Taiwanese tycoon Wang Yung-ching, known as the "god of management" for his role building the leading Formosa Plastic Group, has died at the age of 91, a company official said today.

Wang, who built the firm up from scratch and made his family the third wealthiest in Taiwan, according to Forbes magazine, died yesterday in the US state of New Jersey of heart and lung failure, the TVBS cable channel reported.

Wang, much revered for his keen managerial sense and style, had been in the United States on a business trip, TVBS reported. A Formosa spokesman was unable to confirm the details.

Born in Taipei to a poor family, Wang dropped out of school at the age of 15 to become an apprentice at a rice shop and opened his own store the next year.

He founded Formosa Plastic Corporation in 1954 before building it into a business empire including petrochemicals, oil refining, semiconductors, bio-technology and hospitals.

Forbes earlier this year valued his family's fortune at 5.5 billion dollars.