Oei Tiong Ham

Oei Tiong Ham, Majoor-titulair der Chinezen (; 1866–1924) was a Chinese Indonesian tycoon and the son of Oei Tjie Sien, the founder of the Kian Gwan, a multinational trading company. Born in Semarang, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), he became the wealthiest person in Asia at the start of the twentieth century. Part of his wealth originated in his involvement in the sugar industry. He served as Luitenant der Chinezen in the Dutch colonial administration in Semarang, and was raised to the rank of titular Majoor upon retirement. In Singapore, where Oei relocated to avoid Dutch inheritance law in his succession planning, a road is named after him. Oei Tiong Ham Park, near Holland Road, is also named in his honor. His nickname, "Man of 200 Million", originates from the passing of his 200 million guilder estate at the time of his death in 1924 in Singapore. Early life Oei Tiong Ham was born in Semarang on 19 November 1866. His father, Oei Tjie Sien, was a Chinese-born, or totok, migrant and a self-made, 'new money' businessman with no kinship ties to the colonial Chinese establishment (the 'Cabang Atas'). Oei's mother, Tjan Bien Nio, was an Indies-born woman from a middle-class Peranakan Chinese family. Oei's significance relates to his role in expanding his father's trading house, Kian Gwan, into the Oei Tiong Ham Concern (OTHC), the largest conglomerate in Southeast Asia at the beginning of the twentieth century.