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CONTENTS — MAY 2018 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 4
S PAGE 44
10 | FACT & COMMENT // STEVE FORBES
JANE JIE SUN, Is the GOP sufering from tax-cut amnesia?
CEO OF CHINA’S BIG
CTRIP TRAVEL SITE, THE EMERGENT 25
FRONTS OUR LIST OF 44 | ASIA’S STAR BUSINESSWOMEN
Our list highlights those women who are bringing their ideas, fresh perspectives and
25 EMERGENT energy to the Asian business world.
BUSINESSWOMEN EDITED BY MARY SCOTT
IN ASIA. 49 | ON A MISSION
Japan’s Miko Ito has a plan to scrub outer space clean of junk.
BY JAMES SIMMS
COMPANIES, PEOPLE
12 | FLYING HIGH
China backs two new airports in Cambodia, and a French company may lose its concession.
BY DANIELLE KEETON-OLSEN
15 | PIRATE PLAY
Beijing’s refusal to license South Korean online games allows intellectual property mischief to thrive.
BY AUGUST RICK
16 | IDEALIST ON A MISSION
Taizo Son has found a welcoming laboratory for his high-tech ideas in Singapore.
BY JANE A. PETERSON
25 | BRAND BLINDNESS
NetEase challenges Chinese e-commerce giants on a new battleground.
BY JANE HO
29 | NOT SO FAST
We’re five years away from safe driverless cars for all, says Carlos Ghosn.
BY PAUL ARMSTRONG
38 | PRINCE OF PALLETS
S PAGE 66 Can you make a killing of a century-old wooden device?
BY JOANN MULLER
“I WANT SNAILWHITE 43 | WALL STREET’S RICHEST: HEDGEMONY
TO BE ALL OVER ASIA.” Forbes’ annual ranking of the top-earning hedge funders.
BY NATHAN VARDI
—SARAWUT PORNPATANARUK,
founder of Do Day Dream and
member of Thailand’s 50 richest BILLIONAIRES
54 | THE LAST TIMBER BARON
From humble beginnings, Red Emmerson has built a multibillion-dollar logging fortune.
BY CHLOE SORVINO
TECHNOLOGY
60 | JUNIOR GUIDES
Crimson Education is a global tutoring empire. All that’s missing is a profit.
T PAGE 16 BY ALEX KONRAD
70 | THE LIST
The Chearavanont brothers remain at No. 1 with a record $30 billion.
BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI
72 | TV TURMOIL
Digital licenses have turned out to be a dud investment in Thailand.
BY MEGHA BAHREE
FORBES LIFE
78 | DINNERTIME
Mobile-application startups feast on Asia’s burgeoning foodie crowd.
BY PRISCA ANG
80 | THOUGHTS
On leadership.
SIDELINES
Editor Tim W. Ferguson
Editorial Director Karl Shmavonian
Art Director Charles Brucaliere
Senior Editor John Koppisch
Mapping Opportunities
Wealth Lists Editors Luisa Kroll, Kerry A. Dolan
Photo Editor Michele Hadlow
I
f past performance is a guide, Ma-
Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy
Research Director Sue Radlauer
laysia’s election in early May will be a
Online Editor Jasmine Smith messy referendum on the country’s
Reporter Grace Chung ruling clique. Prime Minister Najib Razak
Interns Prisca Ang, Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin is using the powerful prerogatives of
Editorial Bureaus incumbency against a challenge led by
Beijing Yue Wang his onetime mentor, former strongman
Shanghai Russell Flannery (Senior Ed.); Maggie Chen Mahathir Mohamad. Awkwardly allied
India Editor Naazneen Karmali with Mahathir’s coalition is long-denied
Contributing Editors opposition igure Anwar Ibrahim, still
Bangkok Suzanne Nam in jail under Najib (as he was previously
Chennai Anuradha Raghunathan
under Mahathir).
Hong Kong Shu-Ching Jean Chen
Jakarta Justin Doebele
he result is unlikely to do much for transparent rule of law in Malaysia, let alone
Melbourne Lucinda Schmidt for its state-directed economy, which bumps along in spite of it all. But the electoral
Perth Tim Treadgold circus at least tolerates a level of dissent that allows the nation to escape the “not free”
Singapore Jane A. Peterson category again in this year’s world map from the respected U.S. organization Free-
Taipei Joyce Huang dom House. hose are the purple places above; the green are “free” and the yellow in
Vietnam Lan Anh Nguyen between.
Columnist Ben Sin For Asia-Paciic overall, this scoring—based on the UN’s Universal Declaration of
Production Manager Michelle Ciulla Human Rights—is not encouraging. Freedom House says of the region: “Antidemo-
cratic forces on the march.” In Southeast Asia, comparing the latest map with that
of ten years ago inds hailand has slipped down from “partly free,” and Indonesia,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF beset with Islamist pressure, has dropped a notch from a hard-earned “free.” he only
Steve Forbes brighter spot, “partly free” Myanmar, drew special barbs in this year’s indings for
FORBES MAGAZINE
denying the Rohingya minority even basic human rights.
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Randall Lane In a world now more vulnerable to autocrats overall, Asia is not ofering many
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Noer reasons for cheer. (Freedom House identiied one upward signal: Timor Leste, with
ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Mansield a peaceful power transition.) Hope for the darker quarters of the Korean peninsula
FORBES DIGITAL
is just barely that, as of now. he extraordinary beacon of recent decades, Taiwan, is
VP, INVESTING EDITOR Matt Schifrin
under new pressure from the mainland amid Beijing’s renewed smothering of so many
VP, DIGITAL EDITOR Mark Coatney Chinese liberties.
VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Salah Zalatimo For a business audience, the connection of these factors to economic gains is always
VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK Christina Vuleta a pertinent question. Some will see periodic contradictions. A telling measure is where
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS the globe’s people, including its most creative and inquisitive, are migrating. hose
Frederick E. Allen LEADERSHIP
Loren Feldman ENTREPRENEURS
engines of future growth motor toward “free.”
Janet Novack WASHINGTON
Michael K. Ozanian SPORTSMONEY
DEPARTMENT HEADS
Mark Decker, John Dobosz, Clay Thurmond
Jessica Bohrer VP, EDITORIAL COUNSEL
FOUNDED IN 1917
B.C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917-54)
Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954-90)
James W. Michaels, Editor (1961-99)
Tim Ferguson
William Baldwin, Editor (1999-2010) Editor, forbes asia
globaleditor@forbes.com
Port authority PNG Ports Corporation Ltd. Private sector partner International Partner Communities represented by
is committed to transform the harbor area Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), Noho-Magae are engaged across several
of Motukea island into a world-class port. through PNG unit Motukea International areas in the program such as providing
Upon full build, Motukea will not only be Terminal (MIT), leverages its depth of port manpower and local expertise. With
serving Port Moresby, but will be capable of expertise in carrying out major port the ICTSI Foundation, ICTSI will provide
facilitating the expanding trade with Asia, infrastructure projects, to ensure that the community programs as part of Motukea’s
Oceania, and other markets. Motukea facility is robustly equipped to sustainable port development.
support PNG’s growth potential over the
long term. Together, the PNG Government, ICTSI, and
the Partner Communities are optimizing
PAPUA PNG’s potential across borders—and
NEW GUINEA working for development that is sustainable
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FORBES ASIA
READERS SAY
CEO/ASIA, FORBES MEDIA
William Adamopoulos CONVERSATION
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Tina Wee OUR THIRD ANNUAL listing
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Eugene Wong, Aarin Chan,
of young innovators created
Janelle Kuah, James Sundram
SALES DIRECTORS Lindsay Williams, Michelle Ong quite a buzz in Asia (“30 Under
DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Eunice Soo 30,” April, p. 27). The athletes
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS category included a snooker
Audra Ruyters
star (yes, snooker), Ng On Yee,
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CONFERENCES Jolynn Chua
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Pavan Kumar
who tweeted: “Surprised yet
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MARKETING & RESEARCH Joan Low honored to be listed! Always
SENIOR MANAGER, CONFERENCES Quek Xue Wei proud to see Hong Kong Sports
SENIOR MANAGER, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Melissa Ng gain international recognition!”
SENIOR MANAGER, MARKETING & RESEARCH Chow Sin Yee
Stumagz cofounder Sri Charan
SENIOR MANAGER, AD SERVICES-DIGITAL Keiko Wong
OFFICE MANAGER/ASSISTANT TO THE CEO/ASIA
Lakkaraju, a recipient in media
Jennifer Chung and marketing, said in thenews-
AD SERVICES MANAGER Fiona Carvalho minute.com: “I feel elated to be
CONFERENCE MANAGERS Clarabelle Chaw,
part of such a league. It is defi-
Cherie Wong, Serene Sim
ASSISTANT MANAGER, MARKETING & RESEARCH
nitely a morale boost and has
Gwynneth Chan inspired me to dream bigger.”
ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES Social entrepreneur Ashleigh
Angelia Ang, Sharon Joseph, Sabrina Cheung
Streeter-Jones, cofounder of
CIRCULATION SERVICES
Taynmoli Karuppiah Sannassy, Jennifer Yim Girls Takeover Parliament, which addresses gender issues in Aussie poli-
tics, said in canberratimes.com: “This award opens up a world of possibili-
ties for our work.” A less youthful reader, @jamesladd, was not as enthusi-
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astic, tweeting, “No thanks—I’m waiting for the 30 under 50 list.”
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Michael Federle
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Michael York
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Mark Howard THE INTEREST GRAPH
EDITOR-AT-LARGE/GLOBAL FUTURIST Rich Karlgaard Youth and enthusiasm won out over Jim Breyer’s age and experience:
GENERAL COUNSEL MariaRosa Cartolano
30 Under 30 Asia 2018: the Young Stars, Innovators and Visionary Entrepreneurs 38,788 page views
PRESIDENT, FORBESWOMAN Moira Forbes
May 2018
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very instability of government-produced cryptocurrency must also be easy to use derscore why monetary unreliability is so
money is one of the two critical reasons for day-to-day transactions. Moreover, destructive. he dollar’s instability since
cryptocurrencies were created in the irst the supply can’t be artiicially restricted. we abandoned the gold standard in the
place (the other being privacy). If in 2013 Fabricated scarcity doesn’t create value; early 1970s is a slow-motion version of
you had taken out a mortgage for $250,000 utility and trustworthiness do. Look at what is happening to cryptocurrencies. F
DEEP POCKETS
FLYING HIGH
As mainland money and visitors pour into Cambodia, China backs
two new airports. Too bad about the French company that had an
exclusive concession.
BY DANIELLE KEETON-OLSEN
T
he future of Cambodia’s economy, as Tekreth Sam- Corp., or OCIC, and the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, and
rach, chairman of the government-controlled lag- built on 2,600 hectares of open land. he airport itself will cover
ship airline, sees it, is in tourism. And thanks to 700 hectares and the rest will become an “airport city,” with a spe-
China, tourism, like many sectors in the economy, cial economic zone, industrial area and housing developments, ac-
is surging. “To be frank, everyone goes to China to cording to the secretariat’s deputy director-general, Sinn Chan-
make money,” he says from his oice decked with pilot caps and serey Vutha. OCIC will invest $280 million, but the bulk of the
model planes. “So we have to go to China to make money, too.” funding, $1.1 billion, will come from the Bank of China, he says.
Following that logic, the government appears to be making a Both Sinn and Tekreth say they have few details about the
sharp break from its long-standing partnership with French in- Phnom Penh plans because the airport was directly ordered and
frastructure conglomerate Vinci. It’s drating plans and start- arranged by Prime Minister Hun Sen. OCIC representatives de-
ing work on two new airports backed by mainland money, de- clined to comment; the company is owned by Pung Kheav Se, a
spite granting an exclusive, 45-year concession on international local tycoon and chairman of the country’s second-largest com-
airports to a company majority-owned by Vinci. hat conces- mercial bank, Canadia.
sion isn’t supposed to end until 2040. he government’s move As of now, the company holding the airport concession,
is meant to address the rapid rise in tourism, but it also relects Cambodia Airports, 70% of which is owned by Vinci and the
Cambodia’s increasingly enthusiastic embrace of booming Chi- rest by two Cambodian tycoons and a Malaysian company, won’t
nese investment. be involved in either of the new airports. But Cambodia Airports
One of the new airports will serve tourism center Siem Reap Chief Executive Eric Delobel exudes conidence, saying his com-
and the nearby 1,000-year-old temples. he government signed pany will “accelerate and intensify” investment and development
an agreement in 2016 with Chinese company Yunnan Invest- at its three airports regardless of whether the concession ends.
ment Group and two others from Yunnan Province to invest in He says negotiations are under way but won’t reveal details.
and build the project. Since March they have been prepping 750 hough Cambodia’s aviation market is far smaller than Vinci’s
hectares to the southeast of the Unesco World Heritage site. On largest markets in Japan and elsewhere, it’s important because it’s
the company’s website, the group’s chairman, Sun Yun, called it growing so quickly. Vinci, which generated $48 billion in revenue
“a benchmark project for the Belt and Road Initiative,” referring last year, enjoyed a 25% jump in traic to 8.8 million passengers at
to China’s development strategy to connect Eurasia in trade and its Cambodian airports, the fastest growth of any of its markets.
transportation, with President Xi Jinping at the helm. Cambodia Airports is counting on more traic. It just spent
he plan for the second airport, in Phnom Penh, is more au- $130 million to expand its Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports
dacious. Announced in January, this project will be a joint venture so they can each handle at least 5 million passengers a year. At
between Cambodian developer Overseas Cambodia Investment the company’s headquarters on Phnom Penh’s outskirts, now
The existing Siem Reap airport, owned by Cambodia Airports, has been expanded to cater to the tourist boom.
DEEP POCKETS
painted a light, clean gray as part of As mainland visitors tour the coun-
the upgrade, Delobel outlined the try in droves, Chinese investors are fol-
company’s eforts to train the work- lowing. Real estate prices rose in re-
force, add connecting lights and sponse to news of both airports, but
pursue other ways to bring in more Key Real Estate founder Sorn Seap is
passengers. “We are very open to skeptical investors will make money
discussing with [the government] anytime soon. Construction is char-
the future development of those air- acteristically slow in Cambodia, and
ports,” he says. “What has to be in the case of Siem Reap, Sorn says the
stressed to them is that today, in new airport’s location is far from the
terms of capacity, we just achieved in tourist attractions in the city, so devel-
2016 and 2017 a vast development opers will struggle to market business-
program.” es near the airport. “I don’t think [the
he expansion doubled capacity airport] is the one factor you should
at the two airports, but the number of judge to invest nearby,” he says.
passengers coming through Cambo- Overall, Cambodia’s economy al-
dia’s international airports has grown ready leans heavily on China. Not
by at least 10% annually for the last only is China the primary source of
seven years. “here will be some lim- investment in the country, at rough-
itations at some point, so [within the ly $1 billion of the total $6.3 billion
government] there’s a desire to tran- received last year, but China holds
sition to a new airport sooner,” says Lofty plans: Prime 47.5% of the country’s debt.
Capa Centre for Aviation chief analyst Minister Hun Sen One result of the Chinese in-
Brendan Sobie. (top) and Pung Kheav vestment can be seen in Cambodia’s
Se, owner of OCIC, a
He’s not sure, however, that port city, Sihanoukville, dubbed a
partner in the airport
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap can each development. second Macau for its grandiose ca-
support two airports, if the two Chi- sinos studding the coast as well as
na-backed airports are built. One way secretary of state the Chinese money looding in.
would be for an airport to emerge as a re- of the govern- North of the port and Kampong
gional hub, but Cambodia’s small popula- ment’s Council Som Bay, a contested environmental
tion and the lack of a major lagship carrier of Ministers. But protection site, China’s Union De-
works against that. Southeast Asia’s prima- Sobie says the government is not sending velopment Group will build a $350 mil-
ry airports are switly reaching capacity as a good message to investors by seeming- lion charter airport as part of the compa-
tourism and investment continue to sky- ly ending a concession with no evidence ny’s $3.8 billion investment in the Dara
rocket. But even if one of their airlines de- that the public-private partnership failed. Sakor Seashore Resort. he city’s airport,
cided to set up a secondary hub outside its Meanwhile, Cambodia’s tourism in- also managed by Cambodia Airports,
country, there would be plenty of compe- dustry continues to soar. It generated $3.6 drew a measly 386,000 passengers in the
tition for that business around the region. billion in revenue last year, or 12.3% of 12 months ended in March, according
“[Competing airports] work in places like gross domestic product. And the main- to Vinci’s irst-quarter report, but Sinn
Bangkok, but maybe Phnom Penh isn’t a land accounts for much of the sector’s says the development of the city makes
city that could support that,” he says. potential. More than a million Chinese the small airport worth watching. “Look SOVANNARA XINHUA NEWS AGENCY/NEWSCOM; REUTERS/SAMRANG PRING
he new airports face other obstacles. toured Cambodia last year, and the gov- at Sihanoukville,” he quips. “here is a
Phnom Penh’s airport could stall amid a ernment aims to double that number by tourism resort, there will be a big port,
fresh dispute over the land between local 2020. Cambodia’s economy has tradi- and another investment will be oil and
villagers and rice growers and the gov- tionally relied on the garment industry, gas. When we consider all that, we want
ernment. Sinn, the civil aviation oi- but growth in the value of garment ex- the Sihanoukville airport to become the
cial, maintains that the land is owned by ports has steadily declined since 2010, biggest in the country.”
OCIC. Even if the conlict is resolved, says partly because of declining U.S. purchas- Tekreth says the country will contin-
Sobie, the airport’s construction could es, according to the World Bank. Recent- ue to absorb investment from China, just
take a decade, allowing time to resolve ly, the U.S. and European Union threat- as other Southeast Asian countries have
Cambodia Airports’ concession. ened sanctions against Cambodia ater its done. “We need jobs for our people, so we
he concession always included a stip- Supreme Court dissolved the opposition need more investment to follow,” he says.
ulation to build a new airport in Siem Cambodia National Rescue Party, months “his is the irst time in Cambodian his-
Reap, according to Tekreth, the chairman ater its candidates were elected in hun- tory that you see this kind of investment
of Cambodia Angkor Air and also the dreds of communes. in our country.” F
CONTENT CONFLICT
Pirate Play
Beijing’s refusal to license South Korean online games allows
intellectual property mischief to thrive.
BY AUGUST RICK
A
ban on licensing rights to has historically been the largest market for nies are in the midst of a years-old lawsuit,
distribute mobile games South Korean online and mobile games. though a Shanghai court has already pro-
inside China, levied But since 2016, all mobile games must be tected Shanda’s copyright claims to the se-
against South Korean de- approved before they can be distribut- quel. (hough Wemade irst developed the
velopers for the past year, ed in China. Beijing’s unoicial sanctions game, Shanda contends that it had admin-
has hurt the bottom line of the gaming stretched from videogames and entertain- istered the content over the past ten years.)
industry’s premier exporter and instead ment to retail stores and even tourism. Chinese courts have shown an in-
has allowed local copyright infringers to In 2017, South Korea’s online and mo- creased vigilance when it comes to copy-
proit wildly in the Chinese market. bile gaming industry exports were estimat- right infringement and intellectual property
A block on new licensing for prod- ed to be between $3.8 billion (according to protection. In 2014 a policy granted three
uct distribution in China came in March the Korea Creative Content Agency) and courts—Beijing, Shanghai and Guang-
2017 ater the South Korean government $4.7 billion (according to the Korea Asso- zhou—expanded jurisdiction over intel-
granted the U.S. permission to install the ciation of the Gaming Industry). hat ig- lectual property rights. But the trimmed-
THAAD missile defense battery and radar ure, while hety, represents of-pace growth down judicial operation of the courts has
system on South Korean soil. Since then, due to weak sales from the Chinese ban. also ossiied in the face of foreign rights
not a single new license has been grant- South Korean game developers have holders. In an interview with South Kore-
ed for South Korean gaming companies, been on top of the gaming industry since an press, an intellectual property protection
including Wemade, Bluehole, Smilegate the late 1990s, and have consistently failed specialist warned that, in China’s courts,
and Nexon, which are some of the world’s to adequately copyright and protect their “here is an invisible wall that blocks for-
most popular online developers. product, perennially the newest and most eigners from operating in the local market.”
In that time the Chinese govern- sought-ater items. Shanda Games, one PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
ment has authorized the distribution of at of China’s top publishers, claimed in 2016 (PUBG), a popular game developed by
least 412 licenses to foreign-made games. to be earning more than $100 million South Korea’s Bluehole, was similarly de-
Since March 2017, the South Korean gov- a month by distributing he Legend of nied licensing in China. he violent nature
ernment has licensed 111 Chinese on- Mir, which has the same name as the We- of the game “severely deviates from the so-
line games for sale in South Korea. China made Entertainment title. he two compa- cialist core value and the Chinese tradi-
tional culture and moral rule,” the China
Audio-Video & Digital Publishing Asso-
ciation declared in an online statement.
he content regulator is grouped under the
State Administration of Press, Publication,
Radio, Film & Television.
Seoul-based Bluehole struggled to at-
tain rights to distribute PUBG in China.
he Korean company promptly partnered
with Chinese internet giant Tencent, and
ZHANG PENG/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
Idealist on
a Mission
In the year since serial entrepreneur Taizo Son moved to Singapore from his native Japan,
he’s found a welcoming laboratory for his high-tech ideas.
BY JANE A. PETERSON
T
echnology guru Taizo Son is on a mission to improve Mistletoe focuses on what Son calls “world-changing” startups
radically the way urban dwellers live and work. He in deep tech, which includes artiicial intelligence and robotics.
envisions lush green cities where people enjoy largely “Early-stage is our strong suit,” he says during an interview in his
car-free living, traveling about in vehicles under- new Singapore oice. When asked how these outits are faring, he
ground or in drones overhead. Most people won’t quips: “hey’re still cooking.” He says the funding comes from the
work in oices; instead they’ll share ideas in cafe settings over money he’s made on previous investments. “I have no investors. It’s
steaming lattes. As for keeping healthy, there’ll be do-it-yourself 100% principal.”
checkups in futuristic bathrooms for monitoring the essentials, Forbes Asia listed Son as a billionaire in 2014 on the strength
and robot chefs to whip up healthy, delicious meals. of his GungHo stake. But it turned out that the bulk of his shares
It sounds far-fetched, the stuf of science iction. But this were pledged to his brother as collateral for a loan. Today we peg
45-year-old visionary, the youngest brother of SotBank founder his wealth at roughly $275 million, but it may be more, depend-
Masayoshi Son, is committing millions of dollars to these ideas. To ing on the value of the startups; he says he hasn’t calculated that
make them a reality, he pulled up stakes in his native Japan a year himself.
ago and moved himself and his family to Singapore. From his new he ofspring of Korean immigrants, the Son brothers—there
base he travels the globe to ind like-minded tech entrepreneurs are four in all—hail from Kyushu, Japan’s most southwesterly
whose primary passion is not to make money but instead to help island. Taizo appears to distance himself from Masayoshi, the
better people’s lives by improving their health, education, food, second oldest, whose fortune Forbes Asia estimates at $21.9 billion,
transportation, living quarters and more. If the people he backs making him Japan’s richest person. While Taizo served for years
never give up, he surmises, they won’t ever fail. as a SotBank advisor, he indicates that the two do not speak regu-
Son has founded or seeded hundreds of businesses since larly. “He’s traveling. I can’t catch him,” he says coyly. “As a brother,
earning an economics degree from Tokyo University. His biggest I send a message: ‘Happy Birthday.’ ”
success so far is GungHo Online Entertainment, which he started Taizo seems rather ill at ease during the meeting, as if
in 1998 and which developed Puzzle & Dragons, once the world’s he’s eager for the time to pass quickly. He rarely gives inter-
bestselling application for mobile phones. He launched the venture views, and his public relations assistant in Tokyo has already
capital irm Mistletoe in 2013 and says he’s since put $150 million postponed this one twice. She’s listening in from Tokyo on a
into some 80 startups, backing entrepreneurs in more than ten computer screen.
countries. Companies in his portfolio are working on wearable “So far, so good,” says the enigmatic Son when asked about his
monitoring devices, drones for medical emergencies and other family’s relocation to Sentosa, the lush island enclave connected
high-tech advances. to the main part of Singapore by a short bridge. “Compared with
Son’s way: “I unlearned everything. We have no approval process, no management meetings, no procedures, no hierarchy.”
Japan, Singapore is more suitable for a global headquarters,” he government-owned irm nurturing deep-tech startups, says Son
says, pointing to the city-state’s tax rules and Smart Nation initia- invests in people who “dream big and get others to believe in those
tives to drive the adoption of digital technology, from e-payments dreams. Taizo, with his clear vision, credibility and kind nature, is
to autonomous vehicles. He believes that the Singapore govern- already making a strong impact in the Singapore ecosystem.” Son
ment has the will and the power to make change happen quickly, joined what had already become a center of venture capital activ-
while Japan’s does not. ity. Last year in the Lion City, venture capital investors spread $1.2
he Mistletoe oice is in the very swank Spectrum, a technol- billion across 112 deals, with activity this year projected to remain
ogy and innovation business club on the edge of downtown (see robust. hat value was the highest in Southeast Asia.
box, opposite). he irm’s space is in the middle of a vast open area, Before relocating to Singapore, Son invested in two Singapore
and it consists of just a long desk bookended by ile cabinets, with startups: space-debris remover Astroscale (see Q&A, p. 49) and
room for six swivel chairs. On this day in late February one chair online gamer Garena, now called SEA, which went public last
is occupied by Mistletoe’s oice manager, three others are draped year. Since the move he has been the lead investor in a $3.5 million
with sweaters and Son’s spot is piled with edible Chinese New round for Singapore-based Hatcher+, which enables fund manag-
Year gits he plans to take home. Mistletoe’s small work space in ers to invest in thousands of startups using artiicial intelligence.
Singapore belies the large workload, though there’s also an oice “Our approach is completely diferent from the traditional—bot-
in Tokyo—by far the largest with 70 stafers—and another in Palo tom-up and decentralized,” he explains, insisting that traditional
Alto, California. he size is immaterial, says Son. Not only are he business plans are passé and harmful. “If you make a plan, it will
and his colleagues frequently away on trips, but for most projects, cut of new chemistries.”
he adds, space won’t be necessary, thanks to the tools of virtual Such new chemistries, he believes, happen within a thriving
reality and augmented reality. “It will be 100% virtual.” “tech ecosystem.” He aims to help accelerate that in Singapore,
But for at least one project, the futuristic “Bathroom 2.0,” Son bringing tech players together to bounce ideas around, both virtu-
plans to use space at Spectrum for testing. (Fund manager Golden ally and at venues such as Spectrum. It’s a method that energizes
Equator, which owns Spectrum, is a partner.) “We are looking him. “I am Buddhist,” he says, “but I don’t get inspiration from
for comrades,” he says, a pitch to entrepreneurs from around the meditation; my inspiration comes from people.”
world to get involved. When he’s not traveling, Son rises at 6 a.m. on weekdays and
Son enthuses about his collaboration with the Singapore spends roughly three hours reading books, white papers and the
government, noting that it ofers special two-year startup visas for news, followed by one-on-one meetings and sometimes writing
foreign entrepreneurs well suited to relocating in Singapore. “We either a blog for staf or a longer paper for his network of entrepre-
will build a new town based on new technology,” he says, adding neurs. To maintain good health, Son prefers running and biking.
that he’s in talks with oicials about a suitable location. “We will “When I’m exercising, I come up with ideas,” he says. As for sleep,
create a tangible showcase here to stimulate [similar projects in] he says he gets six hours a night.
the rest of the world.” A government spokesman wouldn’t provide Family is clearly a priority. Weekends and late aternoons are
details but says the agency that develops industrial infrastructure oten spent playing with his young son, an only child, including
plans to make an announcement later this year. trips to the park and the pool. “I’m not thinking of sending him
Steve Leonard, founding chief executive of SGInnovate, a to high school,” says Son, who’s a strong believer in self-directed
FRESH STARTS
TAIZO SON IS THE LATEST IN A LINE OF NOTABLE INVESTORS FROM ABROAD WHO HAVE SET UP SHOP IN SINGAPORE.
BRETT BLUNDY COFOUNDING BB RETAIL CAPITAL IN 2013 FROM AUSTRALIA. NOW BUILDING A CATTLE EMPIRE IN
NORTHERN AUSTRALIA TO FEED ASIAN DEMAND FOR BEEF AFTER
SELLING HIS RETAIL AND PROPERTY INTERESTS.
RICHARD CHANDLER COFOUNDING EMERGING-MARKET IN 2006 FROM NEW ZEALAND. NOW RUNS CLERMONT GROUP, HIS
INVESTMENT FIRM SOVEREIGN GLOBAL PERSONAL INVESTMENT FUND.
ALLEN LAW HIS FAMILY’S PARK HOTEL GROUP, WHICH MANAGES IN 2005 FROM HONG KONG TO SET UP THE GROUP’S HEADQUARTERS
THE GRAND PARK ORCHARD IN SINGAPORE BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IT HELD MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPANSION.
JIM ROGERS COFOUNDING QUANTUM FUND IN 2007 FROM NEW YORK CITY SO HIS DAUGHTERS COULD GROW UP
WITH GEORGE SOROS SPEAKING MANDARIN AND LEARNING ABOUT ASIA.
EDUARDO SAVERIN COFOUNDING FACEBOOK IN 2009 TO INVEST IN COMPANIES PLANNING TO ENTER ASIA. IN 2011
HE GAVE UP U.S. CITIZENSHIP, SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE FACEBOOK
WENT PUBLIC.
NATHAN TINKLER INVESTING IN WHITEHAVEN COAL IN 2012 FROM AUSTRALIA TO DODGE THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER A
SPECTACULAR FALL FROM GRACE WHEN THE COAL BOOM
COLLAPSED. HE’S APPARENTLY BACK IN AUSTRALIA NOW.
learning. “Sometimes he will come to my place while I am work- joined the network ive years ago. He has a seat in the Tokyo oice
ing. We will spend time together as he grows.” and manages his own $10 million venture fund, called Idaten
Last year Son devoted substantial time to boosting Singapore’s Ventures, for manufacturing and logistics. Since starting Idaten
tech players, speaking at both large conferences and small events. last year, he’s had free rein to choose which entrepreneurs to back.
his year he’s cut back on that, instead preparing to launch a slew So far he’s selected six, seeding them with an average of $500,000
of projects, including the new tech town and Bathroom 2.0. each. “Taizo thinks, ‘If you think it is great, do it,’ ” he says, add-
Another project that commands his attention: revamping ing that he oten texts his mentor for investment strategy advice.
education. Son intends to create an updated Singapore version of “hat’s his way—he trusts me and believes in me.”
one of his startups in Japan, Vivita. It’s a self-directed tech hub for In Singapore at Hatcher+, cofounder John Sharp, an Austra-
children, where creativity reigns. Sotware experts act as mentors, lian, says, “We love the guy. He understands the future of an idea.
allowing youngsters to experiment—with 3-D printers, laser cut- He is supportive but not a micromanager; he’s more interested in
ters and computers—and create their own inventions, including watching you execute.” he company’s oice is in JTC LaunchPad
robots. He asks rhetorically, “Why are people sticking to school?” at One-North, a large cluster of repurposed Singapore factories
What’s essential, he believes, is honing creativity; memorizing that house some 800 startups from 43 countries.
knowledge will become obsolete as robots become ubiquitous. As the interview’s allotted time ends, Son’s public relations
his runs counter, however, to a school of thought that argues for assistant interrupts from Tokyo. It’s time to press on to the
the importance of students building a base of fundamental knowl- photo shoot. A grinning Son poses in two locations in Spec-
edge to draw on, or else they won’t know what they don’t know trum’s huge lobby, his oice manager carrying the laptop com-
when consulting Google or directing a robot. puter so the consultant can supervise. He seems most poised
Ater 20 years of practicing “Westernized management,” Son atop a funky green circular chair. Here his whimsical style
drastically changed his approach two years ago. “I unlearned breaks free. He’s wearing brown Prada shoes with triple-color
everything and changed to the opposite way,” he says, “and my soles—blue, white and yellow—their thick black laces match-
performance is better.” By that he means that he now has his net- ing his black leather bag, which sports a tassel. He’s dressed in
work of associates at the startups he funds functioning outside of a close-itting gray suit and tie, and minus his trademark hat
EQROY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
traditional norms. “We have no approval process, no management with an upturned brim.
meetings, no procedures, no hierarchy,” he says. “hey invest my Son sums up his thoughts. On some projects he expects
money by themselves.” He calls these 70 associates “fellows” and Mistletoe to make money; on others it won’t. “It’s okay if I drop. I
they range in age from 23 to 70. can drop,” he says emphatically, referring to his net worth. “I don’t
One fellow is Kenta Adachi, a 37-year-old senior director who know what it is now—and I don’t care.” F
V3 GROUP:
RAMPING UP FOR FUTURE GROWTH
The Singapore specialized retailer, with its deep understanding of consumers, is developing new and existing
brands, both offline and online, as it transforms into Asia’s leading luxury lifestyle and wellness group.
Beginning its journey nearly 40 years ago OSIM will continue to build on its domi- collaborative success. We have a wealth of
in 1979 as a small household-goods com- nance in the lifestyle category by building experience operating around the world,
pany, V3 Group is now a global lifestyle and growing its successful operations in and we can leverage on this to build part-
and wellness business with a footprint in 24 China, the world’s second-largest economy. nerships that will further extend the collec-
countries. Apart from OSIM in the lifestyle category, V3 tive leadership position of V3 Group as well
Helmed by Chairman and Chief Executive Group’s portfolio also includes TWG Tea. The as our trusted partners across the Lifestyle,
Officer, Ron Sim, the group has leveraged its label has 66 stores worldwide and is recog- Wellness and Aspirational categories," says
deep consumer and retail experience in five nized as one of the finest luxury tea brands Mr. Sim.
core markets—Singapore, Hong Kong, Tai- in the world. The group’s holdings also This philosophy ensures the group is
wan, Malaysia and China—developing excit- include ONI Global, which has exclusive fran- geared up for continued success across all
ing and dynamic platforms to grow existing chise rights to the GNC brand in Singapore, its brands and operations for many years to
and new brands in both online and offline Malaysia and Taiwan. Together with its own come.
channels. developed brand LAC, Xndo and Face On
The entrepreneur extraordinaire kicked Clinic, ONI Global focuses on helping cus-
off his regional expansion plans after the tomers improve their physical, mental and
recession in 1985, when it was clear to Mr. emotional wellness. V3 Group most recently
Sim that expansion was necessary to sur- invested in Singapore fixtures manufacturer
vive and thrive. His resulting successes are Futuristic, which produces high-quality store
underpinned by a sharp business acumen, fixtures for leading global brands.
deep operational skills and strong financial Going forward, a new collaborative strat-
capabilities. egy will drive the next wave of growth. Tap-
These core capabilities have powered the ping on Mr. Sim’s deep experience, V3 Group
group from the early phenomenal success will identify and work with founders and
of its flagship line of award-winning OSIM partners of small and medium-sized enter-
premium products, and also have won prises who share his vision.
accolades for its founder, including Ernst & "Besides creating and making a differ-
Young's prestigious "Entrepreneur of The ence in your own business, it is crucial to
Year" in 2003, Singapore-based The Business identify and partner with like-minded stake-
Times “Businessman of the Year” in 2003 and holders and entrepreneurs to bring about
“Best Chief Executive Officer” by the Singa-
pore Corporate Awards in 2012.
V3 Group is the realization of Mr. Sim’s
vision of building Asia’s leading luxury group
across the three focus areas of its Lifestyle,
Wellness and Aspirational brands. Expand-
ing through a series of acquisitions over the
past 13 years, V3 Group is now poised to
accelerate its organic growth trajectory by
extending its leadership in its core markets
and penetrating new markets globally while
broadening its portfolio of brands through
acquisitive growth.
The group’s operations currently span
more than 670 stores in 24 countries, and
features an extensive omnichannel network Ron Sim, Chairman and
that provides big data analytical capabilities Chief Executive Officer
across all its brands. of V3 Group
FORBES ASIA
THE LALBHAIS
A GENER ATION E ME R GE S
W
hen Punit Lalbhai—ith generation of a lows they’ll be allowed to go their own way.”
storied textile family from the western One such restructuring is under way—splitting Arvind into
Indian city of Ahmedabad—spearheaded three entities encompassing textiles, branded clothes and heavy
a new division within the clan’s Arvind engineering. he revamp also clariies the role of the next-gen
Ltd. in 2009, he wasn’t thinking of shirts leaders. “hese two guys are the succession,” says Lalbhai, who
and trousers. He envisioned a range of “technical textiles” from has a $680 million stake in the lagship and in real estate player
ire-protection gear to industrial safety garments to combat Arvind Smartspaces. “hey’ll each take the lead on a few busi-
clothing. Also on the roster: “glass” fabrics that are used in nesses. But the wealth is shared.”
surboards, rotor blades, wind turbines and the interiors of While Punit oversees the nearly $1 billion (iscal 2017 rev-
metro trains. enues) textile arm along with some incubated businesses like
“We are pivoting very fast toward becoming a technology advanced materials, water and agriculture, Kulin is handling
company rather than being a traditional textiles company,” the $447 million (revenues) consumer brands arm along with
says Punit, 36, who joined the company in 2007 and is now an businesses like retail, real estate and telecom.
executive director. “We are writing the specs and creating this Father and the two sons are looking to double group rev-
market for advanced materials in India. his will eventually be enues by 2022. he road map includes a garment operation in
a multibillion-dollar industry.” Ethiopia—which allows duty-free access to the U.S., Europe
he $1.7 billion (iscal 2017 revenues) Arvind group— and China. Back home they’re looking to add similar plants in
spanning the gamut from textiles to real estate to retail—is Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. Over the next ive years, the
also incubating a host of other ventures led by Punit and his group hopes to convert 40% to 50% of the fabric that it pro-
RAJAT GHOSH FOR FORBES
younger brother Kulin. hey include technical textiles, water duces into clothing—compared with just 10% now.
treatment, cotton cultivation and e-commerce. “We have many Arvind is also looking to use sustainability as a diferentia-
businesses that we’ve nurtured over the years,” says Sanjay tor, leaning on Punit’s background. With an undergrad degree
Lalbhai, the 64-year-old patriarch, who chairs Arvind. “Once in conservation biology from the University of California,
they become inancially strong and generate their own cash Davis and a master’s in environmental science at Yale, he’s
THE LALBHAIS
he convinced 80 creditors that he had a viable business and even sold assets to bring in SOURCES: IMF; WAZIR; CLSA; FICCI.
new money. But it took nearly four years to pull the company out of the abyss—in time to
provide a Western education for the two sons.
From that low, he’s now careful about ensuring cash flows. The patriarch oversees strategy and innovation at the group level, and
he’s in regular touch with at least 40 key people across the group—including his sons, even if they’re needed while vacationing. “I
always need to know what could go wrong,” says Lalbhai. —A.R.
steering the group’s green agenda. Arvind is managing 65,000 hat way you aren’t hitting everyone with the same bullet but
acres of farmland under the Better Cotton Initiative, a global you are targeting your customer in a hyperpersonalized way.”
NGO promoting judicious use of water and approved chemi- he brothers are building on a legacy that dates back to
cals. “By doing business the right way you are creating models 1897 when Lalbhai Dalpatbhai set up Saraspur Manufacturing.
of sustainability and development that can protect the things His son, Kasturbhai Lalbhai—the current chairman’s grand-
you love,” says Punit. father—established seven textile mills for his seven children.
A slew of in-house innovations are already afoot: dyeing Sanjay Lalbhai, representing the fourth generation, joined the
without water, clothing from recycled waste and using man- business in 1979 and was assigned to materials management.
made ibers in blends. “hat hardly took one hour of my time,” he says.
Meanwhile, Kulin, 32, who’s the face of the company in So he teamed up with friends and tried assorted product lines.
Indian business media, is looking to parlay a portfolio of Some did well, some bombed. “I must have tried a hundred [busi-
brands—including international labels like Tommy Hiliger nesses],” he laughs. “I wanted to create something.” Eventually that
and U.S. Polo Association—into a $1.4 billion outit over the led to denim and near-disaster along the way (see box).
next few years. he business has been growing at a compound- he three Lalbhais work together and live under the same
ed 25% over ive years. roof. While Kulin travels much of the month—the brands
India is under-penetrated by brands, and the overall market business operates out of Bangalore—he gives daily updates to
for branded clothing is expected to double by 2021 from $15 his dad and brother. he sons are encouraged to speak their
billion in 2015. “We expect at least ive brands to hit the 1,000 minds, but when there’s a diference of opinion, Lalbhai senior
crore rupees [$154 million] mark by 2022,” he says. makes the call.
his growth potential has attracted the attention of a he family members also work closely with a team of man-
marquee investor, the India-focused fund Multiples, which in- agers. “he two sons work seamlessly without confusing the
vested $110 million in October 2016. “Arvind has an aggrega- role of the professionals,” says Multiples’ Ramnath. “Nothing is
tion of brands at price points across the income pyramid,” says taken as legacy. Nothing is taken for granted.”
Renuka Ramnath, Multiples’ celebrated founder. “hey cater to Dad shares diferent interests with each son. It’s itness and
a very large addressable market across casual, denim, formal, electronics with Kulin, and with Punit it’s gardening and heart-
teen, kids, innerwear and other segments—all this gives them fulness (a meditative process for increasing inner awareness).
a huge runway for growth. he platform can attract consumers Father and son devote a good hour to this practice every day.
early and keep them buying for several years.” Papa Lalbhai is also involved with all of the group’s forward
he younger scion has also set up an e-commerce play. strategies—be it the internet business or the omni-channel
“he world of tomorrow is very diferent,” says Kulin, who has retail push. “I’d rather make a mistake of being too much in the
an undergrad degree in electrical engineering from Stanford future than be glued to the past,” he says.
and an M.B.A. from Harvard. “We can use machine learning As Punit adds: “If there is a generation gap or a mindset
to igure out customer preferences and show products based dissonance, it’s the next gen trying to catch up with previous
on those preferences—not only online but in the store as well. gen. We have to run to catch up with him.” F
OWN-LABEL OFFERS
Brand Blindness
NetEase challenges Chinese e-commerce giants on a new battleground.
BY JANE HO
W
hile Alibaba and Forbes Asia. “We hope
JD.com are busy consumers would
holding each other clearly understand
in check, a new com- UGG is not in any
petitor has entered partnership with Yan-
the fray in a bid to secure a foothold in xuan.” he American
China’s $860 billion online shopping mar- Apparel & Footwear
ket: NetEase. And it’s doing things a little Association has also
diferently. raised concerns about
In April 2016, the tech company— “a potential thet of in-
headed by William Ding, China’s third- tellectual property.”
richest tech billionaire—started selling “Any claim that
fashion apparel, accessories, furniture products are ‘made by
and home appliances it claims are made the same manufactur-
by original manufacturers that supply er’ as another major
top international brands such as Gucci, brand is a telltale sign
Burberry and UGG. But they sell at lower of a possible bad actor,”
prices on Yanxuan, NetEase’s own label. says Steve Lamar, the
How much lower? Here’s an example: organization’s exec-
William Ding’s NetEase raises the existential question: When is an UGG an UGG?
An original pair of UGG ankle boots sells utive vice president.
for just over $200 on JD.com and Tmall— “he manufacturer is ankle boots for each member of her fam-
authorized sellers—while on Yanxuan, an potentially violating an agreement with a ily. “here’s not much design involved in
identical pair made by an “UGG manufac- brand partner.” a typical pair of UGG boots,” Zhang says.
turer,” is priced at just $45. he model is Yanxuan declined to comment when “and a piece of sheep leather is sold at
working. NetEase’s e-commerce business- contacted, but according to Pan Xiaoning, only $30 at Ikea. Yanxuan has helped us
es, which includes cross-border arm Kaola, director of the intellectual property de- become aware of a product’s cost.”
has upped its net revenue by 160% to $1.8 partment at Chinese law irm Yingke, such Others, such as Long Long, a 35-year-
billion. With Yanxuan’s portfolio now cov- claims by Yanxuan, even if true, would be old technician at an online game compa-
ering 10,000 products, Ding aims to rake in a gray area without the brand’s authori- ny in Beijing, ind not the authentic but
in more than $3 billion from the site in zation. “A majority of brands would have the generic products to be Yanxuan’s true
2018, as it seeks to catch up with the likes binding terms with their manufacturers strength. Long switched to Yanxuan from
of Taobao and JD.com. that forbid them to use the brands for Taobao to buy kitchenware and daily ne-
Not to be outdone, Alibaba launched third-party promotion, in which case Net- cessities “at a slightly higher price with
an own-label retail site, Taobao Xinxuan, Ease’s conduct is more likely an infringe- more consistent quality,” guaranteed by
in 2017, while JD.com rolled out its Jing- ment,” she told Forbes Asia. the big brands’ manufacturers.
zao brand in January. Neither is market- Chinese consumers don’t seem too But will this own-label market chal-
ing its products as made by big brands’ concerned. Many of the hundreds of lenge the e-commerce models of Taobao
manufacturers, and neither has come comments on the Yanxuan page selling and JD.com? Chinese consultancy iRe-
close to Yanxuan in scale. UGG-style ankle boots praise its value— search’s analyst Jiao Dingkun is skepti-
However, Yanxuan has ruled some though some noted that there’s still a cal: “A holdback for the business model is
IMAGINE CHINA/NEWSCOM
feathers. “Yanxuan’s promotion would quality gap with UGG products. Lynn whether it could ind quality plants along
mislead consumers to believe they are Zhang, a 43-year-old housewife from the supply chain. here are only a limit-
buying authentic UGG products,” a Shanghai, was attracted by the brand as- ed number of such plants in China, which
spokeswoman for Australia’s UGG told sociation and bought a pair of Yanxuan’s will put pressure on the scale-up.” F
Girding
for Growth
Construction boom paves the way for a
Vietnamese steelmaker—and new billionaire.
BY LAN ANH NGUYEN
A
lthough a state steel company population) creates greater structural needs
got going in what was then and government trade policy supports the
the communist North in 1960, domestic sector. But none of the other private
Vietnam has never had a really or state players can match Hoa Phat’s scope.
huge integrated manufacturing Last year it sold 3 million tons of construction
plant—until now. When it opens later this steel, and the Dung Quat factory will better
year, the $3 billion steelworks in the Dung than double that capacity. To that and its pipes
Quat Economic Zone, near a deepwater port production, Hoa Phat is adding galvanized-
in Central Vietnam, will serve a modernized steel lines. he company’s workforce has
economy that as late as 2015 had to rely on doubled in a year to 15,000 as it ramps up for
mostly Chinese imports of heavy, rolled steel. the launches.
his milestone is the handiwork of another Tran’s outit has been a big part of displac-
Vietnamese newsmaker: new billionaire ing the Chinese steel that looded Vietnam
Tran Dinh Long, chairman of Hoa Phat (and global markets) ater the inancial crisis
Group, which is already the country’s biggest of 2008, when China—which now has half
steelmaker by market share. he 57-year-old the world’s volume—kept its mills humming.
Tran was a construction ministry stafer when Hoa Phat expanded in the face of that ater
he and a half-dozen university chums formed Vietnam entered the WTO in 2007. Now it
a building-supply outit in 1992, as the nation has 25% of Vietnam’s market and has begun
reopened to international commerce. Soon to export to Southeast Asia. “If Vietnam is
Hoa Phat branched into oice furniture and a body, Hoa Phat is a cell. he development
then into producing steel piping for such of Hoa Phat, as well as the steel industry in
ware. It IPO’d as a metals company in 2007. Vietnam, is based on the need to grow of a
Ten years later, its revenues reached $2 billion developing country,” Tran says in an interview
(a 38% yearly jump) with net proit of $350 with Forbes in his new oice, in a high-rise
million, and the rising shares have driven built with his steel, looking over hien Quang
Long’s one-third stake to $1.3 billion. lake in the heart of Hanoi.
Today there’s plenty of steelmaking in he days of hustling equipment and Tran is one of only four
Vietnamese billionaires.
Vietnam as urbanization (now 34% of the materials to construction sites 25 years ago
were diferent for the founders. “We had our bare hands as capital,” tion per capita in Vietnam is about 190 kilos (420 pounds), lower
he recalls. “Each of us had a motorbike. We started with some than Asia’s average of 260.
small sums borrowed from family and friends, borrowed from the Integrated production, such as looms at Dung Quat, has been
banks, and a lot of business transactions were done through state- key to Hoa Phat’s emergence as Vietnam’s steel leader, beginning
owned companies used as proxy. Business was lowing, because with a smaller plant in Hai Duong province near Hanoi eight
everyone was doing business, and the whole country literally years ago. Hoa Phat has created a closed system from iron ore to
started from zero!” inished, specialized steel products using basic-oxygen furnace
Once Hoa Phat’s manufacturing of piping for furniture as well technology, known as BOF. Analysts say this process not only
as scafolding began, the borrowing got serious—90% leverage helps maintain quality but also is price competitive. Many smaller
through a letter of credit to import a production line from Italy in rivals are still doing electric-arc furnace steelmaking, which uses
2001. hat took the company to what would be $100 million in scrap metal and consumes too much energy.
capital today. Tran’s operation has surpassed domestic rivals such as Po-
Most other companies in Vietnam at the time were using out- mima, Tisco (the former state-owned company) and Vina Kyoei (a
dated factory tools imported from Taiwan or China. Tran saw the joint venture with Japan), as well as producers backed by invest-
latest technology as a crucial factor to increase competitiveness. ments from India, Malaysia and Taiwan ater the 2007 WTO ac-
“hinking back, it was a diicult decision. I don’t know how we cession. (he big Dung Quat complex is actually a buildout from
overcame that challenge. Maybe we were blessed,” he says. the earlier Taiwanese venture.)
here were stumbles. Hoa Phat tried making copper pipes And then there’s China. “Standing next to a giant neighbor,
and cement, even growing sugarcane. he experience made Tran you would always need to renovate and innovate to survive,” Tran
philosophical. “We strictly follow objective laws,” he describes his says. Government policy of late has helped. Starting from 2015,
current approach to business. “We don’t push our subjective will Vietnam applied a tarif on steel products, as well as tightening up
against objective reality.” regulations on exporting iron ore. Hoa Phat particularly beneits
But one backer likes the entrepreneurial urge: “Don’t consider as it builds its integrated capacity.
Hoa Phat [founders] as industrialists. hey should be seen as busi- If steelmaking in Vietnam is an ever widening and state-backed
nessmen who always seek new opportunities and are willing to opportunity, it remains competitive and otherwise treacherous.
take risks,” says Vu Quang hinh, managing director of Vietnam A diferent Taiwanese investment, by an arm of the Formosa
Holdings, an investment fund that’s a longtime shareholder. Plastics conglomerate, led to a massive discharge from a coastal
Steel is the mainstay, no doubt, accounting for 85% of Hoa semiinished-steel casting plant in 2016 that killed millions of ish
Phat’s total revenue and 90% of its proit. In the country’s oices and outraged the Vietnamese public. he company was ined but
and homes, its frames dominate furnishing. And there’s room allowed to continue work.
for domestic growth: According to a report by FPT Securities, Tran was watching and vows Hoa Phat will spend what’s need-
Vietnam’s steel sector is still in early development, with an average ed to skirt environmental damage. “We know that the government
growth rate near 17.5% between 2012 and 2016. Steel consump- can love us,” he says, “but the people won’t.” F
AUTO PILOT
Tran Ba Duong, the reclusive chairman of automaker Thaco Corp., is an-
other new billionaire this year. Now 58, he started on the technical staf of
a car-repair operation in the 1980s and worked his way up management
positions. Tran founded his own company, Truong Hai (now Thaco), in 1997,
initially to sell vehicles and later to assemble them for foreign brands such
as Kia, Mazda and Peugeot. His company hit a turning point in 2008 as
Jardine Cycle & Carriage, an arm of Jardine Matheson, invested $77 million
to buy 20% (the stake was later increased to 32%). By 2016, Thaco was
leading Vietnam’s auto sector, with a 32% market share. At a 650-hectare
complex in Quang Ngai province, it runs five factories for foreign brands
and manufactures buses and trucks under its own name. It also owns 15
auto parts factories. In March, Thaco opened a factory costing over $300
million to strengthen its capacity even as auto-import tarifs disappear in
Vietnam this year.
MAI KY/FORBES VIETNAM
AUTO TALK
Not So Fast
We’re ive years from safe driverless cars for all, says Carlos Ghosn.
BY PAUL ARMSTRONG
T
he auto industry is experi- Ghosn said. “We have the the $80,000 to $100,000 cars, they’re
encing a paradigm shit with most sold cars in Europe, most sold a very small niche in our industry.”
the growth of the global elec- electric cars in Japan … and we are get- He said most consumers—especially
tric vehicle (EV) market as ting back the title of most sold cars in in China—don’t care so much about
well as the emergence of dis- the United States—all because we started the technology: “hey care about the
ruptive technologies like the autonomous- irst.” functionality and the cost. he Chinese
ly driven vehicle. Despite the challenge of he group sold almost 500,000 government is pushing electric cars . . .
staying competitive and proitable in this EVs worldwide last year and plans to obviously forcing carmakers to make the
changing environment, Carlos Ghosn, the introduce 12 new models by 2022. But electric car more afordable—and with a
Brazilian-born 64-year old chairman and Ghosn admitted the group’s main EV lot of functionality.”
CEO of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alli- for China—the Nissan Leaf—was too Nissan, in particular, has been at the
ance, believes the brands under his watch expensive for the world’s biggest electric forefront of even more cutting-edge
are already in the pole position—and they car market. “When you look at the technology, speciically the driverless
plan to stay there. electric Chinese cars, they are very, very car. Earlier this year it announced
Speaking in Hong Kong recently, afordable. he price point of the Leaf plans to make self-driving taxis—robo-
Ghosn said the alliance is working well. today is not adequate for the Chinese taxis—in Tokyo, and in doing so chal-
“We did not join the cemetery of all the market,” he said. “[So] we’ve come up lenge companies like Uber in an entire-
mergers in the car industry,” he said. “We with the Kwid EV, a much more aford- ly new space. But Nissan won’t be going
were able to ind a place for everyone.” able electric car,” referring to a crossover head to head with Uber, cautioned
But he is quick to downplay his own role project with Chinese partner Dong- Ghosn. “We’re going to be
in keeping the three companies aligned. feng Motor Group. “hat said, I providing driverless cars
“It is not a question of one person, Su- think we have an advance on for some companies,
perman, doing it all. It’s a team of people. electric cars with the but we’ll be man-
Everybody in his place, everybody at a long experience we aging robo-taxis
certain point in time giving the added have. . . . We’ve sold ourselves in some
CHAMUSSY/SIPA/NEWSCOM
value and support. So today I have long more than half a areas. It’s not
experience in the industry. I’ve made million electric cars direct competi-
many turnarounds, so I can support a already and have tion, it’s maybe
lot of CEOs who want to listen to me.” 12 new models competition in
And now, little by little, he’s giving many planned—with The Kwid, made with Dongfeng Motor Group. some cities.” F
CHINA
CONSTRUCTION
BANK:
SERVING THE REAL ECONOMY
In the face of a fast-changing economic strengths and leveraging innovation to The bank’s business structure has also
landscape, China Construction Bank (CCB) improve its products and services. This been further optimized and its asset qual-
has continued to carry out its mission has involved expanding the depth and ity has been steadily improving, paving the
of supporting China’s real economy in breadth of its offerings—from loans and way for future growth. As a result, CCB’s
recent years. The Beijing-headquartered other financing solutions to a broad range core performance indicators and market
bank achieved this by consolidating its of advisory services. capitalization continue to be among the
PROMOTION
top in the industry. Its successes were rec- The bank has also rolled out innovative Tapping new technologies, CCB has
ognized with more than 100 key awards products such as the “Fast Loan to Small been successful in managing and control-
from prominent organizations at home and Micro Businesses,” “Yunshuidai” and ling its risk by accurately analyzing risk pat-
and abroad last year, which included “Yunongtong” to support vulnerable parts terns and improving its early risk warning
financial publication Asiamoney naming of the economy and to help smaller busi- and control procedures. Through these
it “Best Bank in China 2017.” nesses reduce their financing costs. This efforts to mitigate risk, CCB’s key indica-
has led to loans to small and micro enter- tors of asset quality have been positive in
Focus on National Strategies prises and agriculture-related sectors, 2017, with declines in both nonperform-
CCB has proactively aligned its activities which reached RMB1.61 trillion (US$256.21 ing loans (NPL) and overdue loans ratios.
to that of the country’s national strategies. billion) and RMB1.77 trillion (US$281.67 bil- In 2017, the group’s NPL balance reached
For instance, it was the first bank to sup- lion), respectively. RMB192.29 billion (US$30.60 billion), and
port the construction of the Xiong’an New On the consumer front, CCB actively the NPL ratio was down by 0.03% year-on-
Area, a special economic zone earmarked encourages both housing purchases and year to 1.49%.
as the site for a massive new city in north- rentals by drawing on its wealth of expe-
ern China. rience in housing finance accumulated Social Responsibility
The bank has also strongly supported over three decades. It led the industry in Corporate social responsibility continued
major infrastructure projects such as the providing comprehensive housing rental to be a key priority for CCB in 2017. In par-
“Belt and Road” initiative, the develop- solutions and has launched housing rental ticular, the bank is committed to serving
ment of the Yangtze River Economic Belt integrated service platforms. There are the public, improving livelihoods, protect-
and the collaborative development of the more than 120,000 apartments available ing the environment and promoting sus-
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. CCB’s loans on its housing rental platforms. tainable development. For instance, CCB
to the infrastructure sector amounted to engaged in targeted poverty alleviation by
RMB3.36 trillion (US$534.31 billion) in 2017, Fintech Innovation supporting the development of poverty-
up almost 16% compared with the previ- To stay at the leading edge of innovation, stricken areas. As of the end of last year, the
ous year. Meanwhile, the bank is develop- CCB accelerated its financial technology balance of loans for such efforts amounted
ing its merger and acquisition teams to (fintech) strategy in 2017. For instance, to RMB149.26 billion (US$23.75 billion), an
support the reform of state-owned enter- it launched an industr y-leading data increase of 57.4% over the previous year.
prises and Chinese companies’ efforts to management and application system CCB also continued to support long-
expand internationally. to boost its competitiveness. The “New term philanthropic projects—including
To help the corporate sector become Generation Core System” is designed assistance programs for students and
more competitive, the bank is support- to grow the bank’s customer base and mothers—with charitable donations for
ing efforts by businesses to cut excessive create a new revenue stream through the year amounting to RMB77.86 million
industrial capacity, deleverage and reduce system improvements. (US$12.39 million). Meanwhile, CCB remains
costs. To this end, it has significantly In the area of data analytics, CCB has committed to creating a green bank and
increased its loans to strategic emerg- built a big-data working platform and developing green credit to facilitate sus-
ing industries and advanced technology delivered more than 430 big-data applica- tainable development.
sectors. The bank is also leading the way tion projects, including the establishment Finall y, t he bank ha s succe s s f ull y
in the marketization of debt-to-equity of an industry-first property price index enhanced its consumer rights and protec-
swaps—with a contract value of RMB589.7 and house rental index. The bank also con- tion measures, as reflected by its improved
billion (US$93.85 billion) and implementa- tinues to develop comprehensive financial customer satisfaction score. In 2017, the
tion value of RMB100.8 billion (US$16.04 tools that utilize the internet, big data and overall satisfaction rating among CCB’s
billion) —which has helped Chinese enter- artificial intelligence to provide customers personal customers was 2.9% higher than
prises reduce their leverage. with superior products and services. the average in the banking sector.
MACRON’S GAMBIT
France’s
Big Pivot
Take a centrist president with a mandate
and a private sector background, mix
in the country’s top tech billionaire
with the world’s best incubator, and
the potential is tantalizing: Can they
transform Europe’s perennial economic
underperformer into a tax-cutting, job-
creating entrepreneurial hotbed?
BY PARMY OLSON WITH ALEX WOOD
T
he world’s largest startup incubator sits inside the
bowels of a nearly century-old former freight station,
where 3,000 nascent entrepreneurs dart across the
366,000 square feet like cash-hungry ants. More than
30 venture capital irms, from Accel Partners to Index
Ventures, pay a $6,100-a-year membership fee for the privilege
of making investments on-site; Facebook and Microsot run pro-
grams to try out companies they might buy; Amazon and Google
focus on sussing out talent.
Walking around, you see a $20 million installation by Jef
Koons, loating meeting cubes and a blacked-out “relaxation zone,”
where overtired programmers leave their shoes outside. “Peo-
ple sleep in here sometimes,” says Roxanne Varza, a California na-
tive who runs the incubator, pulling back a curtain to ind a young
woman doing exactly that. The epicenter: Station F in Paris
he most impressive feature, however, is the ground under this
complex, known as Station F. hat’s F as in France —the project notice last year when Macron, at 39, became the youngest president
sits in Paris, the capital of a country known as much for constant ever elected in France. But his age is less important than his back-
strikes, mandatory 35-hour workweeks and expensive labor as for ground: Before politics, Macron spent more than three years as an
the Eifel Tower and tarte tatin. In France, the payroll tax sits at investment banker at Rothschild and also tried to develop an ed-
42%, with labor laws so convoluted they’ve been inscribed in a red, ucation startup. French politicians, from Chirac to Hollande, have
3,000-page tome called the Code du Travail. Over the years, few blathered about reform for decades, only to succumb to pressure
western democracies have proved less hospitable to entrepreneur- from change-averse pensioners and myopic unions. Macron gets it,
ship and growth. and has staked his entire presidency on delivering. “Perhaps some
Station F, which opened a year ago, has an ediice’s version of of them will want to organize strikes for weeks or months. We have
LEVON BISS FOR FORBES
a new-car smell, providing a big fat counternarrative. “he classi- to organize ourselves,” the president says. “But I will not abandon
cal way for three or four decades in France to react to change is to or diminish the ambition of the reform, because there is no other
claim that we will resist the change,” says French president Emman- choice.”
uel Macron, in an exclusive interview with Forbes. he world took Using executive orders, he’s quickly pushed through a rat of
MACRON’S GAMBIT
same time, the competition is heading the wrong way: As it stum- tation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, falling just
bles toward Brexit, Britain continues to deepen the largest self-in- six shy of the U.S. total.
licted wound in modern economic history. Merkel remains polit- Perspective remains important. In 2017, France had only three
ically hobbled by her weakened coalition. And while Trump crows startups valued at $1 billion, versus 22 unicorns in the U.K. and 105
about the strong U.S. economy, his protectionist trade policies have in the U.S. Decades of cultural anti-entrepreneurship can’t be in-
more in common with Smoot and Hawley than with Reagan and stantly turned of. But the ingredients for change are here. “Coun-
Clinton. tries that we think are very slow are now moving ten times faster
Macronomics is already having an impact. As soon his labor re- than we are,” says John Chambers, the former CEO of Cisco, who
forms passed in January, the French retail giant Carrefour and the pushed through $200 million in investment in French startups be-
carmaker Groupe PSA announced 4,600 job cuts. Strikes ensued, fore leaving that role in 2015, adding that France now has “the right
naturellement. But in the same time period, foreign entities an- leader at the right point in time.” London investor Saul Klein, who
nounced up to $12.2 billion in new investments, Macron’s econom- recently invested in a spinout of British startup success Deliveroo
ic advisors say. Disney is budgeting $2.4 billion to expand Disney- that went on to chase the burgeoning French market, notes that he
land Paris; Germany’s SAP is putting $2.4 billion into R&D centers sits within walking distance of the Paris-bound Eurostar rail ser-
and startup accelerators; Facebook and Google are scouring the vice: “It’s closer than Edinburgh or Dublin.”
French capital to hire 150 new specialists in artiicial intelligence.
Startup life here is improving too. While uncertainty around IN THE TECHNOLOGY ERA, FRANCE has endured a series of
LEVON BISS FOR FORBES
Brexit undermines London venture capital, French funds, for the Lost Generations. As Gates and Jobs and Ellison begat Musk and
irst time ever, were outraising the rest of Europe last year, accord- Bezos and Zuckerberg, France’s best entrepreneurial minds looked
ing to the most recent data from market intelligence irm Deal- at their domestic opportunities and then booked a ticket to Califor-
room. In January, French startups had the biggest foreign represen- nia to work for the Americans. here are some 60,000 French citi-
MACRON’S GAMBIT
Macron started the political party En Marche to solve the irmly in cheek, “Make Our Planet Great Again.” Two thirds of
“blockages” that have held France back. He quickly found himself the ensuing 1,822 applications for grants came from the United
with an incredibly fortuitous hand. His centrist platform breaks States. “If you are in a country where the strategy is not clear re-
some of the let-right political paralysis, allowing him to, say, garding climate change, that’s a big issue for many startups,” says
push labor market reform at the same time he moves to subsidize Macron, who has been similarly efusive about luring British i-
the vulnerable. Crucially, since both he and his legislative major- nancial irms. In these areas, France intends to play ofense.
HEAVY LIFTING
Prince of Pallets
Can you make a killing off a century-old
wooden device? Jeffrey Owen might do that.
BY JOANN MULLER
W
hen Johnson & Johnson heard complaints Smart pallets can tell shippers where and when damage is hap-
in 2009 about a musty odor coming from pening to their cargo, says Laszlo Horvath, a professor at Virgin-
Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplets, it retraced ia Tech, which has been studying pallet design since 1976. A TV
its entire supply chain to ind the source. manufacturer, for instance, might decide to reroute trucks carry-
he culprit: shipping pallets. ing fragile electronics to avoid a bridge that causes load vibration.
he pill packages had likely been contaminated by trace he shipping pallet hasn’t changed much since it was invented,
amounts of a fungicide used to treat the 6-inch-tall wooden plat- along with the forklit, nearly a century ago. Plastic pallets showed
forms, which carried them from factory to warehouse to retail- up in 1965 but haven’t taken away much of the business because,
er. he cost of lost production and yanking Tylenol and Motrin of at $70, they cost three times as much as comparable wooden ones,
store shelves: $900 million. and they can’t be repaired if they break. Two billion pallets circu-
he lowly shipping pallet—a ubiquitous tool of modern late in the U.S. (and some 8 billion globally), many leased from
commerce—has a habit of causing trouble. he wood harbors pooling companies that operate much like car-rental agencies.
bacteria, spoiling a shipment of produce. A pallet cracks, send- Owen, 67, got into the pallet business in 2003, ater years in the
ing a stack of televisions tumbling to the loor. In a ire, a stack auto industry. Born in Cynthiana, Kentucky, he would have fol-
of wooden pallets is tinder. lowed his father into tobacco farming if not for the surgeon gener-
Jefrey Owen thinks his Lightning Technologies, based in al’s warning on cigarettes. He ended up in Detroit, representing a
Oxford, Michigan, has the answer: a virtually indestructible, variety of suppliers and eventually running his own plastics busi-
lightweight, hygienic and ire-retardant pallet with an embed- ness. It was Lowe, a veteran of the pallet business, who persuaded
ded tracking chip. he Lightning pallet is made of wood, but it’s Owen to start manufacturing plastic pallets. Owen sold his irm,
encapsulated with a polymer coating that makes the wood du- Palm Plastics, for $35 million in 2009.
rable and easy to sanitize. he chip records everything about the By then a pallet expert himself, Owen was hired in 2013
pallet’s journey in real time: temperature, humidity, accidents by a inancial irm to evaluate an innovative pallet technology
and, of course, whereabouts. from Oria International, a research laboratory in Auburn Hills,
he high-tech pallets have logistics experts doing cart- Michigan. he investors passed on the opportunity, but Owen
wheels. “Today there’s no way to measure how the product is was intrigued. He paid $1 million to license Oria’s patents.
handled or controlled for temperature,” says Bob Spence, a vice hen he spent four years perfecting the polyurea spray coating
president at Del Monte Fresh Produce. “And God forbid there’s (with the help of chemical giant BASF).
a recall.” With a smart pallet, he says, “you have the ability to Creating a more durable pallet with tracking technology isn’t
trace that product quickly and determine what ield sold it. a new idea. Lightning’s selling proposition is rolling a bunch of
hen maybe you don’t have to go back and recall everything.” innovations into one: a pallet that is lightweight, sustainable, hy-
“We’re going to light up what’s previously been dark,” says gienic, easily repaired and skid-free. It uses active, rather than
Rex Lowe, whose company, Gard, in Irving, Texas, sells and passive, ID chips, which can beam information to and from the
leases the Lightning-built pallets. “I can totally illuminate a po- cloud anywhere, anytime.
tato coming out of the ground all the way to a french fry going Lightning’s manufacturing process is as innovative as the
into your mouth.” pallet itself. In place of traditional hardwood lumber, it uses
up a dollar on a pallet, we can reduce our water cost by 2 or 3 China and Korea by the end of 2020.)
cents per bottle.” hat’s not a stretch, says Lowe. “he whole world moves on
he challenge now is producing pallets fast enough. Owen a pallet. I don’t care what you bought in your house. It came
has raised $20 million so far, including an undisclosed sum of there on a pallet.” F
RICHARD MILLE
AND McLAREN:
RACING FOR PERFECTION
Luxury watchmaker Richard Mille and automotive
brand McLaren have leveraged their respective
dedication to unparalleled design and
technical excellence to embark on a 10-year
par tnership to produce some of the
world’s most unique timepieces. Despite
being youthful brands, both have made
a deep impression in their respective
industries with their stunning creations.
Richard Mille has been a fan of both styl- The trademark endurance, performance, “We make watches you can wear for
ish classic cars and high-performance For- lightness and maximum resistance of a any occasion, just as McLaren creates
mula One racing cars. His admiration for Richard Mille watch requires incorporating cars that can be driven on a daily basis.
the engineering and authenticit y, as cutting-edge technologies and materials, We don’t produce watches to put in a
well as the design and materials of these many of w hic h are em ployed in the safe waiting for the nex t generation.
automobiles, has clearly influenced his automotive arena, and best exemplified by Given that our field is governed by very
horological creations. a McLaren high-performance sports car. complex engineering systems and huge
While the Richard Mille brand has forged Achieving this requires a deep commitment investments in R&D, as well as a lot of
its own unmistakable style by looking at a to research and development (R&D). tests, I find it fascinating that at the end
wide swathe of disciplines for inspiration, Indeed, both Richard Mille and McLaren of it all, you have a fantastic, living object.
motorsport’s technical and aesthetic vision today boast the best R&D capabilities in I love the fact that ultimately, we make art.
has been the most influential of these. their respective fields. These are works of art, living pieces of
PROMOTION
art,” says Richard Mille, who founded his to improve function. Neither of us make A Pursuit of Excellence
eponymous watch brand in 2001. things just to own as pieces of art that sit Richard Mille and McLaren’s par tner-
Adds Mike Flewitt, the Chief Execu- in a collection. We want them to be used. ship has flourished because of a common
tive Officer of McLaren Automotive: “And “We don’t use new technology just to goal: the pursuit of perfection achieved
that’s where the beaut y lies. We take say we are first. We use new technology through attention to technical excellence.
advantage of science, engineering and the because it makes for better performance— This involves an unswerving attention to
latest research to go beyond what anyone lighter weight, more strength, greater detail and the use of exotic materials when
has done before. We use new materials durability,” he says. required. There is a focus on both form and
function, without comprising on either.
In particular, there is a shared obsession
with precision, regardless of the shocks,
vibrations or other physical stresses that
their timepieces or cars may encounter.
“There are so many similarities in the
way we approach a problem, such as
saving weight, reducing vibrational impact
and resistance. Whether in the world of
automobiles or that of watches, ergonomics
is a field of research where developments
are similar despite differing applications,”
says Flewitt.
However, Mille notes that the solutions
it garners from the automotive world must
be adapted to meet the constraints of the
domain of watches. “After all, a Formula
One car might run one hour to an hour and
a half a day, but a watch must keep ticking
24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” he says.
A Shared Passion
The new RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic
Flyback Chronograph timepiece that
Richard Mille has created with McLaren
is the purest manifestation of this fruitful
PROMOTION
Hedgemony
BY NATHAN VARDI
BY MARY E. SCOTT
W
hat do Joanne Kua, a 33-year-old scion of a wealthy
Malaysian family who is transforming her father’s
staid insurance and inance business, and Indone-
sian grandmother Nurhayati Subakat, 67, who has
pioneered halal beauty products, have in common
with Miki Ito, a Japanese scientist who plans to scrub the cosmos clean
of space junk, and Vietnam’s Dang Minh Phuong, who founded and runs
a logistics company? hey are on Forbes Asia’s irst Emergent 25 list of
women making their recent mark in regional enterprises.
hese listees relect the broader impact women are having in the Asian
business world, even as the number of women in senior business posi-
tions globally retreated over the past year, according to consultancy Grant
hornton. Its 2018 “Women in Business” report says APAC irms gained
gender diversity but notes that results across the region were patchy: a
strong uptick in India, with the number of women in senior roles rising
to 20% from 17%, but disappointment in Japan as the rate there remains
stuck around 5%.
his group of 25, chosen for the money they generate, the inluence
they wield and the ideas and trends they are advancing, bring fresh per-
spectives to Asia-Paciic’s growing business world.
RESEARCH AND ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY: CAROLINE CHEN, RON GLUCKMAN, JANE HO,
JOYCE HUANG, SUNSHINE LICHAUCO DE LEON, LAN ANH NGUYEN, JANE A. PETERSON,
ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN, ELAINE RAMIREZ, JENNIFER SCHULTZ WELLS, JAMES SIMMS.
Lorraine
Belo-Cincochan 39
CEO AND PRESIDENT
WILCON DEPOT
PHILIPPINES
Dang is a scrappy player in Vietnam’s underdeveloped but fast-growing logistics market. She has built
MP Logistics into a company with more than 1,000 vehicles providing forwarding and logistics services,
mostly to Japanese companies, as well as air and ocean freight, warehousing and project cargo. Last
year she entered into a joint venture with Samsung SDS, a unit of the South Korean giant, to provide
services to the conglomerate’s businesses in Vietnam, where half of all Samsung smartphones are
made.
She also inked a deal with U.S.-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the world’s largest car-rental
company, to become its first franchise in Asia, providing long-term rentals for employees of
multinational companies, starting this year. Eventually it will expand to short-term rentals. It’s not
her first foray into passenger transport: MP Logistics also owns 67% of Saigon Air Taxi, which is
being restructured to become a car-rental service as it faces increasing competition from ride-
sharing platforms Grab and Uber.
Dang founded MP Logistics in 1995 with about $10,000 as foreign direct investment flooded into
Vietnam after its Doi Moi economic policies opened up the market. Asked about her success, she says,
“My father told me: ‘It’s not a big deal if you lose your assets. But if you lose your credibility, you lose
everything.’ ” Dang says she’s looking for investors.
THE EMERGENT 25
The daughter of Mori Trust Chairman Akira Gaines is the first woman to run a major Australian publicly listed mining company. She joined
Mori and grandchild of Taikichiro Mori, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer in 2013 as its first female board member, bringing
founder of the Mori real estate empire, management and board experience from the banking, construction and travel sectors. She became
Date became president of the property- CFO in early 2017 before being named CEO in November and has reduced Fortescue’s heavy
development giant two years ago. Since borrowing costs through refinancing and debt repayment.
2008 she has led the company’s expansion Her appointment comes at a challenging time for the miner: Prices of its low-grade iron products
in the hotel business by making deals with are under pressure as Chinese steelmakers, complying with tougher antipollution measures, move to
major brands such as Marriott International higher-quality grades that can be processed more eiciently. China, the miner’s biggest customer,
and boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager; it remains its core focus, Gaines says, though the company is looking to broaden market share in Asia
now has more than 100 properties in Tokyo and Europe. Gaines stresses her highest priority at work is safety and wants “to empower the entire
and across Japan. Mori Trust estimates hotel Fortescue family to look out for their mates.”
revenue hit $312 million in the year ended
March 31, nearly doubling over the past six
years and accounting for about one fifth Christina Gaw 45
of the firm’s expected almost $1.5 billion in MANAGING PRINCIPAL
revenue in the same period. Date has made GAW CAPITAL
luxury hotels a pillar of the privately held Mori
HONG KONG
Trust’s growth strategy and wants to tap into
Japan’s tourism boom, especially ahead of the With $18 billion under management, Gaw Capital has grown into one of the world’s largest private
2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. equity real estate companies. CEO Goodwin Gaw is its leader, while brother Kenneth is the numbers
man. “My strength lies in interpersonal skills,” says younger sister Christina, 45. Largely working behind
the scenes, she oversees fundraising and runs investor services.
Jyoti She joined the firm in 2008, 3 years after her brothers founded it. Before that, the mother of four
Deshpande 47 worked in investment banking with UBS and Goldman Sachs for almost 16 years. The trio acquire
underperforming assets and refurbish and reposition them for a tidy profit. Last year the firm raised
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAIRMAN’S OFFICE, $3 billion of equity commitments and completed 28 deals, with transaction volume reaching $7.2 billion.
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES
INDIA
When Han took the helm of Naver in 2017, the company was forced to pivot. Not only did she break a
glass ceiling as the internet giant’s first female CEO—in a country where just 2.6% of CEOs are women,
according to data from Meerae Forum and CEO Score—she also set the course for the company to
expand beyond its home market and invest in big data and other advanced technologies.
The former tech journalist and internet entrepreneur launched the company’s Naver Pay mobile-
payment service and its V Live music-streaming app, which has gained popularity in Southeast Asia
through Korean pop celebrity fan meetups. Han says gender diversity is especially important in helping
product designers target both male and female users.
Under Han’s watch as the company’s first nonengineer CEO, Naver, with a market capitalization
of $23.5 billion, has committed some $467 million to developing artificial intelligence and blockchain
technologies, and plans to target global markets with its Clova AI platform. Naver reported a 7% gain
in profit for 2017 to a record $1.1 billion; revenue also hit a record, jumping 16% to $4.7 billion.
Aki Hashimoto 44
PRESIDENT
STELLA CHEMIFA
JAPAN
It’s a long way from pasta and wine to specialty chemicals, but that’s the road taken by Aki Hashimoto
to become president of Stella Chemifa. Hashimoto, who worked at two Italian restaurants before
opening her own in Osaka, joined the century-old firm founded by her great-grandfather in 2012,
taking the top job in 2015. Her aunt, Junko Fukada, who is chairman, first asked her to help set up
a day-care facility within the company as a contract worker. After a successful opening, Hashimoto
joined the firm. The family, including Hashimoto and Fukada, has a 15.3% stake in the company.
Semiconductor- and LCD-making chemicals are Stella Chemifa’s largest sales segment and
command a 70% global market share. Electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries (used in electric and
hybrid cars) are another core product. Hashimoto is striving to build up the medical unit. She is self-
efacing: “Even though I have little experience in the chemical industry, I don’t think I will come in
second to other people of my generation in terms of my experience in the world,” she says. “It takes an
Nisaba Godrej 40 established sense of pride in yourself to say ‘I don’t know’ about things you don’t know about.”
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS
INDIA
THE EMERGENT 25
Kim So-Hee 34
CEO
NANDA
SOUTH KOREA
Joanne Kua 33
GROUP CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/
MANAGING DIRECTOR
KSK GROUP/KSK LAND
MALAYSIA
D
epending on the size cutof, there are
anywhere from 20,000 to 100 million
fragments speeding around earth
at up to 8 kilometers per second,
ranging from tiny specks of forgotten satellites to
chunks of failed rockets. Collisions between objects
create even more debris, a situation that let un-
checked could theoretically make space unusable.
hat’s where 35-year-old Miki Ito comes in.
With a master’s degree in aerospace engineering
from Nihon University, Ito is president of
Astroscale Japan, which was founded to find cost-
efective ways to clean up space. Astroscale, which
has raised about $53 million in funding (see story,
p. 16), has its corporate headquarters in Singapore Miki Ito 35
but carries out development in Japan, where it PRESIDENT
has a research agreement with the country’s space ASTROSCALE JAPAN
agency and is developing a demonstration satellite JAPAN
called ELSA-d to remove space junk.
As Japan struggles to bolster its number of fe-
male executives, Ito is a rare woman in STEM and one of just a few at What was your experience before joining Astroscale?
an aerospace startup. In an interview with Forbes Asia, she explains I was a satellite engineer for a program to build small satellites
what inspired her career: sponsored by the Cabinet Oice. hey were 50-centimeter cubes
weighing 50 to 60 kilograms to observe the earth with two cameras.
Ito: In junior high school, the movie Independence Day let an he goal was to quickly and cheaply make satellites that would just
impression on me. he alien spaceship was so futuristic and get the job done.
beautiful. Ater that, I wanted to do work related to space—that
could have been as an astronaut or building rockets. I entered What is Astroscale’s business model?
college with the general idea of space and entered a lab that was With [telecommunications, aerospace and other companies] want-
working on satellites. ing to put up low-earth-orbit satellites by the thousands for commu-
nication and earth observation, if a satellite fails the service provider
What was your experience in STEM at a Japanese university? will want to send a replacement. But that isn’t possible unless the
here are quite a few women in chemistry, biology and architecture. broken satellite is irst dealt with. We can put physical targets on the
But there are not that many in engineering. It didn’t really afect me satellites of companies we have contracts with, in case one needs to
that there were mainly men around me. Not being overly feminine, be captured and pushed back into the atmosphere to burn up. Our
I didn’t feel that they treated me diferently because I was a woman. satellite would capture the broken satellite and propel itself and the
dead unit into the atmosphere. he technical hurdle for this is much
What’s behind the mini-boom in Japanese space startups? lower than for current debris already in space.
Investment has become easier because of small satellites. And it’s
become cheaper. hey’ve gotten smaller because high-performance When do you expect commercialization?
components have become smaller and less expensive, and the We plan to launch the ELSA-d demonstration satellite toward the
realization . . . that of-the-shelf commercial components can work end of 2019 to test its chase, capture and deorbit capabilities and to
in space. commercialize starting in 2020. F
THE EMERGENT 25
The daughter of Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest Working as an English-language teacher in Beijing in 2013, Cindy Mi realized there was untapped
man, she rose to the top of her father’s luxury demand from students desperate to learn the language. “The classroom as we know it had not really
crown jewel—Shangri-La Asia—at the beginning of changed in over 200 years,” she says. “I knew there had to be a more eicient way to match this huge
last year, taking over from her elder brother after demand from China with a supply of the best English teachers.”
first serving as deputy chairman for six months. Her answer was Vipkid, an online platform that pairs students with tutors in North America. Today
The Kuok Group empire has interests in hotels, real it is the world’s largest K–12 English-language online educator, with 30,000 native English speakers
estate and commodities. As chairman of the Hong providing lessons to 200,000 students across 35 countries. Operating in a rapidly growing space,
Kong-listed Shangri-La, Kuok oversees total assets Vipkid estimates 2017 revenue at $800 million, up from $300 million in 2016. The company raised
of $13.2 billion, including stakes in 77 of more $200 million in its most recent funding round in August, led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm
than 100 hotels the Kuok family manages around Sequoia with Chinese internet giant Tencent as strategic investor, bringing total funding to more than
the world under four brands—Shangri-La, Kerry, $325 million.
Hotel Jen and Traders—as well as side businesses Mi started teaching English at 15 at an extracurricular school set up by her uncle in Heilongjiang
in wine and golf courses. Under her watch the Province in northeastern China. Never much of a rule follower and singled out by her teacher for
company’s expansion continues. The sixth of reading science fiction in class, she quit high school at 17. She followed her uncle to Beijing where they
Robert Kuok’s eight children, she refuses to grant cofounded a brick-and-mortar school called ABC English before she left to form Vipkid. Mi went on to
media interviews. graduate high school through equivalency exams and also earned a degree in English literature; she
has an M.B.A. from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.
Nisa Leung 46
MANAGING PARTNER
QIMING VENTURE PARTNERS
CHINA
Ting Li 45
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
YUNFENG FINANCIAL GROUP
HONG KONG
THE EMERGENT 25
Tan Su Shan 50
MANAGING DIRECTOR AND GROUP HEAD OF CONSUMER BANKING AND WEALTH
MANAGEMENT
DBS
SINGAPORE
Tan has built a mighty consumer-banking and wealth-management empire at DBS, clocking steady
growth since she took the helm in 2013, with her division racking up record revenue of $3.53 billion last
year. Since Tan joined the bank in 2010 wealth assets have grown 20% annually, hitting $156 billion at
the end of 2017, putting DBS among the top six wealth managers in the region.
Tan says her major accomplishment has been changing the bank’s culture to make it more focused
on innovation, earning DBS the accolade “world’s best digital bank” from Euromoney magazine in
2016. Her revamp includes an iWealth platform, where highfliers manage their own transactions, and a
mobile-only “digibank” in India and Indonesia.
Outside of work, Tan, a mother of two, advocates for women and children. She helps KK Hospital
bring poor kids to Singapore for complex surgeries, and during her years as a parliamentarian, from
2012 to 2014, she lobbied the government to let women freeze their eggs before marriage to help
prolong their biological time clocks, something that has not yet become legal.
As one of three women on DBS’ nine-member executive committee, could Tan one day step into
Supamas Trivisvavet 43
the CEO shoes? She declines to comment, calling any speculation “premature.” As for her future, Tan is CEO AND PRESIDENT
adamant she’s not quitting the fast lane—certainly not to “sit on a beach”—anytime soon. CH. KARNCHANG
THAILAND
Mercy Wu 40
CHAIRWOMAN AND CEO
ESLITE GROUP/ESLITE SPECTRUM
TAIWAN
When Mercy Wu was made chairman of Eslite
Group after her father died of a heart attack in
July, she was 39, the same age as her dad was
when he opened the first 24-hour bookstore in
Taipei in 1989. Eslite is now the island’s largest
retail bookstore and lifestyle chain, with 44
outlets across Taiwan, Hong Kong and China that
combine bookstores, art galleries, restaurants
and department stores. It also has a boutique
hotel in Taipei and a residential property in
Suzhou, China. The privately held group is
opening an outlet in Shenzhen, China, next year.
Wu ofered to work for her father in 2004. When
she came onboard, with no business background,
the group’s book business was operating at a
loss. In 2010 “Boss,” as she called her father, put
Wu in charge of day-to-day operations as well
as expansion in Asia. At the time, he said she
possessed “a greater dose of both shrewdness
and romance” than his own, qualities he said were
crucial to running the business.
I
n 2011, Samina Vaziralli, a third-generation scion at Cipla,
was being groomed for succession with her younger brother. Samina
Four years later he stepped out, leaving her to take on the Vaziralli 42
legacy of India’s third-largest pharma company. EXECUTIVE VICE
By 2016 Vaziralli had moved to the highest executive post, vice CHAIRMAN
chairman, at the Mumbai outit and charted an expansion course CIPLA
INDIA
encompassing India, the U.S. and South Africa, with China and
Brazil also in her sights. hat included spearheading the com-
pany’s entry into the U.S. in 2015 through the acquisition of two
generic-drug makers valued at a total of $550 million.
Until then, Cipla—which makes drugs to treat respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer, malaria and AIDS—had
worked with partners in the U.S., the world’s largest pharma mar-
ket, handling R&D and manufacturing but selling the drugs under
its partners’ labels. “he value was all in the front end, and we
wanted to own the front end,” says Vaziralli. “We had the capabil-
ity and the technology. So we decided to launch ourselves.”
he results are there to see. Revenue from the North American
market has surged to $392 million in the year ended March 31,
2017, from $148 million in the year ended March 31, 2015. North
America contributes 18% of total revenue, and there’s more to hired a CEO with whom she works closely; he handles operations,
come as Cipla has 97 drugs awaiting inal approvals from the U.S. and she acts as the bridge between family and management as well
Food & Drug Administration. A further 40% of revenue comes as family and the board. In 2015 her brother, Kamil Hamied, let
from the domestic market and about 12% from its South Africa to become a venture capital investor in London, something he had
portfolio. For the irst nine months of iscal 2018, revenue at the lagged a year before. he transition “was fairly easy,” Vaziralli says.
maker of branded and generic drugs rose 13% to $1.8 billion, A key element of the Cipla legacy is afordable drugs, in partic-
while net proit rose 22% to $198 million. ular lifesaving HIV drugs, primarily in Africa. It’s seen as a savior
Vaziralli, 42, didn’t grow up with the idea of running the in countries like Uganda that were ravaged by AIDS. “here was a
company, founded by her paternal grandfather in 1935. She got time when the [Ugandan] capital city of Kampala would be lined
an undergrad degree in commerce at Mumbai’s Sydenham Col- with coin makers—when you drove up from the airport,” says
lege, then went to the London School of Economics in 1998 for a Vaziralli. All that changed when Cipla made antiretroviral drugs
master’s in inance, joining Goldman Sachs in London right ater. available for less than $1 a day. “In Dr. Hamied’s words, ‘What’s
She moved a couple of years later to their New York oice, then the use of developing lifesaving medicines if you can’t make them
returned to India in 2004 and took a break to focus on family. afordable to the patients?’ ” asks Vaziralli, quoting her uncle.
In 2011 she joined Cipla, where her uncle Y.K. Hamied is Vaziralli says one of the key strategies she uses for work-life
nonexecutive chairman and her father, M.K. Hamied, is nonex- balance is to set priorities. “Every day you have to make a choice—
ecutive vice chairman. he family, which has a $2.5 billion net a choice to embrace one thing and to let go of another,” she says.
worth stemming from a 37% stake in Cipla, decided to hand over “You also have to create a support system.” Her two sons, 8 and 12,
operational control to professionals at that time. Vaziralli started sometimes do homework at the Cipla headquarters or drop in to
shadowing her uncle and father and soon became the company’s have lunch with her. She also makes time to attend squash tourna-
global head of strategy and M&A. It was a rocky period marked by ments with her elder son, a nationally ranked player. And she has
top-level exits and changes in business direction. Vaziralli steadied an athletic streak, running three or four half-marathons a year:
the boat by building a second and third line of professionals. Cipla “My best thinking and focus has come when I am running.” F
RED EMMERSON
tional forests—a controversial practice known as postire sal- the atmosphere as green-
vage logging—Emmerson buys in at a steep discount, oten house gas. Sierra Pacific cleared many
trees in the Stanislaus
paying one half to one fourth the price for traditional wood. “It’s a degraded land- National Forest and its
Sierra Paciic then turns the usable lumber (about 90%) into scape,” says Chad Han- own neighboring land
after the Rim Fire burned
boards and other wood products to sell to homebuilders and son, a scientist who stud- close to 260,000 acres
lumber retailers like Home Depot, Menards and Lowe’s. ies postire logging and in 2013. The company
could head back soon: The
Sierra Paciic has little competition, thanks to a 1990 law whose nonproit John Trump Administration just
that prohibits bidding from any lumber companies that export Muir Project has won in- approved a $28 million
logs. hat eliminates rivals like publicly traded Weyerhaeuser junctions against four Si- reforestation plan that will
include clearing more trees
and Rayonier as well as big Canadian irms. erra Paciic postire con- in the area.
It’s a proitable niche. While Emmerson refused to com- tracts. “Fire is not the
ment on his company’s inances, Forbes estimates that Sierra thing that’s creating areas
Paciic, which Emmerson owns entirely with his two sons and of devastation and waste-
daughter, has operating proits (before adding back deprecia- lands. It’s logging, espe-
tion and amortization) of approximately $375 million annual- cially postire logging.”
ly on sales of $1.5 billion. Salvage timber, which it sometimes Sierra Paciic rejects
buys for pennies on a dollar, is a signiicant contributor. Based the scientists’ analysis, ar-
on an analysis of records obtained in a Freedom of Informa- guing that the process
tion Act request, Forbes estimates that Sierra Paciic’s operat- can speed up recovery.
ing proit margin for products made from salvage logs can be “It’s about extracting the
as high as 40% and contributed as much as $100 million at its value we can from a bad
peak in 2015. situation,” says a compa-
Salvage logging is just one extreme example of how Em- ny spokesperson.
merson has built his lumber business over nearly seven de- Regardless, logging in
cades. From buying spare parts for his sawmills at bankruptcy national forests is costly
auctions to aggressively acquiring California land when other for taxpayers, says Han-
timber companies were selling, Emmerson has successful- son, who estimates they
ly carved out a fortune by being opportunistic and cheap. hat are on the hook for $1
has enabled him to become America’s richest lumberman— billion a year, at least
worth more than $4 billion—and, in these times of increased $500 million of which is
scrutiny and globalization, the nation’s last great lumber directly related to post-
baron. “It is better than I ever thought it would be,” Emmerson ire salvage. hat’s the
says. “Because the trees will grow, and they get bigger.” amount the government
Over the decades, Emmerson has amassed more timber- pays to build roads to re-
land in California than anyone else. He is the third-largest mote areas destroyed
landowner in America, behind billionaire conservationists by ires and for herbi-
John Malone and Ted Turner, according to he Land Report. cides the forest service
Overall, Sierra Paciic is the fourth-largest lumber produc- sprays prior to logging to
er in the U.S. he company gets around 70% of its annual rev- make clear-cutting eas-
enue from the sale of lumber. In California, about half comes ier, among other costs.
from logs cut down on its land and 16% from logs in nation- Meanwhile, the federal government pulls in about $150 mil-
al forests, much of which is salvaged wood. Sierra Paciic also lion annually from selling the timber in national forests, about
operates a millwork division, which makes door frames and one fourth of which comes from postire logging. “It’s a bad
moldings, and a manufacturer of high-end, custom-built win- deal inancially for taxpayers, but it’s a great deal for the mills,”
dows. Together the two divisions bring in roughly $400 mil- says economist Ernie Niemi, who has studied the impact of
lion in sales. forest management since the 1970s. “It’s very hard to justify
While Emmerson’s resourcefulness has helped him climb any salvage logging. It’s like they’re bandits.”
into the top ranks of the world’s wealthiest, critics say these
riches have come at the expense of the environment and tax- BORN IN 1929 NEAR Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Emmer-
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
payers. More than 250 scientists signed a letter asking Con- son grew up the only son of a heavy-drinking father nick-
gress to protect forests from postire logging, saying that it named Curly. He was sent to a strict all-boys boarding school
“can set back the forest renewal process for decades.” hat’s in Spangle, Washington, in 1945. he Seventh-day Adventist
because it strips the land of nutrients, preventing it from re- school didn’t serve meat, so Emmerson fried up hamburgers
generating. Not only is the carbon stored in the charred tree in his dorm room and sold them to friends. He was kicked out
trunks not reabsorbed by the soil—worse, it is released into a month shy of high school graduation for coercing a friend
RED EMMERSON
Even with its massive landholdings, Sierra Paciic relies on Justice alleged in 2009 that Sierra Paciic’s negligence helped
national forests to supplement the timber from its own land, at lead to the Moonlight Fire, which burned 46,000 acres in Las-
a time when the federal government sells less than one fourth sen and Plumas National Forests two years earlier. In the sum-
of what it did four decades ago. Over the past seven years, mer of 2007, Sierra Paciic hired Howell’s Forest Harvesting,
around 16% of Sierra Paciic’s California timber has come a small irm owned by one person, to log in that area. A bull-
from U.S. Forest Service land. hat’s one reason why Emmer- dozer brought in and operated by Howell’s allegedly struck
son turned to salvage logging ater ires or insect infestation. a rock and caused a spark. he loggers let without checking
In 2015, at the peak of California’s drought, the company ac- the site for lames or smoke, even though it was a “red lag”
quired 58% of its federally sourced logs through postire sal- day, meaning high ire potential, according to the govern-
vage logging. In 2017, it was 19%. ment report. A bigger red lag, the DOJ argued, was that How-
Sierra Paciic has also stacked the deck in its favor by ell’s equipment had already started three other ires that sum-
building a dominant network of sawmills in northern Califor- mer, at least one of which Sierra Paciic allegedly knew about,
Junior Guides
At age 23, Jamie Beaton and Sharndre Kushor have built a global
tutoring empire. All that’s missing at Crimson Education is a profit.
BY ALEX KONRAD
I
n October 2014, Julian Robertson had a presumptu- You’d be forgiven for thinking the founders are stretched a
ous guest on his hands. Jamie Beaton, 19, had conident- bit thin. Kushor spent the irst three years of Crimson getting a
ly strolled into the hedge fund billionaire’s home office to degree in health sciences from the University of Auckland. And
talk about sotware used by some of the scholars spon- Beaton, ater adding two Stanford degrees to his two from Har-
sored by Robertson’s foundation each year. Beaton, small- vard, plans to carry on with a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford
framed with auburn bangs mopped across a boyish face, looked this fall or next. But somehow the two have made it work—
even younger than his age. And the Harvard undergrad seized even maintaining a romantic attachment across 6,500 miles.
his chance to ask why he hadn’t landed one of the 22 full-tuition Six months before founding Crimson, Beaton and Kush-
scholarships himself. “I thought, My God, what a question,” Rob- or toured Europe with a group of Model UN students from New
ertson says. “hen I got to know him, and I hired him on the Zealand. As the two began dating in spring 2013, they hatched
spot.” the idea for what became Crimson. “I hadn’t had any role mod-
Beaton, who’s now 23 but still looks like a teenager, stands out as els in my life that explored overseas and global opportunities for
one of the fresh faces at Stanford Business School, where he’s nearly their studies,” Kushor says.
halfway through an M.B.A. and a master’s in education. A full-time By the time Beaton met with Robertson about his scholar-
student since that meeting with Robertson, he still inds time to be ship miss, Crimson’s numbers were already good enough to
chief executive of Crimson Education, a college admissions and tu- impress the semiretired Tiger Management founder. Robert-
toring startup he cofounded with his girlfriend, Sharndre Kushor, son led a $1 million seed funding and enlisted Beaton in a two-
ive years ago. year side gig as an analyst. With the cash, Beaton and Kush-
With Kushor serving as chief operating officer in their native or hired their irst full-time stafer in Australia and opened an
New Zealand, the two have quickly built quite the global em- Auckland office.
pire. Crimson, they say, connects 20,000 students to a network To develop their student-consultant matching system, they
of 2,300 part-time instructors and advisors, overseen by 204 full- turned to J. Galen Buckwalter, a psychologist who designed
timers. hey have raised $37 million from outsiders while giving similar tools for eHarmony. he sotware, in which Crimson
up only 55% of their company. he last round of venture fund- has invested several million dollars, uses a range of metrics to
ing, in 2016, valued Crimson at $160 million. match a student’s skills and personality to admissions advisors
Launched to help students from Asia and the Paciic get into (mostly veterans of college and high school admissions offices)
glamorous U.S. colleges, the company has expanded to serve and subject tutors (mostly undergrads working part-time).
students in 40 nations, including Brazil and Russia. Revenue? As Crimson picked up new customers through word of
Circumstantial evidence is that it’s in the low eight igures. As mouth, Beaton used his status as a Harvard student to recruit tu-
for the bottom line, the founders’ silence suggests outside in- tors from Ivy League schools. He scored a powerful supporter
vestors are patiently waiting for it to turn black. when Larry Summers, the former Harvard president and one-
Jamie Beaton and Sharndre Kushor, who are cofounders and a romantic couple, make their (extremely) long-distance relationship work with Slack messages
and a commitment to spending birthdays and Valentine’s Day together.
time U.S. treasury secretary, agreed to advise Beaton on his the- Jessica Cox read about Crimson in an online news article and
sis. “I kind of assumed he was overextending himself,” Summers began doing 10 to 25 hours of work a week assigned by Crimson
says. “I was waiting for him to drop a ball. But he does 48 hours tutors. Cox will study biological sciences at Oxford this fall.
of things in every 24-hour day.” Crimson has big plans in North America, where it has re-
Crimson’s international lavor includes its funding (Chinese cently opened four offices. But here Crimson faces a mature
venture capitalist Chen Xiaohong is an investor) and partner- market full of counselors like Top Tier Admissions and test
ships (such as ones with Dulwich College’s branch operations in prep companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review. Michele
Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore and Myanmar, in which Crimson tu- Hernandez, who runs Top Tier, is skeptical that students can
tors students starting at age 12), and it has opened satellites in learn much from video consultations about admissions. “You
Cape Town, Munich, Zurich and Singapore in recent months. can go to Khan Academy and watch videos for free,” she says.
Fees vary by country, but $50 an hour is typical for video While Kushor has worked on Crimson full-time since
consultations, which can start early in high school. By the 2016, the company will turn seven before it has the undivid-
time a customer is done with college applications, the bill has ed attention of its other boss. Robertson chuckles when asked
mounted to anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. Crimson’s clien- whether he’s ever backed a leader who built a successful busi-
tele tends to self-select for inancially comfortable high achiev- ness while remaining a full-time student: “Jamie is a young
ers; still, Beaton says, the average Crimson student who applies guy with a brilliant mind, and he works hard. I think he can
for inancial aid receives $41,000 a year. do it all. But I think he’s overdoing the education part.”
Seyoon Ragavan, a 19-year-old Crimson client, had already An exuberant fast talker, Beaton declares his case studies
represented Australia in math Olympiads when his parents, at Stanford have all been Crimson-focused—meaning, he says
GEOFF HEDLEY FOR FORBES
both Sri Lankan immigrants with technical jobs, encouraged with a straight face, he’s really receiving unpaid consulting help
him to think about Princeton. He found Crimson through an from classmates, whom he also targets as potential hires. “At
info session at his Sydney high school and signed up with a con- Crimson,” Kushor says, “we’re pretty excited about the fact that
sultant to help him with the application process and his school’s we are a learning organization.” Maybe it’s okay to learn on the
inal exams. He’s now a freshman at Princeton. In New Zealand, job—at least if you are in the education business. F
E
ric Gundersen sipped tea and haggled for maps as he like turn-by-turn directions and terrain information. Four-
sat in the basement of a government office in Kabul. square became Mapbox’s irst major customer in 2012, ditching
A tattooed, fast-talking American with perennial Google Maps for the less expensive, more lexible alternative.
stubble, Gundersen was running an 18-person inter- he service is free to start but still not cheap to scale. For
national development consulting company when he extensive enterprise use, the average annual contract starts at
was commissioned by the U.S. State Department to plot prob- around $40,000 and can reach into the millions, like its $5 mil-
lem areas in the country in the atermath of Afghanistan’s 2009 lion contract with Tesla. he “freemium” model has some hid-
presidential election, which was marked by low turnout and al- den advantages. Developers have usually been playing with
legations of voter fraud. Mapbox for months before Gundersen ever walks into a meet-
Gundersen, now 38, needed to visualize data trapped in ing to close a sale.
thousands of PDFs of voter records. But in 2009, as Google Widespread adoption has other beneits. Mapbox doesn’t
Street View cars were snapping photos of cities around the globe, need to send out pricey cars or satellites in space to map the
views of Kabul were still largely blank. “It’s almost like trying to world. “Map data is not like food, air, water that’s just around. It
think about the world before Wikipedia,” he says. So Gunder- takes active work to make it,” says Young Hahn, Mapbox’s CTO.
sen and his team mashed up their own maps using Mapbox, a Whenever someone opens a Mapbox map, that person’s phone
tool they had started to build a year before. or computer sends three pieces of anonymous data back to the
Nine years later, more than 350 million people touch a Map- company: longitude, latitude and a time stamp. hese billions
box visualization every month, whether they realize it or not. of data points constantly improve Mapbox’s real-time plug-and-
he company provides maps for Snapchat, the Weather Chan- play map of the world. “Every time you touch the map, the map
nel and the itness app Strava. It powers ETAs for grocery-de- is learning,” Gundersen says. “It’s that lywheel.”
livery app Instacart and works with Tesla, Lyt and Uber. It took nearly a decade to build that virtuous cycle. When
Investors have put $230 million into the company, at a val- Gundersen let Afghanistan in 2009, he ran Mapbox as a small
uation of around $700 million. Mapbox is on track to gener- project within his consulting company for several years. he
ate an estimated $100 million in revenue this year but no proits. consulting business subsidized Mapbox for a while, but ater al-
One problem: Only 3% of Mapbox users pay for it. he compa- most missing payroll in 2010 and racking up nearly $250,000
ny hopes to move that a couple of percentage points and achieve in personal debt, Gundersen started looking for backers. He i-
proitability by building out mapping services for self-driv- nally secured a $10 million funding round in October 2013.
ing cars and augmented reality. But that means competing with Today more than 1.1 million engineers have registered to
Google. Mapbox is more customizable than Google Maps, but use Mapbox’s sotware, and the service has buy-in from devel-
it’s an open question whether such advantages will be enough to opers like Jody Kelman, a self-driving-car product manager for
overcome the search giant’s deep pool of engineering talent and Lyt, which uses Mapbox’s maps to show passengers in its au-
even deeper pockets. tonomous cars what the vehicle is seeing on the road. “Making
TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD FOR FORBES
Mapbox has gotten this far by focusing strictly on the de- tools that engineers like to use is a really impressive feat,” she
velopers, creating a basic building block, à la Stripe or Amazon says. “Engineers are really hard to please.”
Web Services, that a wide variety of businesses can use. While Gundersen’s next challenge is to turn that technical praise
many mapping companies give users a inished map, Map- into more paying customers. hat won’t be easy, but the poten-
box is akin to a box of Legos that engineers can customize. It’s tial payout is enormous. “If we get this right,” he says, “we’ll be
easy to change the fonts and the color scheme and add features inside everything.” F
16–18,2O18
some 300 young leaders, entrepreneurs and
gamechangers from Forbes' “30 Under 30 Asia”
lists, as well as CEOs, mentors, industry leaders,
investors and disruptors. The summit will feature
three days of motivating panels, tech demos,
networking, as well as a food and music festival.
Supporting Organizations
Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Thailand’s 50 Richest
SARAWUT PORNPATANARUK
Fair Game
List newcomer Sarawut Pornpatanaruk tapped into Thailand’s
skin-whitening craze to build a $1 billion company.
BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI
T
hailand’s tourism boom drew a record 35 million- 82% since the IPO. With a market capitalization of close to
plus foreign visitors in 2017, more than one fourth $1 billion, the company is valued like a hot tech startup, at an
from China. he free-spending Chinese contrib- eye-popping 18 times its annual sales of $54 million. “Dur-
uted an estimated $16 billion to the hai economy. ing the IPO road show we were oten asked whether the price
Cashing in on this surge is hai beauty brand was too high as we had priced the shares at a premium—54
Namu Life SnailWhite, whose range of products such as facial times trailing earnings. But the company has done far better
creams, sunscreen lotions and bodywash gels—in its signature than we could have ever expected,” says Pichet Sithi-Amnuai,
all-white packaging—is hard to miss at the duty-free outlets at president at Bualuang Securities, the IPO’s lead underwriter.
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Analysts say investors are bullish as they expect Do Day
Despite its of-putting name, which is drawn from one of Dream (or Triple D, as it’s sometimes called, for its stock ticker
its main ingredients, snail slime, SnailWhite is a big hit with symbol, DDD) to continue delivering hypergrowth. Since 2014,
Chinese tourists. hai women, too, are eagerly slapping Snail- sales have been on a tear, growing 56% on an annual compound
White cream onto their faces because, apart from yucky snail basis. Sorrabhol Virameteekul, strategist and head of digital
mucus, which is collagen-packed and said to have wondrous research at Bangkok’s Maybank Kim Eng, expects that trend
antiaging properties, it also contains skin-lightening agent to continue over the next three years, driven largely by rising
alpha arbutin, a bearberry extract. exports to China. (His securities irm supported the IPO.)
he quest for whiter skin, a controversial topic in the he skin-care market in China is estimated at $30 billion,
Western world, shows no signs of abating in hailand or, in- according to Kim Eng’s Sorrabhol. Ater a two-year pursuit,
deed, across large swaths of Asia. Whitening creams account Do Day Dream, which had been selling in China through
for half of the $320 million hai market for facial creams, limited online channels, recently secured regulatory approval
according to research irm Nielsen. from China’s Food & Drug Administration. he company can
“SnailWhite can totally rejuvenate your skin,” boasts now tap a wider market through local distributors.
Sarawut Pornpatanaruk, founder and CEO of Do Day Dream, Sarawut says that he is focused on SnailWhite’s regional
the company behind SnailWhite. Looking younger than his 41 expansion. “We see a huge opportunity outside—in China, of
years, Sarawut, who regularly uses his own products and insists course, but also in countries such as Indonesia and the Phil-
company executives do so as well, could easily pass as a model for ippines,” he notes. China already accounts for 30% of annual
his own brand. CFO Piyawat “Pete” Ratchapolsitte, says his boss revenue.
doesn’t look a day older than when he irst met him ive years ago. One of three siblings, Sarawut hails from a family that
One of four newcomers to the hai 50 Richest, Sarawut owns a car-paint manufacturer. Ater completing business
ADAM DEAN FOR FORBES
is ranked at No. 45 with $675 million. He gained his spot studies (including a doctorate) at local universities, he joined
ater taking his eight-year-old company public last Decem- the family trade, working as a factory manager before joining
ber, raising $130 million. Shares of Do Day Dream, of which top management. But Sarawut, who enjoys reading Marvel
Sarawut owns more than two thirds with his family, are up comics, yearned to break away: “I had a diferent dream.”
A decade later, he decided to start a samples to fashion and lifestyle blog- store, whereas to buy Shiseido, which
cosmetics venture focusing on skin care, gers, getting them to write about their is more expensive, I have to go to a
getting four of his friends, who were experiences using the product. He department store.”
marketing experts, to join him. (hey deployed social media, including Face- To make deeper market inroads,
have small stakes.) Although the hai book and Instagram, to market it. and with an eye on hailand’s 440,000
skin-care sector was booming, it was Within months, SnailWhite had convenience stores, Sarawut last year
dominated by multinationals such as gone viral, and Sarawut had to contend introduced 7 ml sachet packs priced
L’Oréal, Unilever and Procter & Gamble. with fake versions looding the market. at $1.20 each. So far there is only one
A local brand of some size was Smooth- Today an anticounterfeit sticker with a company-owned store in Bangkok, as
E, founded by a dermatologist and QR code is on every package to distin- Sarawut says he would rather spend
known for its dermatological creams. guish the original from copycats. In the on billboards because “our customers
Moreover, he explains, net margins in irst year, SnailWhite notched online commute.” But he’s planning to open
cosmetic products were more than 20%, sales of $3 million and was ready to hit pop-up stores at tourist hot spots.
compared with 5% in car paints. With Two years ago a TV commercial for
his factory experience he was conident a Korean skin-whitening pill with the
he could handle the production side. Within months, theme “You need to be white to win”
“My father wasn’t happy at all and pre- SnailWhite had gone sparked protests in hailand and had to
dicted that I would soon return to the be withdrawn. Dermatologist Nopadun
family fold,” he says, smiling.
viral, and Sarawut Noppakun, an associate professor at Chu-
Starting out as a contract manu- had to contend with lalongkorn University who as president
facturer for small skin-care brands, he fake versions. In the of the Dermatological Society of hailand
initially juggled his work in the family had led a campaign to raise public aware-
business with the new venture. Not- first year, SnailWhite ness that these products could be damag-
ing that the skin-care market in both had online sales of ing, says that whitening remains a “big
the premium and mass segments was issue and a big market in hailand.”
crowded, Sarawut spotted a niche
$3 million. (In India, where one of Unilever’s
for a hai version of what he calls a popular products is Fair & Lovely
“premium mass product.” retail stores. cream, the nonproit organization
He latched on to the idea of snail- To rev up demand, Sarawut unleashed Women Of Worth has a long-running
serum creams that were all the rage in an advertising blitz on television, radio, “Dark Is Beautiful” campaign. Founder
South Korea but hadn’t made inroads print and billboards using TV celebrities. Kavitha Emmanuel says, “Unfortunate-
into hailand. “hai consumers found By 2015 he had moved out of the fam- ly, Asia, where biases run deep, is a hot
the Korean creams too oily and sticky,” ily business to concentrate on his own spot for the skin-whitening industry.”
explains Sarawut. Using imported Ko- venture. hat same year he expanded the Women Of Worth has won strict guide-
rean snail slime, he developed a lighter product range to sunscreen lotions and lines for advertising such products.)
version that would be absorbed into the cleansing products and invested in a fac- Sarawut doesn’t see any threat of
skin faster and was better suited to the tory at an industrial park 50 miles north a backlash against SnailWhite, saying
humid hai weather. To this he added of Bangkok. that aspiring to have fairer skin is still
the skin-lightening agent. “It took eight Tik Narudee, manager of a Watsons “culturally acceptable.” He is introduc-
months and at least 100 versions to drug store in central Bangkok, says ing new products every year, and the
perfect the product,” he recalls. Chinese tourists are the biggest buyers original cream, which was his sole
In 2013 SnailWhite cream inally of SnailWhite, and it’s popular with product at one time, now makes up 37%
went on sale online. Priced at $30 for a hai working women, too. Panaya W., of total sales.
50 ml jar, it was cheaper than high-end 49, an independent investor who had Now that SnailWhite features among
facial moisturizers that cost $80 for a stopped by to pick up a jar of Snail- the country’s top ten in facial skin care—
similar quantity and a notch above the White sunscreen, says she chanced on Smooth-E is in this group too—Sarawut
cheap $10 variety. it when holidaying at a beach resort in says his father no longer disapproves of
It wasn’t an easy sell. SnailWhite’s January. Until then, she had been using his move. “I want SnailWhite to be all
prime target—women age 25 to 35— Japanese brand Shiseido but ditched it over Asia. I still have a dream.” F
balked at the idea of putting snail slime for SnailWhite because of its easy avail- Additional reporting:
on their skins. Sarawut distributed ability. “I can get it at the local 7-Eleven Busrin Treerapongpichit
The Forbes Global CEO Conference is an annual gathering for some 400 global CEOs, tycoons and
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Thailand’s 50 Richest
BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI
Top Heavy
As GDP stirs, holdings of the nation’s very wealthiest get another big boost.
A
ter a subdued spell, hailand’s economy
is gathering momentum. With rising
exports and a recovery in domestic de-
mand, the World Bank has forecast that
for the irst time since 2012, economic
growth will exceed 4% in 2018. Relative to this modest
upturn, the nation’s richest are enjoying a disproportion-
ate wealth boom, spurred by stock market gains and a
stronger baht. he Top 50 are collectively worth more
than $162 billion, up by close to one third since we last
measured fortunes 11 months ago.
Two thirds of the nation’s richest saw their wealth
swell, with the top four alone adding close to $25 billion.
Among the big dollar gainers were the Chearavanont
brothers of the Charoen Pokphand Group, who remain
at No. 1 with a record $30 billion. hey got a boost from
soaring shares of their key holdings, such as 7-Eleven
operator CP All, which beneited from an uptick in con-
sumer sentiment, and Chinese insurer Ping An, whose
intech bets are paying of.
All four energy drink fortunes were up, and none Plastic fantastic: Aloke Lohia’s frenetic dealmaking has almost doubled his wealth.
more so than that linked to Red Bull, owned by
Chalerm Yoovidhya and his clan. Analysts recommended a skin-whitening craze (see p. 66).
revaluation of privately held Red Bull, more in line with its listed Of the 9 women who feature in the top 50, 2 returned to the
American rival Monster, and that pushed Yoovidhya up to No. 3. fold this year, including matriarch Somporn Juangroongru-
Another big winner is hyperactive, Indian-born plastics tycoon angkit, chairman of auto parts group hai Summit, whose son
Aloke Lohia, whose proliic dealmaking since 2014 has seen his hanathorn took a surprising plunge into politics.
Indorama Ventures net 16 acquisitions across the globe, including Media magnates, bufeted by weak ad revenues and competition
in Europe and North America. For 2017, the company, which rose from online channels, were among those who didn’t fare well (see p.
to the top ten ranks of Asian plastics makers, reported a 17% jump 72). Given the list’s required minimum net worth of $600 million,
in revenue to $8.4 billion. A Bangkok resident for three decades, seven dropped of, including Pawat Vitoorapakorn, whose plastic
Lohia’s wealth surged 89% to $3.3 billion. packaging maker Eastern Polymer Group saw revenue and net
Relecting rising prosperity, there are 32 billion-dollar-plus proit fall on tepid demand and higher raw material costs. A poach-
fortunes this year, 4 more than in 2017. he four new names ing scandal involving infrastructure tycoon Premchai Karnasuta,
on the list include two newly minted billionaires, who join the who fell of two years ago, kept him in the news (see p. 75).
ranks ater taking their companies public. U.S.-educated Sarath Net worths are based on stock prices and exchange rates from
BRENT LEWIN/BLOOMBERG
1. CHEARAVANONT BROTHERS
$30 BILLION S
CHAROEN POKPHAND GROUP
2. CHIRATHIVAT FAMILY
$21.2 BILLION S
CENTRAL GROUP
3. CHALERM YOOVIDHYA
$21 BILLION S
RED BULL AGE: 67
4. CHAROEN
SIRIVADHANABHAKDI
$17.4 BILLION S
THAI BEVERAGE AGE: 74
5. VICHAI
SRIVADDHANAPRABHA
$5.2 BILLION S
KING POWER AGE: 60
6. KRIT RATANARAK
$3.7 BILLION
BANGKOK BROADCASTING & TV
AGE: 72
7. SARATH RATANAVADI
$3.4 BILLION Ì
GULF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
AGE: 52
8. PRASERT
PRASARTTONG-OSOTH
$3.35 BILLION S
BANGKOK DUSIT MEDICAL
SERVICES AGE: 85
9. ALOKE LOHIA
$3.3 BILLION S
INDORAMA VENTURES AGE: 59
14. PRACHAK
TANGKARAVAKOON
$2.1 BILLION Ì
TOA PAINT (THAILAND) AGE:74
rising exports and new information about the group’s financial performance in 2017. Her son Thanathorn, 39, recently 17. WILLIAM HEINECKE
took a surprising plunge into politics, cofounding the pro-democracy party Anakhot Mai (or Future Forward), which is $1.94 BILLION S
preparing to participate in next year’s much-awaited federal election. Thanathorn, who was running Thai Summit along MINOR INTERNATIONAL AGE: 69
with his sister Chanapun, proclaims that his mission is to put Thailand “back on the democratic path.” The political
novice says he’s well aware of the risks involved in taking on the ruling military junta, but “this is a long-term fight.” SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
Thanathorn’s responsibilities at Thai Summit now fall on his younger brother, Sakultorn. ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
Television
Turmoil
F
ive years ago, the Thai government’s decision to auc- Broadcasters lobbied the government to waive the dues
tion two dozen digital television licenses set off a gold outstanding on their bids or allow them to delay license-fee
rush. Eyeing the more than $3.5 billion of annual TV payments by three years. The government recently agreed to
advertising spend, as many as 20 newcomers vied with 6 in- permit the latter. These woes are reflected in the fortunes of
cumbent operators—2 of them state-owned—to grab them. these 3 media moguls among the top 50.
With some bids topping $100 million per license, to be paid The wealth of ailing TV tycoon Vichai Maleenont, the
over six years, the government was set to reap a $1.6 billion oldest person in the top 50, has more than halved since
bonanza. 2013, when he was worth $2 billion. His media outfit, BEC
But reality failed to live up to that initial hype. Today, the World, now run by his younger son Prachum, had placed
industry is in the doldrums, with some players struggling to the highest bid, $106 million, for a digital TV license. While
stay afloat. Annual TV ad revenues fell 6% to $3.2 billion in BEC World’s Channel 3 remains among the top three chan-
2017, says Napon Jaison, media analyst at Bangkok securi- nels, the company’s shares are down 85% from their 2013
ties firm Bualuang Securities. The death of the revered peak. BEC World reported a 95% drop in net profit to $1.9
King Bhumidol Adulyadej in October of that year, plunged million for 2017.
the country into a yearlong period of mourning, dampen- Media baroness Praneetsilpa Vacharaphol, who controls
ing consumer sentiment. With increased competition for Thai Rath, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, saw
shrinking ad dollars, broadcasters also found themselves her net worth decline by more than one third since plung-
weighed down by the burden of having to pay license fees. ing into digital TV. Her Thairath news channel, overseen by
Additionally, they now have to contend with the accel- grandson Vachara, was ranked No. 9 in 2017, down one spot
erating popularity of new screens, such as smartphones and from the previous year. Privately held Thairath has report-
tablets, and online options such as YouTube and Facebook. edly laid off some employees in recent times.
Total viewership has remained flat at 33.3 million, and is The reclusive Krit Ratanarak, who controls Bangkok
now increasingly fragmented as viewers switch from TV to Broadcasting & TV, suffered an erosion in the financial
tablet to phone. Obboon Thirachit, director of credit-rating performance of Channel 7, despite it being a market leader.
agency Fitch in Thailand, expects competition to remain a In 2016, the latest year for which numbers are available
key drag on most TV operators’ cash flow in 2018. He says for Channel 7, revenue fell 20%, while net profit was down
they will be forced to spend more on content to compete for more than 40%. Krit has seen his fortune slide to $3.7 bil-
viewership. lion from $5.1 billion in 2014.
24. THONGMA
VIJITPONGPUN
$1.55 BILLION S
PRUKSA REAL ESTATE
AGE: 59
25. ISARA
VONGKUSOLKIT
$1.5 BILLION S
MITR PHOL SUGAR AGE: 69
PRACHUM MALEENONT: The son of Vichai Maleenont (the oldest member of the Thai 50 list) runs BEC World, which had
26. CHATRI
placed the hightest bid ($106 million) for a digital TV license and has reported a 95% drop in net profit for 2017. SOPHONPANICH
$1.47 BILLION
BANGKOK BANK AGE: 84
28. SOMPORN
JUANGROONGRUANGKIT
$1.3 BILLION 3
THAI SUMMIT AGE:67
30. PHORNTHEP
PHORNPRAPHA
$1.15 BILLION
SIAM MOTORS AGE: 69
32. NISHITA
SHAH FEDERBUSH
$1.06 BILLION S
GP GROUP AGE: 37
$920 MILLION S
BBTV AGE: 75
PRANEETSILPA VACHARAPHOL: The media baroness has seen her wealth nearly halve since venturing into digital TV.
KRIT RATANARAK: His fortune has sufered as well as a result of Channel 7’s performance. SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
HARALD LINK:
POWER PLAY
Among the power fortunes rising noticeably this year,
is that of Link, third-generation head of the storied B.
Grimm Group. He got a boost from taking renewable
energy unit B. Grimm Power public last year. It raised
$300 million, securing investors such as the Asian
Development Bank, as well as Singapore’s sovereign
wealth fund GIC and state-owned holding company
Temasek. The company operates 30 power plants in
Thailand and the region, and plans to double that by
2023. The IPO was the first ever for the conglomerate,
which was founded as a pharmacy in 1878. Link says
most of the company’s 700 employees bought shares.
The day after the IPO, his daughter Caroline, whom he
is grooming to succeed him, gave birth to twin sons,
“making it an extraordinarily happy two days.”
Cofounder and chairman of WHA, Thailand’s leading warehousing and logistics firm, Jareeporn returns to the ranks after a two-year gap. In 2015 she was listed at
No. 32 with a net worth of $765 million, along with her then-husband Somyos Anantaprayoon. After their divorce, when she reverted to her maiden name, they
dropped out as their fortune was divided. Somyos died in January, passing on his shares to their only daughter, whose inheritance is grouped with Jareeporn’s
assets for the purpose of this listing. Under Jareeporn, who has been running the company since 2015, WHA reported record net profit of $100 million in 2017. Last
year she listed WHA’s renewable energy arm, WHA Utilities & Power. Hemaraj Land & Development, a company WHA acquired in 2015, is investing
$1 billion in Vietnam, with a local partner, to build industrial parks and estates on a 7,400-acre site.
37. JAREEPORN
JARUKORNSAKUL
A
team of rangers $820 MILLION 3
WHA AGE: 50
encircled the
wealthy hunter 38. BOONCHAI
BENCHARONGKUL
camping in a remote $800 MILLION S
wildlife retreat, seizing TOTAL ACCESS COMMUNICATIONS
AGE: 64
irearms and the pelt
39. CHALERM HARNPHANICH
of a rare black leop- $730 MILLION S
ard. Inside a tent they BANGKOK CHAIN HOSPITAL AGE: 65
found remains of other 40. SUWIN &
protected animals: bark- TANYAPON KRAIBHUBES
$715 MILLION Ì
ing deer and wild kalij BEAUTY COMMUNITY AGE: 51, 49
pheasants. When they
41. VIRIYAHBHUN FAMILY
were ofered cash and $710 MILLION S
favors, they adamantly VIRIYAH INSURANCE
Premchai Karnasuta, 64, managing director out on bail; he still has to face trial. Oicials 45. SARAWUT PORNPATANARUK
$675 MILLION Ì
of SET-listed construction irm Italian-hai at Italian-hai declined to discuss the case, DO DAY DREAM AGE: 41
Development. His picture was splashed across and Premchai did not respond to requests for
46. PRANEETSILPA
newspapers, caught on the scene. comment. VACHARAPHOL
Premchai and his sister Nijaporn Charana- he case continued to dominate news for $670 MILLION T
THAI RATH AGE: 86
chitta were among the country’s richest until weeks, prompting widespread public outrage
THAILAND DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS, WILDLIFE AND PLANT CONSERVATION VIA AP
2016, when they were listed at No. 35 with a and condemnation from wildlife and conser- 47. WINAI
TEAWSOMBOONKIJ
combined fortune of $630 million. (hey have vation groups. Protesters wore black leopard $665 MILLION T
since lagged the 50 list cutof as the government masks. “he hai public are enraged, and the THAIFOODS GROUP AGE: 55
delayed infrastructure spending, hitting their need to protect the country’s wildlife is stronger 48. PARPHAN SIRIVIRIYAKUL
$660 MILLION
stock price.) Italian-hai, which marks its 60th than ever,” says Nuthatai Chotechuang, hailand KASET THAI INTERNATIONAL
anniversary this year, helped build both the representative for the U.S. NGO WildAid. SUGAR AGE: 65
BTS and MRT mass-transit lines in Bangkok “Poaching of all animals is unfortunately 49. NUTCHAMAI
and is in the running for numerous other rail very high in Southeast Asian forests,” says the THANOMBOONCHAROEN
$640 MILLION
projects around the country. he siblings’ head of a major hai conservation group. he CARABAO GROUP AGE: 56
hospitality arm, Onyx, is overseen by Nijaporn’s real surprise, he added, was that charges were
50. ITTHIPAT PEERADECHAPAN
son Yuthachai. pressed against someone so rich and powerful. $600 MILLION
Premchai was apprehended in the hung Unless this case is prosecuted fully, he added, TAOKAENOI FOOD & MARKETING
AGE: 33
Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, where hunt- “this won’t be a deterrent to others—rich or
ing is strictly prohibited. A subsequent raid of poor—from acting similiarly.” SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
Premchai’s home unearthed tusks from African —Ron Gluckman ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
PRACHAK TANGKARAVAKOON:
RICH COLORS
One of two newly minted billionaires on the list this year,
Prachak, 74, owes his debut to last year’s IPO of his $500
million (revenue) TOA Paint (Thailand), the country’s
biggest paint company. It has three plants in Thailand,
plus factories in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and
Cambodia. The listing—the first by any paint company
in Thailand—raised $360 million, which will be used to
ramp up regional expansion. New factories are being built
in Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar. In 1964, Prachak
expanded the family’s hardware business into paint
supplies, opening TOA’s first paint factory in 1972. The
tycoon, who is TOA’s chairman, long ago handed over
operations to his four children: sons Jatuphat, Vonnarat
and Nattavuth, and daughter Busatree Wanglee. Jatuphat
is CEO; the others serve as directors.
Tony Fernandes
Priyanka Chopra
Tom Hanks
Forbes Life
Dinnertime
Mobile-application startups revamp old discount
models to feast on Asia’s burgeoning foodie crowd.
BY PRISCA ANG
S
outheast Asia startups are tapping into Asia’s love of only for speciic days or times, the restaurants and other ven-
food at a discount. Bangkok-based mobile applica- ues signed up by he Entertainer must ofer deals that are valid
tion Eatigo, which is backed by American travel giant seven days a week during both lunch and dinner. “We didn’t
TripAdvisor, ofers discounts of up to 50% during start the one-for-one business model. We used it diferently,” says
nonpeak dining periods. Chope, a Singapore-based restaurant- Benton, 44, who is also the company’s chairman.
booking platform, rewards diners for making reservations with She says the irst few years were tough, as she went door-to-
points they can exchange for restaurant vouchers. Malaysia- door persuading merchants to come onboard, before training
based startup Ofpeak has a model similar to Eatigo’s, except them. “You need to do as much as you can because you can’t
that it focuses more on restaurants that are trendy. aford to employ anyone,” she recalls. Now the company has
he discount apps steer more business to food-and-bever- more than 300 employees and the bulk of its revenue comes
age establishments, helping to ill empty seats. Customers may from the yearly subscription fee it charges, which varies be-
be getting 50% of, but they oten make it up to the merchant tween markets. It also ofers white-label services to more than
by ordering extra items, such as appetizers, says the veteran in 200 customers, which include big names such as HSBC and Ci-
this sector, Australian Donna Benton, who started he Enter- tibank. It works with them to customize voucher books, pro-
tainer in 2001. All the companies compete in diferent ways motional booklets, websites and mobile apps as part of their
with the remnants of U.S.-based discount-app giant Groupon, loyalty and rewards programs. Benton says its most proitable
which sold its Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia business- market is Dubai, followed by Abu Dhabi and Singapore.
es to itness subscription service KFit over the past two years; he Entertainer’s Asia push came in 2013, when it made a
the platform was rebranded as Fave. Groupon had already shut foray into Singapore and then set up shop in Hong Kong, Ma-
down its hailand and Philippines operations in 2015. laysia and Bali. he region, which is known for its food and its
“he Entertainer app is deinitely convenient, especially digitally savvy consumers, serves up a platter of opportunities,
given that quality food in Singapore tends to be rather expen- says Benton: “It’s a food lover’s paradise. It has a vibrant food
sive,” says Samuel Wittberger, 22. “As someone who really en- culture, which is rapidly evolving. It has many food options
joys eating, apps like he Entertainer and Eatigo make good from street food to ine dining, as well as a broad selection of
eats more accessible on a more frequent basis.” He says he has both Asian and Western cuisine.”
racked up some $180 in savings since he purchased he Enter- Eatigo, for its part, brands itself as a yield-management
tainer app in January, and uses it about twice a month. company. he startup aims to help restaurants increase their
Benton got the idea for he Entertainer ater she moved to proitability by illing more seats and boosting revenue, says
Dubai and noticed that many restaurants were largely empty. She Michael Cluzel, Eatigo’s chief executive and cofounder. In-
decided that she could connect these merchants with custom- stead of ofering subscriptions, Eatigo charges establishments
ers who were seeking new experiences and better value. Today a fee for each diner the app brings in. Diners download the
he Entertainer ofers buy-one, get-one-free deals at more than free app and choose from a menu of restaurants, select a time
10,000 restaurants, attractions, spas and hotels in the Middle slot along with its corresponding level of discount and make
East, Europe, Africa and Asia, where the regional headquarters a reservation. As with he Entertainer, its discount ofers
is in Singapore. Businesses in her network range from big fast- range from casual to high-end restaurants. “We’re very agnos-
food chains such as KFC to casual joints, high-end restaurants tic as to whether it’s fast food or restaurants,” he says. “What
and ive-star hotels. But while many promote one-for-one deals matters is that the place is popular. Eatigo isn’t a marketing
Leadership
“Example is
“It is a curious
not the main
thing, Harry, but
thing in perhaps those best
influencing suited to power are
others. It those who have
is the only never sought it.”
thing.” —J.K. ROWLING
—ALBERT
SCHWEITZER
“Hounds follow
those who
feed them.”
—OTTO VON BISMARCK
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: TASS/ZUMA PRESS/NEWSCOM; UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; VAN TINE DENNIS/ABACA/NEWSCOM; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; STAN GODLEWSKI/LIAISON/GETTY IMAGES; GIDEON
MENDEL/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/UIG/GETTY IMAGES; CHRIS HELLIER/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; TONY EVANS/GETTY IMAGES; ORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; JOHN LINDSAY/AP; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
“IT’S HARD TO LEAD A “SURROUND
CAVALRY CHARGE IF YOURSELF
YOU THINK YOU LOOK “He who wishes to be
WITH GREAT obeyed must know
FUNNY ON A HORSE.”
—ADLAI STEVENSON
PEOPLE, how to command.”
DELEGATE —NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI
B E I J I N G C A N N E S CHEN G D U D UBAI EK ATERINBURG GENEVA GSTAAD H ONG KONG KUALA LUMPUR LAS V EGAS LONDON LOS ANGELES
M A C A O M I L A N M O S C O W N E W Y O R K N I N G B O PA R I S S E O U L S H A N G H A I S I N G A P O R E TA I P E I T O K Y O V I E N N A Z U R I C H – W W W. B R E G U E T. C O M