The son of Taiwanese entrepreneurs, Chia-Chao moved to SA in 1985. He has been instrumental in the evolution of Empowerdex from a ratings verification agency into a fully-fledged research and advisory firm. He started the influential Most Empowered Companies Survey in 2002, then in partnership with the Financial Mail and now with Business Report.
Chia-Chao formed part of the Empowerdex consortium which analysed the progress of BEE within the ICT industry, on behalf of the Department of Communications. In 2004, he was appointed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to support the Tourism Charter's Steering Committee in the development of the Tourism BEE Charter. Chia-Chao holds a MCom in corporate finance from Wits University. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.