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]
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.[3] Their first harvest was purchased by Mikimoto in 1977.[3] In 1982 he purchased Anuanuraro, then Marutea Sud in 1984,[4] Aukena in 1988, and Nengonengo in 1990.[3] He became the richest man in French Polynesia, until a collapse in the pearl market in 1998.[4]
In 2002 he sold Anuanuraro to the French Polynesian government. The sale sparked a criminal probe for misuse of public funds,[5] and Wan and a number of leading politicians, including former president Gaston Flosse, were charged with corruption.[6] Wan and Flosse were finally acquitted in July 2017.[7]
References
- 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.
- 1 2 "Robert Wan raconte sa route de la perle" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- 1 2 3 "50 ans de passion pour la perliculture" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- 1 2 "La Perle de Tahiti : un siècle d'histoire" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ↑ "Two former French Polynesian ministers probed over atoll purchase". RNZ. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ↑ "Affaire Anuanuraro : la chambre de l'instruction rejette les appels de Tong Sang" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ↑ "Tahiti atoll sale case thrown out". RNZ. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
Further reading
- Paule Laudon (2019). Robert Wan, la route de la perle. Tahiti: Au vent des îles. ISBN 978-2-36734-205-4.