Heralded executive Angela Chao, the sister-in-law of Sen. Mitch McConnell and the youngest of six daughters, was killed in a car accident last weekend, her grieving family said.
Chao, the chief of New York-based dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group, was 50 years old.
Details about the tragic Feb. 10 crash were not available.
“Losing her at such a young age is something we never even imagined, and our entire family is devastated with grief,” Chao’s father, Dr. James SC Chao, said in a statement following her tragic passing published by Marine Link.
Chao’s sister, Elaine Chao, was the Secretary of Labor in George W. Bush’s administration from 2001 to 2009 and the Secretary of Transportation in Donald Trump’s cabinet from 2017 to 2021.
She was the first Asian-American woman in history to serve in the cabinet and is married to McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader.
Angela Chao was a trail blazer in her own right, graduating from Harvard Business School before going into the family business founded in 1964 by her father, Foremost’s honorary chairman.
Her case study, titled “Ocean Carriers,” which she wrote while attending the Ivy League school, is a part of the required curriculum for first-year business students at Harvard, according to Foremost’s statement on Chao’s passing published by Hellenic Shipping News.
At various points in her career, she served on the board of MoMA, the Metropolitan Opera and Harvard Business School.
“As a trail blazer for women in the executive suite, she inspired others to pursue their dreams. She also loved music and tried the French horn as her instrument when young, insisting on carrying it herself to every lesson,” the family said in a statement.
James Chao, who would bring her to “Take Your Daughter to Work” days as a child, said she had a “fierce intellectual curiosity that endeared her to everyone and helped her excel at everything she did.”
Angela Chao received her bachelor’s in economics from Harvard Business School — graduating summa cum laude in just three years — and joined Foremost in 1996.
A note issued by the US Coast Guard Academy on X also touted Chao as “a trailblazer in the maritime industry.”
She was an advocate for environmentally sustainable business practices and the reason for the group’s sustainable operations and its eco-friendly vessels, the company said.
Foremost added: “Angela believed that the foundational element of success is the belief that shipping is not an asset finance business, but that it’s about people.”
“She placed special emphasis on paying attention to the care and well-being of our crews, and to everyone onboard and onshore who played a role in performing our services.”
James Chao added that “her absence leaves a void not only in our hearts, but in the Asian-American community.”
Chao was a founding advisory council co-chair of the The Asian American Foundation — which called her “a beloved businesswoman, philanthropist and respected leader” in the wake of her sudden death.
She is survived by her father, five sisters and her husband, venture capitalist Jim Breyer, who has an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion, and nine stepchildren.
Chao had previously been married to billionaire banker Bruce Wasserstein.
He died in 2009, just months after they wed, following a stint in the hospital for an irregular heartbeat.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
