Chirathivat family

The Chirathivat family (Thai: จิราธิวัฒน์, pronounced [tɕìrāːtʰíwát]) is a Thai family of Chinese descent. The family was headed by Tiang Chirathivat (simplified Chinese: 郑心平; traditional Chinese: 鄭心平; pinyin: Zhèng Xīnpíng; 1905–1968), who migrated to Siam from Hainan and settled in Bangkok in 1927. Tiang's original Chinese surname was Cheng.[1] He had 26 children with three wives that resulted in roughly 220 descendants today. Fifty-one are currently involved in the business.[2] His descendants jointly own and manage the Central Group, and are ranked third on Forbes' list of Thailand's fifty richest.[3] The Central Group owns more than 60 department stores and shopping malls. It also operates hotels and restaurants, with a total of 5,000 outlets.[2] The Chirathivat family bought the upscale Italian department store chain, La Rinascente, for a reputed US$291 million. The purchase was announced in May 2011 by Tos Chirathivat, a Central Group executive.[4] In 2020, the Central Group announced the purchase of the Swiss luxury department store Globus alongside other assets for more than US$1 billion in a joint venture with the Austrian Signa.[5]