Taiwanese billionaire linked to $25.8M Atherton purchase

A Taiwanese billionaire apparently bought a full-priced Atherton mansion for $25.8 million, according to public records. 

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering CEO Chien Shen Chang, who also goes by Jason Chang, is listed on the paperwork for buyer Season Sky Limited in state filings. The LLC also has the same Shanghai address as a subsidiary of his global semiconductor manufacturing and testing company, which has its only U.S. facility in Fremont.

Chang is worth $6.7 billion, according to Forbes, making him number 432 in the magazine’s global list of billionaires. Along with his brother, Richard, he is also one of the main investors in commercial development firm Sino Horizon, which works largely in mainland China but is listed publicly in Taiwan. In 2023, the brothers’ combined net worth made them Forbes’ seventh richest in Taiwan. 

Brent Gullixson of Compass represented the seller of 28 Sargent Lane, listing the 2020-built property last summer for $25.8 million. The sale closed April 25 and the listing has since been removed from Gullixson’s site. He declined to comment on the sale.

The sellers are listed in public records as trusts in the names of Myong Shin Woo, Sungkook Kim and David Chan, who bought the 1.4-acre property for $7.75 million in 2015. Their years-long development was a collaboration between Los Angeles-based architect Richard Manion and Woodside-based custom home builder Markay Johnson, according to the now-removed listing page. 

Shortly after the home traded, the sellers closed on 246 Elena Avenue in Atherton for $13.75 million, according to public records, paying $500,000 over the asking price. They have also bought and sold a handful of other single-family properties on the Peninsula over the last 10 years.

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The main home they developed at 28 Sargent Lane has 13,000 square feet with five en suite bedrooms on its two main floors, plus a sixth on the lower level, which also has a home gym, theater, wine room and recreation room with bar. There’s also an attached five-car garage and two motor courts, as well as a separate pool house with a covered terrace, outdoor fireplace and outdoor kitchen. The gated grounds include patios, spacious lawns, raised planter beds and a playground. 

Chang is 80 but has several grandchildren from his three children — one daughter who hosts the PBS travel food show “Lucky Chow,” another with her own interior design firm and a son who is an artist best known for his collection of more than 3,200 copies of the Beatles’ White Album. 

Asian buyers have always been a big component of the luxury Atherton market, but their numbers dropped to almost nothing during the pandemic. Last spring, agents reported the beginnings of a return and this spring international buyers are part of what has been pushing the ultra luxury market on the Peninsula forward. 

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