Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Tai pan

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

A tai-pan (Chinese: 大班; pinyin: Dàbān, literally 'top class', or 'big shot') is a senior business executive or entrepreneur operating in China or Hong Kong.

Contents

History

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tai-pans were foreign-born businessmen who headed large Hong trading houses such as Jardine, Matheson & Co. and Dent & Co. amongst others.

The first recorded use of the term in English is in the Canton Register of 28 October 1834. Historical variant spellings include taepan (first appearance), typan, and taipan. The term gained wide currency outside China after the publication of Somerset Maugham's 1922 short story "The Taipan" and James Clavell's 1966 novel Tai-Pan.

Taipans

  • William Jardine, Jardine Matheson (1843–1845), Hong Kong
  • James Matheson, Jardine Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong
  • Lawrence Kadoorie, China Light and Power (1899-1993), Hong Kong
  • Nigel Rich, Jardine Matheson (1989-1994), Hong Kong
  • Alasdair Morrison, Jardine Matheson (1994-2000), Hong Kong
  • Simon Murray, Hutchison Whampoa (1984-1994), Hong Kong
  • Percy Weatherall (born 1957), Jardine Matheson, Hong Kong
  • William Keswick (1834–1912), Scotland

    • References

    Tai-pan Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA