Frank Tsao, who went from civil war migrant to towering pioneer of Asian shipping, dies aged 94

Tsao started his business empire in 1949 with a solitary coal-burning ship and built it into a multi-sector industrial conglomerate

The shipping magnate’s accolades included honorary Singaporean citizenship and Hong Kong’s Silver Bauhinia Star

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Frank Tsao Wen-king in 2003. Photo: SCMP

Published: 10:37pm, 14 Aug 2019Updated: 11:21pm, 14 Aug 2019

Frank Tsao Wen-king, the Shanghai-born entrepreneur who fled to Hong Kong amid the turmoil of the Chinese civil war and went on to build one of Asia’s biggest shipping empires, has died aged 94.

Tsao, who held Malaysian citizenship and was made an honorary citizen of Singapore, died peacefully in the Lion City on Monday, his family said in a statement sent to This Week in Asia.

Tributes poured in from shipping industry publications, with the magazine TradeWinds describing Tsao as “one of the creators of the modern Hong Kong and Singapore shipowning scenes”.

Trained in economics at Shanghai’s prestigious St John’s University, which closed in 1952, Tsao first moved to Hong Kong as a 22-year-old in 1947, before the Communist Party took control of the mainland.

He co-founded the Great Southern Steamship Company in 1949 with the purchase of a solitary coal-burning ship from a Singaporean businessman.

Tsao co-founded the Great Southern Steamship Company in 1949. Photo: SCMP

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