Born in 1952, [1] Koo earned a master's degree in business administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979.
[2][3] After his graduation and subsequent return to Taiwan, Koo managed a branch of Chinatrust Bank, and at age 35 was appointed president of the China Life Insurance Company.
[6] In an attempt to increase the market share of China Network Systems [zh] (CNS), a cable company owned by KGI, Koo restructured CNS and sought investors to form a media conglomerate, becoming partners with Rupert Murdoch in the process.
[10] Under his leadership, GigaMedia reached an agreement with Microsoft and began working on a set-top box design suitable for broadband Internet via cable services.
[12] Shortly after leaving China Life, Koo died from gallbladder cancer on 24 December 2001, aged 49.