Albert Chao | |
Nationality: | Taiwanese |
Occupation: | Businessman |
Known For: | Petrochemical and plastics industry |
Awards: | Petrochemical Heritage Award, 2019[1] |
Albert Chao (born 1949) is a Taiwanese-American chemical industry executive and the Executive Chairman of the Board and a director of Westlake Chemical Corporation and Westlake Chemical Partners LP. He was the CEO of Westlake Corporation from July 2004 to July 2024.[2] In 2019, Albert and James Chao received the Petrochemical Heritage Award as part of the International Petrochemical Conference.[1] He also serves as a director of Suzhou Huasu Plastics Co., Ltd of China.[3]
Chao was born in 1949 and grew up in Taiwan. His father Ting Tsung Chao was born in China and moved to Taiwan with his family in 1946.[4] In the mid-1980s, Chao's family moved from Taiwan to the U.S.[5]
Albert Chao received a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University.[6]
He served on Rice University's Board of Trustees.[7]
In 1986 T.T. Chao and his sons Albert and James Y. Chao founded Westlake Chemical, the largest manufacturer of low-density polyethylene in the US.[8] Albert Chao served as an executive vice president of Westlake Chemical Corporation beginning in 1986, became president in mid-1996, and in 2004, became the company's president and CEO.[1]
The Chao family also founded Suzhou Huasu Plastics Company in China as of 1993, and Titan Chemicals Corporation in Malaysia as of 1998. Albert Chao serves as a director of Suzhou Huasu Plastics Company.[1] In 2012, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index suggested his wealth to be at least $1.4 billion.[8]