Samuel Yin

Yin Yen-liang (; 16 August 1950 – 26 May 2026), also known by his English name Samuel Yin, was a Taiwanese billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was best known for the establishment of the Tang Prize, and as chairman of the Ruentex Financial Group. Yin was also the president of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. In May 2026, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$5.6 billion.

Early life and education Yin was born to waishengren parents from Rizhao, Shandong, China. His father, Yin Shutian, founded Ruentex Textiles and was known in Taiwan as 'the king of denim'.

As a teenager, Yin spent one and a half years in a reformatory prior to his father sending him to attend Jinde High School in Changhua, a school for trouble youth. His mathematics teacher there was Wang Jin-pyng.

Yin graduated from Chinese Culture University with a bachelor's degree in history, then earned an M.B.A. from National Taiwan University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in business administration from National Chengchi University in 1988. His doctoral dissertation, completed under professor , was titled, "A study on the impact of organizational change strategies on organizational commitment" (Chinese: 組織變革策略對組織承諾之影響研究).

Career Yin was the head of the Ruentex Financial Group which invests in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. Ruentex is most known for their construction investments as well as grocery, retail chain RT Mart.

In 2017, he sold a controlling stake in RT Mart China's parent company Sun Art Retail to Alibaba Group to focus on philanthropism.

In 2024, Yin invested USD 50 million Taiwanese EV company Gogoro.

Philanthropy Yin stated that he planned to donate 95% of his net wealth to charity, especially those relating to science, arts, law, and politics.

He established the Tang Prize in December 2012, funded by US$100 million of his own capital. In 2016, Yin donated US$12.8 million to the Scripps Research Institute to "contribute to the building of new state-of-the-art laboratories".

Personal life and death Yin was married to Wang Chi-fan (王绮帆) and had one son and one daughter. His son, Yin Chung-yao is the chairman of Nan Shan Life Insurance and a director of various family companies including Ruentex Development and Gogoro.

He was an experienced offshore sailor and commissioned the construction of two yachts, Sea Eagle and Sea Eagle II, the latter being the world's largest aluminium sailing yacht.

Yin died at Taipei Veterans General Hospital on 26 May 2026, at the age of 75.

Awards and honours In 2004, Yin was named a fellow of the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering. In 2008, he was invited to join Russia's International Academy of Engineering and awarded the Engineering Prowess Medal, the academy's highest honour. In 2010, Yin received the Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research by the 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.