Charles Wang (Wang Da Quian)

Charles Wang is a Chinese immigrant who was raised in Taiwan after the communist revolution in China took away the privately held land from the Chinese Aristocracy. In Taiwan, his father owned a small Urea factory, which manufactured the nitrogen-carrying ammonia substitute used in fertilizers. Rather than see his father's success at rebuilding the family fortunes after losing their land, Charles sees nothing but shame in his family going from ruling over acres of fertile Chinese land to operating what he calls a "faux piss" factory (4). Going against his father's wishes for him to become a Taiwanese statesman, Charles drops out of university and flies to America, where he realizes that the cosmetic soaps use the same Urea his family produces. In a matter of years, he builds a cosmetics empire worth more than $200 million. He marries a beautiful Chinese-American model, May Lee, and...