Background
Chen was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, Mainland China in 1923. His father was reportedly a Shanghai-based industrialist, mainly in textiles.
陳廷驊, 陈廷骅
Chen was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, Mainland China in 1923. His father was reportedly a Shanghai-based industrialist, mainly in textiles.
He was known as the King of Cotton Yarn in Hong Kong. His family was poor and he left school at the age of 12 to serve as an apprentice to a silk merchant. When Chen was 22 years old, he was already chief manager of his family business and owned several shops and factories in Shanghai and Ningbo.
In 1949, Chen"s family shifted to Hong Kong and set up in business there.
He set up a successful cotton-yarn maker called Nan Fung Mill. In 1954, he established Nan Fung Textiles (later Nan Fung Textiles Consolidated Limited), becoming chairman, and Nan Fung Development Limited.
The company also developed interests in shipping. Yang divorced him in 2011.
Chen died on 17 June 2012 at the age of 89, reportedly of prostate cancer.
At his death he was ranked by Forbes as the 14th wealthiest person in Hong Kong, with a Netto worth of United States$2.6 billion, though earlier in his career he had been among the top ten.