Pierre Chen (Chen Tie-min) was born in 1958 in Tainan, where he grew up in a middle-class Taiwanese family.

His father is a businessman and his mother is a teacher / clothing designer. Tainan, a paradise for thinkers and artists, known for its fine and tasty cuisine, shaped the tastes of the future entrepreneur. As a child, Pierre Chen loved to draw. In addition to his engineering degree at National Cheng Kung University, Pierre Chen had many activities : he designed software to support himself and played dj on weekends. At the same time, he bought his first work of art with a year and a half of savings. This is the beginning of harmony between passion and hard work. His love for art, music and gastronomy grew with his success. The entrepreneur started his career in the resistors division at Philips Electronics Taiwan. In 1977, Pierre Chen launched the Yageo company, a manufacturer of electronic components whose parts are found in all our everyday devices, from cell phones to tablet PCs, not to mention cars.
In the 1980s, Taiwan was just emerging from dictatorship.

This context of openness and boom in electronics offers an environment  to launch his business, which later became an empire. 

To develop its own processes, Chen is investing heavily in R&D to create a vacuum spray coating machine and laser cutting system. This innovation will make Yageo the 1st manufacturer in Taiwan to use production methods developed in-house.
In 1993, Yageo went public on Taiwan Stock Exchange. Pierre Chen succeeded in a few years to gain market shares. Very quickly, Pierre Chen understood that Yageo’s main strength was its ability to grow through the acquisition of companies. In 1994, Yageo acquired ASJ, a Singapore-based company, then Taiwanese companies Teapo and Chilisin, acquired in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
In 2000, he increased his international fame by purchasing  part of Phillips for $575M. In November 2019, he also announced Kemet acquisition, a small American competitor for $1.6bn. An operation that could make Yageo less vulnerable to cyclical trends. The company recently set up a joint venture with Foxconn for the development of microchips.

Yageo is world No. 1 in several business segments such as chip resistors or tantalum capacitors.

Yageo has a strong global presence and has 47 sales offices, 40 manufacturing sites, 20 R&D centers and 15,000 employees worldwide. Finally, the company offers a wide range of products allowing it to target different markets such as industry, telecommunications, electricity and transport. Pierre Chen is the 1st  Taiwanese collector. He owns works by Francis Bacon, Warhol, Gerhard Richter and Mark Rothko. Collection is administered by the Yageo Foundation. It is important to him to share his passion and to get involved in initiatives and artistic projects. Pierre Chen also declared: 

« I’m not an art collector. I prefer to say that I live with art »

Art, music, gastronomy, this surprising leader fascinates and is often subject of interviews and exclusive events. Recently, he took part in a show where he cooked for Michelin starred chefs.Today, Pierre Chen is still CEO and owns 7% of his company. He lives in his villa on the heights of Tapei, surrounded by works of art. In addition to his homes in Taiwan, he owns an apartment in Paris, Rive Gauche opposite the Louvre. Pierre Chen is divorced and has 3 children.