Robert Wan

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Robert Wan, also known as Wan Fui Yin (born 1934) [1] is a French Polynesian pearl trader. Due to his importance to French Polynesia's pearl industry, he is known as the "emperor of pearls". [2] He particularly invested in the Gambier Islands, to produce black pearls that garnered international attention. Over the years, he expanded his holdings, acquiring farms on islands such as Marutea Sud and Nengonengo. [3]

Wan was born in Papeete. [1] His father was a Hakka from Guangdong who emigrated to Tahiti. [2] In July 1973 he purchased the Tahiti Pearls company with his brothers. [4] Their first harvest was purchased by Mikimoto in 1977. [4] In 1982 he purchased Anuanuraro, then Marutea Sud in 1984, [5] Aukena in 1988, and Nengonengo in 1990. [4] He became the richest man in French Polynesia, until a collapse in the pearl market in 1998. [5]

In 2002 he sold Anuanuraro to the French Polynesian government. The sale sparked a criminal probe for misuse of public funds, [6] and Wan and a number of leading politicians, including former president Gaston Flosse, were charged with corruption. [7] Wan and Flosse were finally acquitted in July 2017. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 ""La route de la perle" : le parcours de l'empereur de la perle" (in French). Polynesie1. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Robert Wan raconte sa route de la perle" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Pearl Personality: Robert Wan, the Emperor of Pearls". CPAA. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  4. 1 2 3 "50 ans de passion pour la perliculture" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 "La Perle de Tahiti : un siècle d'histoire" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Two former French Polynesian ministers probed over atoll purchase". RNZ. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Affaire Anuanuraro : la chambre de l'instruction rejette les appels de Tong Sang" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Tahiti atoll sale case thrown out". RNZ. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

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