Angela Chao, the chief executive of a shipping company and part of a family prominent in American politics and business deals with China, died in a car crash on Sunday, in Texas. She was 50.
Her family confirmed her death. Details about the accident were not immediately available.
Ms. Chao had since 2018 been the chair and chief executive of the Chao family’s Foremost Group, which operates a global fleet of bulk carrier ships. The vessels are used to transport commodities like iron ore and soybeans.
She was a sister of Elaine Chao, who served as secretary of transportation under former President Donald J. Trump as well as secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. Elaine Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.
The Chao family, led by Angela and Elaine Chao’s father, James S.C. Chao, stands out because of its deep political and commercial ties in both the United States and China. Mr. Chao fled from mainland China to Taiwan in the late 1940s with the defeated Nationalists. He moved to the United States in 1958 and helped found the Foremost Group in 1964. He later cultivated a close relationship with Jiang Zemin, a former schoolmate from Shanghai who rose to become China’s president and who died in 2022.
Ms. Chao, along with her father — both U.S. citizens — was among the few foreigners to have served on the boards of some of China’s largest enterprises. Both were directors of the holding company for China State Shipbuilding, a government-owned enterprise that makes ships for the Chinese military as well as for Foremost Group and other customers. Ms. Chao was also a former board member of the Bank of China, a top lender to the shipbuilder, and a former vice chair of the Council of China’s Foreign Trade, a promotional group created by the Chinese government.
“Although born in America, she never forgot her roots and throughout her life helped build bridges of understanding between East and West,” Mr. Chao said of his daughter in a statement.
