The Chao Family Legacy Builds the Foremost Group

Members of the Chao family at the topping off ceremony of the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center
Cheers and Celebration at Harvard Business School
April 29, 2015
INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION
International Leadership Foundation Honors Angela Chao
July 27, 2015

The Chao Family Legacy Builds the Foremost Group

Angela Chao

  • The article was originally posted on WorldJournal.com

The WorldJournal.com met with members of the Chao family in June to hear about the beginnings, challenges and future visions of the Foremost Group — the international shipping company founded by Dr. James S.C. Chao.

Angela Chao, Deputy Chair of the Foremost Group, spoke about her pride in being the daughter of such remarkable parents, and her daily commitment to living up to the good name that they built up in the world. She said that her parents’ core values of integrity and sincerity not only enabled a man to go from humble beginnings to creating a 50+ year success story in the international shipping industry, but more importantly, they enabled him to leave behind a lasting legacy of honesty, commitment to service, dependability and good reputation that is the inheritance of their children. It is her parents’ value system that has enabled the Foremost Group to weather all the economic storms that come with the business of being in the shipping industry.

Angela shared with WorldJournal.com how it was not her father’s goal to build a large corporation upon arriving in America. In fact, when arriving on his own, her father, Dr. James S.C. Chao, set about looking for employment. But lacking the usual keys to landing a job, e.g, “who do you know?” her father found that offers were not coming his way. Faced with the need to earn an income to take care of his new family, her father tapped into his entrepreneurial spirit combined with his expertise in the maritime business, and thus were the humble beginnings of Foremost Group. Angela believes that it is this humble beginning and lack of need for self-gratification that was the key to her parents’ success.

Angela Chao also spoke about her family’s belief that the trading of goods improves dialogue and relations between nations and peoples, particularly between East and West. She says the Chaos are happy to have been able to make contributions to international relations, and look forward to continuing to play an active role in this arena.