Yuan is founder of Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing, the world's third-largest maker of printed circuit boards. The Suzhou, China-based company had revenue of 36.8 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) in 2024. Yuan founded the firm as a sheet metal and stamping factory. His son, Yang Yonggang, is chairman of the company.
The majority of Yuan's fortune is derived from his stake in Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing, the third-largest maker of printed circuit boards in the world, according to the company's website.
He owns a 33% stake directly, according to a November 2025 company filing. The stakes held by his sons Yang Yongfeng and Yang Yonggang are credited to him to reflect his status as the company's founder. About one-quarter of the stake is pledged and excluded from the calculation.
Cash holdings are based on an analysis of insider transactions, dividends, market performance and taxes.
Mao Xiaoyan, a spokesperson for the company, didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
Yuan was born in November 1950 in Suzhou, a city in the coastal Jiangsu province in eastern China. He attended junior high school and served 8 years in the army until 1976.
He later worked as a technician and factory director for companies in a village in his hometown. Yuan founded Suzhou Dongshan as a sheet metal factory in 1998.
Suzhou Dongshan was reorganized as Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing in 2007.
The company went public in Shenzhen in April 2010.