Net worth: $3.9billion Samuel Yin is the chairman of Taiwanese conglomerate Ruentex Group, is one of the four Taiwanese on Forbes’ “48 Heroes of Philanthropy” list. He is most known for the establishment of the Tang Prize. In 2010, Yin received the Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research by the prestigious American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for his contribution in the area of construction technology research. He was the first person without an academic background in engineering to receive the award.

Culture, Science

The Tang Prize  is a set of biennial international awards bestowed in four fields: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Nomination and selection are conducted by an independent selection committee, which is formed in partial cooperation with the Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institution.