Updated: 4 Mar 2021, 16:22 ELAINE Chao's father, James S.C. Chao, is a Chinese-American entrepreneur who founded the Foremost Group, a shipping, trading and finance enterprise based in New York. While it's his son-in-law, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who gets the most airtime, Elaine hails from an immensely wealthy family, with her father owing his self-made fortune to business links both in the U.S. and in China. 4 Elaine Chao, former U.S. secretary of transportation, right, and her father James Chao arrive at a state dinner in 2015Credit: Getty Images - Getty Who is Elaine Chao’s father James S. C. Chao?