Wee Cho Yaw DUBC (Chinese: 黃祖耀; pinyin: Huáng Zǔyào; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ûiⁿ Chó͘-iāu; 10 January 1929 – 3 February 2024) was a Singaporean banker, businessman, investor, and philanthropist.
[citation needed] In 1949, Wee started work at Kheng Leong,[3] a business owned by his family that traded commodities such as rubber, pepper and sago flour.
Wee later named the Chung Khiaw deal as one of his most important, as it marked UOB's take-off into the wider Asian market.
By the end of the 1970s, Wee was also chairman of Haw Par Brothers International and the Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh, and sat on the boards of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Sime Darby and Straits Steamship Company.
Wee took UOB into stockbroking, fund management and futures trading, and acquired property including hotels and shopping malls.
Wee was credited with a surer grasp of local business culture that allowed him to edge out the government-linked DBS, which also sought to acquire OUB.
As companies such as United Overseas Land (UOL), Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE), United Industrial Corporation (UIC) and Haw Par Corporation held stakes in UOB and vice versa, the loss of any one would weaken the Wee family's control of the group and even the core business of UOB.
Wee however managed to fend off a bid for UOL from government investment company Temasek Holdings as well as maintain control of UIC, after Filipino billionaire John Gokongwei’s failed takeover attempt.
[citation needed] In November 2006, Wee received the inaugural Credit Suisse-Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering work in Singapore's financial industry.
[citation needed] At UOB's 65th annual meeting in April 2007, Wee stepped down as the bank's chief executive officer and was succeeded by his eldest son Ee Cheong.
[citation needed] In 2017, it was announced that Wee will step down from UOB in April 2018 but remained as chairman emeritus and honorary adviser to the board.
[9] Wee was also a prime mover in the formation of the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) in 1992 and became chairman of its board of trustees.
[17] Wee received the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Distinguished Service Order)[18] in recognition of his work with the SFCCA and as pro-chancellor of NTU.