Yang Bing-yi, the founder of the world’s most biggest dumpling empire passed away at the age of 96. The owner of the Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung, “passed away peacefully,” the company said in a statement on Saturday. However, the cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but as per media reports private funeral arrangements are underway and the family has requested for privacy. Yang immigrated to Taiwan at the age of 20, with just “$20” in his pockets, CNN reported. His restaurant is one of the most famous dining places in Taipei, which hosted Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise in 2013 and won its first Michelin star in 2009. Here’s everything you need to know about Yang Bing-yi, take a look.
Yang Bing-yi’s early life and family:
Yang was born in 1927 in the Chinese northern Shanxi province. He married Lai Pen-Mei, and the couple had six children together.
He later migrated to Taiwan along with his family, with just $20 in his pockets. After migrating to Taipei, in 1958 he opened a small shop with his wife and named it Din Tai Fung. They used to sell cooking oil and steamed Chinese soup dumplings, Xiao Long Bao, which often is made with pork.
Later, their business took off and the restaurant became for its dumplings as well as dishes like steamed buns, noodles and egg-fried rice. This prompted them to shut their oil business.
With gaining popularity, their dumpling franchise expanded, with its outlets in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Singapore.
The restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2009 and was listed in CNN’s travel list for “world’s best travel franchise,” in 2014.
In 2013, the restaurant at the Taipei 101 skyscraper hosted Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise, who dined and even joined chefs to make soup dumplings.
Yang Bing-yi’s cause of death:
As per media reports, the cause of Yi’s death has not been made public, however, the company in its statement said that he passed away peacefully.
Net worth:
It is difficult to determine Yang Bing-yi’s net worth, however, after selling its company to the Chang family, the estimated net worth of the Din Tai Fung chain was around $1 billion, GH Gossip reported.
