When Zhang Congyuan started his sneaker business more than three decades ago, he couldn¡¯t afford a regular factory, so he converted a pig farm next to paddy fields in western Taiwan.
Today, the founder of Huali Industrial Group is worth more than $13 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Huali, which counts Nike Inc., Converse Inc. and Vans Inc. among its customers, produces more than 180 million pairs of shoes a year.
Huali¡¯s shares have surged 162% since going public in Shenzhen in April, propelling Zhang, who owns 87% of the company along with his family, to the top of the island¡¯s rich list. He¡¯s now wealthier than more famous names such as Terry Gou of Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPhones for Apple Inc. It¡¯s another example of a Taiwanese entrepreneur minting a vast fortune in contract manufacturing.
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