Samuel Yin is a Taiwanese billionaire renowned for the Ruentex Group, his philanthropy and the Tang Prize. He was born in Taipei in 1950, and studied history at the Chinese Culture University. At the age of 32 he attained a master's degree in business at the National Taiwan University, and four years later a PhD in business at the National Chengchi University.

Samuel’s grandfather founded Ruentex Group, a company mostly known for its interests in construction, financial services, real estate and its chain of grocery stores RT Mart. Samuel is the chairman of the group, and also has major shares in the Sun Art retail Group which is one of the largest hypermarket chains in China, and Nan Shan Insurance.

Samuel Yin is recognised as both a key promoter of entrepreneurs and his philanthropy. He has stated that he will eventually give to charity 95% of his wealth. In 2013 he used $100 million of his own money to set up the Tang Prize, which was modelled on the Nobel Prize.