Ruentex chairman, Tang Prize founder Samuel Yin dies at age 75

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) The chairman of the Ruentex Group and founder of the Tang Prize, Samuel Yin (尹衍樑), passed away at Taipei Veterans General Hospital at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, the business group said in a statement. Yin was 75 years old.

Ruentex said Yin passed on peacefully with family members by his side. Employees across the business group expressed deep sorrow and grief upon hearing the news, it added.

In the statement, the group praised Yin for devoting his life to industrial innovation, the advancement of public engineering technologies, and social welfare causes.

After taking over the Ruentex Group, he transformed the company "from a major textile manufacturer into a diversified conglomerate through his exceptional vision and pioneering spirit."

Yin also expanded the group's interests into construction and housing, financial and insurance services (Nan Shan Life Insurance), retail and department stores, and biotechnology and healthcare, the statement said.

According to the company, Yin had already established a comprehensive professional management system and succession plan to ensure the group's sustainable operations during his lifetime.

Companies under the business group are currently managed by professional executive teams, and all business operations remain normal, the statement said.

Yin was also praised for his devotion to promoting education and scientific research.

In 2012, he founded the Tang Prize to encourage scholars worldwide to pursue research in four major fields -- sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, Sinology, and the rule of law -- with the aim of advancing human welfare, the statement said.

Yin's family has said it would honor Yin's final wishes by keeping all of his funeral arrangements simple, with no memorial hall or public memorial service to be held, according to the company.