Robert Kuan

Roberto Fung Kuan (劉孝平; August 6, 1948 September 15, 2018) was a Chinese-Filipino restaurateur, businessman and philanthropist who founded the Filipino fast food chain Chowking.

Born to an immigrant family in Manila, Kuan studied business administration at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Asian Institute of Management. He ran Ling Nam, a Chinese restaurant in Binondo his family partially owned, for eight years and expanded it into a small chain. After learning of plans to remove him, Kuan resigned and started Chowking in 1985 on Henry Sy's advice.

In a Filipino fast food industry dominated by Western-style joints, Chowking offered Filipino and Chinese cuisine. The restaurant started expanding in 1989 and became very successful, growing to half the size of market leader Jollibee. Kuan served as Chowking's president until 2000, when he sold his 50% equity stake to the Jollibee Foods Corporation; Jollibee creator Tony Tan Caktiong was a founding business partner. By then, Chowking had 155 locations.

A member of the Episcopal Church, Kuan spent his later life working for various public institutions. He invested most of his time in St. Luke's Medical Center, where he served as chairman from 1996 to 2011. Ling Nam and Chowking saw continued success, with the latter remaining the nation's largest Chinese restaurant chain. Provided by Wikipedia