For the former Secretary for Education and Secretary for Culture, Sports and Toursim, see Kevin Yeung.
In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Yang. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Nicholas Yang and the Chinese-style name is Yang Wei-hsiung.
He became a naturalized US citizen on 2 September 1977. On 15 December 1979 in Santa Clara, California, he married Winnie Sui-king Yung, daughter of the Chairman and founder of Hong Kong-based Shell Electric Manufacturing (蜆殼電器). She became a US citizen on 8 August 1984. Yang joined Shell Electric in 1983 and served as Executive Director until resigning on 30 September 2003. He was a director during its initial public offering and the sale of its fibre-optic business to JDSU. He moved to JDSU in 1999. Afterwards he became involved in venture capital and private equity.[2] In 2003 he was appointed CEO of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company.[3]
In July 2012 Yang became the target of an investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption regarding a government contract which a foundation he directed, the eInclusion Foundation, had obtained in 2010.[6]
In March 2015, he was appointed Innovation & Technology Adviser to Chief Executive CY Leung and a non-official member of the Executive Council, to pave the way for the creation of the city's Innovation and Technology Bureau (ITB),[7][5][3] of which he was duly appointed the inaugural Secretary for Innovation and Technology on its formation in November 2015.[8] He continued in the role in the administration of Carrie Lam but was removed from the post in a cabinet reshuffle in April 2020.[9][10]
In April 2016, leaks from the Panama Papers showed that Yang had created two questionable accounts into which he had transferred a large number of PolyU stocks for his own benefit. Yang defended setting up the BVI firms as proper.[11]
