene says while she was working abroad, she would volunteer for the late shift at a suicide prevention lifeline. Because of this, she often got home at about one in the morning.

“She’s not one to lead the charge, but she is comfortable in a supporting role. If you come to her for help, she will do everything she can to find resources for you and help you overcome your hurdles,” says a former colleague.

In the eyes of her former colleague, Olivia’s marriage to Michael Hsu (許元禎), former president of Hua Nan Securities Co. (華南永昌證券), is one of comfort and happiness. “They have three children. With her background, she could easily wash her hands of (Shin Kong Financial Holding).” But Olivia was never one to shirk her responsibilities, because “If she doesn’t step up, it may be the downfall of the Wu family.”

Board Reshuffle Reveals Need for New Leadership

In truth, although the reelection of board members seemed to have gone off without a hitch, there is no hiding the bitter battle behind the scenes. Eugene Wu had to go to great lengths to maintain power over his company. 

Though all seven members of the board who are in Eugene’s camp were instated, three companies started by Eugene’s brothers and cousins—New Victory Investment Co. (新勝投資), Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co. (新光三越百貨), and Jinxian Investment Co. (進賢投資)—came out of the blue and “preemptively” nominated six candidates of their own. That is half of the seats on the board. Together with the seven board members in Eugene’s camp, that’s thirteen in total, one more than the dozen that was required.

This is a remarkable deviation from how the family usually runs its business, which is to reach an internal agreement beforehand, and then jointly nominate their favored candidates. In the end, it was nominee Hung-shiang Tsai (蔡宏祥) who didn’t make the cut. He had been jointly nominated by Shinkong Insurance Co. (新光產險) Chairman Wu Dong-sian (吳東賢) and Taishin Financial Holdings (台新金控) Chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) through Jinxian Investment. The fracture in the family has been laid bare for all to see.

A Finger in Every Pie, and the FSC on its Case

There are plenty of other issues apart from the sibling spat put on display during the reelection of the board. For one, too many on the board are also members of the Wu family. The number of brothers, uncles, and nephews who are company shareholders makes everything a jumbled mess. Some are even interfering with company operations through Shin Kong Hospital (新光醫院). All this has led to the Financial Supervisory Commission (金管會; FSC) making a big show of investigating the various holding companies and their shareholders. 

Currently, Shin Kong Financial Holding’s biggest shareholder is Eugene Wu’s Shin Kong Hospital, which holds 4.11% of the stocks. The second biggest is Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store, owned by Wu Tung-hsing (吳東興), which holds 3.88% of the stocks. The third biggest is New Victory Company (新勝公司), which holds 3.36% of the stocks. It is owned by Sylvia Peng (彭雪芬), spouse of Thomas Wu. Behind Shin Bo Co. (新柏公司), which fielded the most nominees during the board reelection, the stocks held by New Victory are spread among the descendants of the three brothers Wu King-long (吳金龍), Wu Ho-su, and Wu King-hu (吳金虎); not to mention the Hong family and the Lin Family, which co-founded the company with Wu Ho-su.

What’s Next for Olivia: De Facto Power Held by Dad

According to sources on the inside, there isn’t a single member of the Wu family’s third generation who is capable of stepping up and making some sense of this complicated web of power and money. “It’s not only a problem for the three big families (the Wus, the Hongs, and the Lins); even unrelated stockholders and foreign investors are tired of watching this mess.”

This may be why Eugene Wu chose this moment to advance his agenda with a strategic retreat. The ousted nominee for the board, Hung-shiang Tsai, had been Cynthia Wu’s last supporter. Power is now in the hands of the younger Olivia, who may have some chance of getting things in order. This move soothes internal and external tensions, while Eugene still retains much of his de facto power.

According to an insider with Shin Kong Life Insurance, though Eugene has relinquished his position as the chairman of Shin Kong Financial Holding, he is still very much the chairman of Shin Kong Life Insurance. His successor, Victor Hsu (許澎), has a reputation of keeping a steady head when it comes to business and being on good terms with everyone. “This is good for the company’s public image, but the actual power still resides with Eugene.”

Shin Kong Financial Holding’s consolidated net income was a record-shattering NT$16.63 billion in 2019. With a consolidated net income of 9.247 billion, Shin Kong Life Insurance makes up 56% of this number. According to the insider, “After all, Shin Kong Life Insurance is the lifeblood of Shin Kong Financial Holding. The chairman of Shin Kong Life Insurance has the last say in matters.”

This will be one of Olivia Wu’s greatest challenges after she takes up her father’s mantle.

“Under her father’s shadow, she can hardly assemble her own team…” the insider observes. 

Can Olivia Wu use her characteristic warm touch to smooth over things with the three powerful families that control Shin Kong Financial Holding? This is not only a challenge for the Wu family; it is a question about corporate governance that concerns the entire country.

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Translated by Jack Chou
Edited by TC Lin
Uploaded by Judy Lu