James S.C. Chao
| James S. C. Chao | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Si-Cheng Chao December 29, 1927 Jiading District, Shanghai |
| Nationality | Chinese-American |
| Occupation | Oceangoing Sea Captain Business leader Philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth Mulan Chu (m. 1951; d. 2007) |
| Children |
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James Si-Cheng Chao (Chinese: 趙錫成; pinyin: Zhào Xīchéng; born December 29, 1927) is a Chinese-American merchant mariner, business leader, and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Foremost Group, a New York-based shipping, trading, and finance enterprise. The James S.C. Chao Scholarship is named after him.
Chao was born on December 29, 1927 in a small, rural farming village in Jiading District, outside Shanghai, China. His parents were Yi-Ren Chao, an elementary school principal, and Yu-Chin Hsu Chao; they were farmers who "emphasized the value of education".
Chao attended upper schools near Shanghai, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he majored in navigation. He finished his coursework in 1949, and went to sea as a cadet on a merchant vessel. At the climax of China's civil war, Chao's ship went to Taiwan, where he started a new life.
In the mid-1950s, Chao advanced through the ranks to become one of the youngest ocean-going marine captains of that time, at the age of 29. He moved to the United States in 1958, settling in New York City the same year He received a master's degree in management from St. John's University, Queens, in 1964.
In 1964, after receiving his MBA, Chao founded Foremost Group, a shipping, trading and finance enterprise based in New York where he remains Chairman to this day. Chao has led the global shipping industry in incorporating "greener," more environmentally friendly designs and technology into his company's fleet of new vessels, some of the world's largest bulk carriers. In 2004, Chao was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame at the United Nations in recognition of his long-standing service and dedication to the international maritime trading industry.
In July 2014, it was reported that Chao's Foremost Shipping had 15 ships in its fleet, but construction was underway for an additional 8 capesize bulkers. In August 2014, it was reported that the company engaged in the business practice known in the merchant industry as flag of convenience to limit his U.S. tax liability by flagging its ships in Liberia instead of the U.S.. Foremost was singled out in the story because Chao's son-in-law Senator Mitch McConnell expressed disinterest in July 2014 for limiting a similar controversial business practice known as corporate inversion.
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