Breguet La Marine

Équation Marchante 5887

B E I J I N G C A N N E S C H E N G D U D U B A I E K AT E R I N B U R G G E N E VA G S TA A D H O N G K O N G K U A L A L U M P U R L A S V E G A S L O N D O N L O S A N G E L E S
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 P A 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

V3 GROUP:
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
Following the success of its lagship product OSIM massage chairs, the Singaporean retailer aims to become
Asia’s leading luxury lifestyle and wellness group through its portfolio of premium brands.
Starting with a small retail company that sold
household goods in 1980, an ambitious Sin-
gaporean entrepreneur has grown a business
that today spans a range of leading lifestyle
and wellness brands available in 24 countries
around the world.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s,
Ron Sim built a regional firm selling health
and wellness products in Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Malaysia and China after the recession in 1985
made it clear that he needed to grow beyond
the Singapore market to thrive.
The company, which was renamed OSIM
International in 1993, expanded rapidly
following the phenomenal success of its
Ron Sim, Chairman and
Chief Executive Oicer of V3
PROMOTION
flagship line of OSIM premium massage that manufactures high-quality store fixtures
chairs. Over the years, the brand has crafted a for leading global brands such as Victoria's
reputation for innovation across its compre- Secret and H&M. Given V3’s emphasis on store
hensive range of products, winning numer- design and delivering a premium retail expe-
ous industry awards for design and business rience, Futuristic is set to bring synergies by
excellence, including the prestigious Red Dot offering valuable insight on trends and devel-
Design Award four times. opments in branding and store presentation.
His entrepreneurial achievements have All of V3’s offerings enjoy strong brand rec-
also led to personal honors. In 2003, he won ognition in their core markets and together
Ernst & Young's prestigious "Entrepreneur of have a presence in more than 100 cities
The Year" award in Singapore. That same year, worldwide. With continuous innovation,
Singapore-based The Business Times named high-quality products and focus on customer
him “Businessman of the Year.” experience, V3 has become a brand creator
The company survived the 1997 Asian and developer in lifestyle and wellness.
financial crisis and 2008 global financial crisis, "You have to create and make that differ-
emerging stronger each time on the strength ence. Besides brand positioning, you have
of its brands and a commitment to financial to have good concepts, good design, good
prudence. material, at the right price," says Mr. Sim,
With the OSIM product line providing a the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
solid foundation for the firm, Mr. Sim has of V3.
expanded his portfolio of brands through a It is a philosophy that is practiced at all the
series of acquisitions over the past 15 years. group's brands, and one that will drive its con-
He renamed his company V3 Group in 2016. tinued success for years to come.
The company's vision is to become Asia's
leading luxury group in the lifestyle and well-
ness business categories as well as aspira-
tional brands.
Apart from OSIM in the lifestyle category,
V3’s portfolio also includes TWG Tea, in which
the group initially acquired a 35% stake in
2011 and subsequently upped its holding to
70% in 2014. TWG Tea has expanded to more
than 60 tea salons & boutiques worldwide,
and is now recognized as one of the finest
luxury tea brands in the world. To ensure the
quality of its products, TWG Tea tasters travel OSIM uInfinity Luxe
thousands of miles across the globe every
year, sampling hundreds of teas in search of
the best harvests direct from the source.
In 2003, Mr. Sim acquired ONI Global, which
holds the exclusive franchise rights to the
GNC brand in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Together with its subsidiary LAC, a wellness
brand that combines Eastern herbal ingre-
dients and modern technology, ONI Global
helps customers improve their overall physi-
cal, mental and emotional wellness.
V3’s most recent investment is its 69%
stake in Futuristic, a Singapore company TWG Tea
CONTENTS — APRIL 2018 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3

S PAGE 30
12 | FACT & COMMENT // STEVE FORBES
“AS PEOPLE’S New Fed head: same old, bad old.

DISPOSABLE 30 UNDER 30
INCOME GROWS
26 | ONWARD AND UPWARD
IN CHINA, THEY Our third annual list showcases young leaders who are creating a stir in the Asia-Pac region.
ARE SPENDING EDITED BY RANA WEHBE

MORE ON THINGS 27 | BRIAN IMANUEL (RICH BRIAN)

THAT WILL IMPROVE
LIFE QUALITY.”
—SU CHUNZI, 28, executive vice
president & partner, Flowerplus
His augmented reality goggles and glasses are used by Chinese bikers, engineers and police.
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS:
MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES; IRWIN WONG FOR
FORBES; ROBERT GALLAGHER FOR FORBES;
STEFAN CHOW FOR FORBES (2)
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL TOTALS AND PRICES EXPRESSED IN OUR STORIES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS.
Indonesia’s rap prodigy climbs the charts.
28 | AMIRA GENEID
Her line of halal-compliant cosmetics fills a void for Muslim women.
29 | TU JIANYU & LIU TAO
Their fintech startup creates faster and clearer financial data.
30 | SU CHUNZI
Her subscription-bouquet company brings flowers to Chinese homes.
31 | KAZUO ISHIGAME
His eyes on the sky, he has created “an Airbnb for satellite antennas.”
32 | SHI XIAOGANG
33 | ESTHER WANG
Her Rabbit Ray educational toy helps kids deal with their fears.
34 | SHRIYANS BHANDARI & RAMESH DHAMI
They convert old running shoes into footwear for India’s poor.
35 | TARA BAKER
Her wedding magazine caters to the LGBTQ+ community.
36 | FRANCISCO SERRA-MARTINS
His Sonder customizable keyboard is a no-brainer for multilingual users.
38 | 30/30 ALUMNI ON THE RISE

4 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

CONTENTS — APRIL 2018 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3

COMPANIES, PEOPLE
14 | EVER SKYWARD
Hong Kong’s apartment math should work for moguls who bought HNA’s sites at Kai Tak.
BY ROBERT OLSEN

17 | MEET THE NEIGHBORS: PARK PENTHOUSES

Silas Chou is one of several billionaires living in Manhattan’s 1,004-foot-tall One57.
BY SAMANTHA SHARF

18 | BREAKING OUT
Apichart Chutrakul is pushing Thai property company Sansiri in unexpected directions.
BY RON GLUCKMAN

21 | INDIA’S VIRTUAL MALL-CUM-BANK

Paytm unifies small shops and runs circles around stodgy lenders.
BY HARICHANDAN ARAKALI (FORBES INDIA)

40 | THE 10Q: PAT GELSINGER

The VMware chief’s dire advice for U.S. CEOs: Digitize or die.
BY RICH KARLGAARD

S PAGE 18 48 | THE MAESTRO OF MERGERS

Billionaire Bradley Jacobs’ XPO Logistics is getting tuned up to deliver big profits.
“DISRUPTION IS BY ANTOINE GARA

EVERYWHERE 50 | NEXT TYCOONS: FROM BELLHOP TO CEO

THESE DAYS. YOU When Hong Kong’s Law family bought a hotel, Allen Law’s father gave him the keys.
BY JANE A. PETERSON
HAVE TO CHANGE
WITH THE TIMES.” 76 | GADGETMAN // BEN SIN
Nobody seems shocked by the $1,100 price tag for Huawei’s new P20 Pro.
—APICHART CHUTRAKUL,
CEO of Thailand’s Sansiri MIDAS LIST
54 | VENTURE CATALYSTS
Frustrated by tech’s sufocating old boys’ club, a group of women in venture capital channel
emotion into action. Plus: Neil Shen tops the 17th annual Forbes Midas 100.
BY ALEX KONRAD AND BIZ CARSON

63 | THE NEXT FRONTIER

Jim Breyer looks at blockchain and other opportunities in China.
BY YUE WANG
T PAGE 50

“I DARE TO DREAM TECHNOLOGY

BIG.” 64 | THE VACATION PREDICTOR
One of the world’s hottest apps, Hopper, monetizes artificial intelligence.
—ALLEN LAW, CEO of Hong Kong’s BY KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI
Park Hotel Group
INVESTING
66 | MISTER 30%
Joe Edelman may be the world’s best hedge fund manager.
BY NATHAN VARDI

JAPAN’S 50 RICHEST
70 | RACE TO THE PINNACLE
A familiar name sits on the top of the list, but others are gaining on him.
BY KERRY A. DOLAN

FORBES LIFE
78 | BUILDINGS FOR EVERYONE
India’s Balkrishna Doshi wins a coveted architectural prize.
BY KARL SHMAVONIAN

80 | THOUGHTS
On change.

6 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 FORBES ASIA

SIDELINES
Editor Tim W. Ferguson
Editorial Director Karl Shmavonian
Art Director Charles Brucaliere
Senior Editor John Koppisch
Changing of the Guard
Wealth Lists Editors Luisa Kroll, Kerry A. Dolan
Photo Editor Michele Hadlow

Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy
Research Director Sue Radlauer
Online Editor Jasmine Smith
Reporter Grace Chung
Interns Prisca Ang, Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin
Editorial Bureaus
Beijing Yue Wang
Shanghai Russell Flannery (Senior Ed.); Maggie Chen
India Editor Naazneen Karmali
Contributing Editors
Bangkok Suzanne Nam
Chennai Anuradha Raghunathan
Hong Kong Shu-Ching Jean Chen
Jakarta Justin Doebele
Melbourne Lucinda Schmidt
Perth Tim Treadgold
Singapore Jane A. Peterson
Taipei Joyce Huang
Vietnam Lan Anh Nguyen
Columnist Ben Sin
Production Manager Michelle Ciulla
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Steve Forbes
FORBES MAGAZINE
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Randall Lane
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Noer
ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Mansfield
FORBES DIGITAL
VP, INVESTING EDITOR Matt Schifrin
VP, DIGITAL EDITOR Mark Coatney
VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Salah Zalatimo
VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK Christina Vuleta
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS
Frederick E. Allen LEADERSHIP
Loren Feldman ENTREPRENEURS
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)
W
hen Li Ka-shing
pulled back last
month from active
management of his corporate
empire, it was a symbolic mo-
ment felt all over Asia. Near 90,
he is probably the most identii-
able face of the generation that
put regional business on the
global map ater the war years of
the mid-20th century. Superman bids farewell to the daily grind.
hat cohort has begun passing
from the scene, but only ater a very long run. Indeed, of the top 10 names on each of
our 12 Asia-Paciic wealth lists, 28 are 80 or above. (Others of them have also retired
from day-to-day operations.) he average of these 120 listings is a ripe old 68.
Time is catching up with them, as it does with us all. hat’s one reason that some
years ago we began a feature called he Next Tycoons, to introduce the ofspring who are
likely to step into what are usually founders’ shoes. (Sometimes those are grandfathers’
shoes.) We continue the series on page 50 with Allen Law of the Park Hotel Group.
“Superman” Li’s charted succession, to his elder son, Victor, is ordered and tradi-
tional. (I could have predicted as much from spending time with the man for a 2007
cover article.) Not always do family sagas turn out so predictably, and of course that
can hold storytelling drama for us. Increasingly, the spotlight is moving to daughters,
one of the great Asian transitions of our era.
Each midyear, Forbes Asia assembles a big group of actual or prospective succes-
sors to discuss their ambitions and apprehensions. hese private Next Tycoon forums
are of the record, but they help inform me at least of the state of play in Asia’s notable
family enterprises, which I hope then makes for richer magazine material.
Ultimately, it’s the tycoons themselves, of any age, who make for interesting Forbes
copy. he “head knocker’s” life is oten mirrored in the business results. Li Ka-shing’s
remarkable rise will be a tough act to follow, and I don’t just mean for Victor.
REUTERS/BOBBY YIP

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

8 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

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 FORBES ASIA

READERS SAY
CEO/ASIA, FORBES MEDIA
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER, FORBES ASIA
CONVERSATION
William Adamopoulos THE KING HAS been dethroned.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS Tina Wee, Serene Lee
Unstoppable delivery dauphin Jef
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Eugene Wong, Aarin Chan,
Janelle Kuah, James Sundram Bezos usurped reigning monarch
DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Eunice Soo Bill Gates to claim the top spot
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS on our annual tally of the world’s
Audra Ruyters
billionaires (March). With an eye-
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CONFERENCES Jolynn Chua
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Pavan Kumar watering net worth of $112 billion,
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MARKETING & RESEARCH Joan Low Amazon’s founder also became the
SENIOR MANAGER, CONFERENCES Quek Xue Wei first nominal centibillionaire we’ve
SENIOR MANAGER, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Melissa Ng
tracked over three decades. (Some
SENIOR MANAGER, MARKETING & RESEARCH Chow Sin Yee
readers retain their fealty to the an-
SENIOR MANAGER, AD SERVICES-DIGITAL Keiko Wong
OFFICE MANAGER/ASSISTANT TO THE CEO/ASIA cien régime: “Bill Gates forever #1,”
Jennifer Chung cheered Raquel Dunn on Linked-
AD SERVICES MANAGER Fiona Carvalho In.) One prominent tapioca-haired
CONFERENCE MANAGERS Clarabelle Chaw,
gadfly didn’t fare as well, shedding
Cherie Wong, Isabel Wong
ASSISTANT MANAGER, MARKETING & RESEARCH $400 million of his former $3.5 bil-
Gwynneth Chan lion fortune: “Entering politics has
ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES had an ill efect on President Trump’s purse,” wrote the New York Daily
Angelia Ang, Sharon Joseph, Sabrina Cheung
News’ Denis Slattery. Our profile of Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong
CIRCULATION SERVICES
Taynmoli Karuppiah Sannassy, Jennifer Yim and his casino in Cambodia (“The Accidental Casino Mogul,” p. 34) inspired
this retort on Facebook from Jo Priestley: “Yes, let’s congratulate him for
helping to keep Cambodians poor. Gambling is a horrendously addictive
FORBES MEDIA
habit that the Khmers really don’t need shoved down their throats!”
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 Our gambling story from the March issue hit the jackpot online:
GENERAL COUNSEL MariaRosa Cartolano
How Malaysian “Accidental” Casino Billionaire Chen Lip Keong’s Cambodia Bet Paid Of 17,538 page views
PRESIDENT, FORBESWOMAN Moira Forbes

April, 2018
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10 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2017
 FACT & COMMENT
“With all thy getting, get understanding”
NEW FED HEAD
SAME OLD, BAD OLD
BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THE FEDERAL RESERVE’S new chair-
man, Jerome Powell, recently presided
over his irst meeting of the Federal Open
Market Committee, which sets central
bank policy, most particularly the level of
interest rates. Powell looks to continue the
same destructive policy that has done so
much harm to the economy.
he episode underscores that our cen-
tral bank won’t rid itself anytime soon of
its three fatal laws:
t
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a decade our central bank has consistently
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Department wants a weaker greenback, as happened in the
early 2000s under President George W. Bush. No country
does well with wobbly money. Our feeble dollar was the
foundation of the disasters of 2008–2009. A loating cur-
rency is as helpful as a watch or clock that can’t keep proper
time. It harms long-term investing, the crucial key to a
higher standard of living.
t
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newspaper commentator—relecting the predominant
thinking—said Powell faces the tricky task of increasing
unemployment while avoiding a recession. his fake holy
writ comes from the long-discredited Phillips Curve, which
posits that if you want low inlation, you must have higher
President McKinley: Architect of the American Century
Robert W. Merry (Simon & Schuster, $35)
So obscure is the popular perception of William McKinley,
the 25th president of the U.S., who was assassinated early
in his second term in 1901, that there was hardly a peep
of protest (other than some ritual denunciations from his
home state of Ohio) when in 2015 Barack Obama changed
the name of America’s highest mountain from Mount
McKinley to Denali. It didn’t help that this cautious, frock-
coated and self-efacing politician was succeeded by the al-
ways dramatic and dazzlingly colorful heodore Roosevelt,
whose volcanic energy sharply contrasted with McKinley’s
12 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
unemployment, and conversely, if oicials
desire more employment, they must engi-
neer more inlation by undermining the
value of the currency. Hence all the jabber
about trying to achieve an inlation rate
of 2%.
t he belief that the Fed can guide the
pace of economic activity—and drive
the economy like one would an auto-
mobile. Its tool to do this is manipulating
interest rates. he fact that for more than
misjudged how the economy would perform has made
little impression on the way in which its personnel view the
world. he notion that a handful of Beltway-based econo-
mists can control an immense economy of hundreds of mil-
lions of people and millions of entities is so preposterous as
to defy belief.
Another thing: Why do conservatives meekly accept
the idea of Fed price controls on the cost of money? hey
understand the destructiveness of rent control yet accept
the Fed’s control of the price you pay to “rent” money from
a lender.
Perhaps Jerome Powell will someday surprise us and not
simply be an amiable time server. But that someday cer-
tainly is not now.
seemingly somnolent way of doing things.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, we were once taught,
and in no case has this been more true than in McKin-
ley’s. His presidential record is impressive, yet the way
McKinley did things—methodically, cautiously and with
behind-the-scenes consensus-building—made it easy for
denigrators to portray him as following events instead of
shaping them. His leadership, Robert W. Merry points out
in this excellent, highly readable biography, was “more of
the hidden-hand variety.” As McKinley’s secretary of war,
Elihu Root, observed, the Ohioan “always got his way, in part away, other powers, such as Japan, would move in.
because he never cared who got the credit.” t
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During his ascent to the White House, McKinley came annexation in 1898 of Hawaii. Because of its proximity to
to master the snake pit that was Ohio politics. Before and our West Coast, McKinley wanted to forestall any German
during his presidency, he deftly outmaneuvered such po- or Japanese interference there.
litical potentates as the seemingly invincible Speaker of t
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the House Thomas “Czar” Reed. Some historians portray Hay, saved China from suffering Africa’s fate of being
McKinley as the amiable puppet of industrial magnate and carved up by imperial powers. The Open Door policy
political operator Mark Hanna. said, in effect, that outside powers could keep what they
In reality, while Hanna employed remarkably modern had but, in essence, could take no more. What made the
methods to sway different groups of voters, McKinley was approach credible was the U.S.’ rout of Spain, its seizure
the senior partner. of the Philippines and the now undoubtable power of the
McKinley’s major achievements: growing U.S. Navy.
t
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Central America.
just as Franklin Roosevelt would do for the Democrats in t
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the 1930s. higher tarifs soon ater he took oice, McKinley concluded
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that this approach was now counterproductive, given the size
adroitly ending the threat to the dollar’s integrity posed by of the U.S. economy and the need for more trade with other
inflationists led by William Jennings Bryan, who wanted to countries. Against formidable opposition within his own
devalue the greenback by tying it to silver instead of gold. party, McKinley began pushing reciprocal trade treaties, what
The debilitating uncertainty over what would happen to today we would call free-trade agreements. Beginning the
the dollar had been severely damaging to growth-creating political groundwork to make this fundamental break from
investment for several years. the past enduring, McKinley hoped it would be one of the
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hallmarks of his second term. Unfortunately, he was gunned
gave the U.S. new status as a global power. McKinley’s role down before this could be done. One can only speculate as to
was crucial. Unlike such belligerent nationalists as Theo- how diferent history would be had McKinley lived to wean
dore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot his party and, indeed, much
Lodge, McKinley was no European- of the country from old-fash-
like imperialist. He knew it was ioned protectionism.
imperative for U.S. security that we t
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have a strong navy, a capable army gained national fame for his
(which was in deplorable condition charge up San Juan Hill (ac-
when the war began) and bases tually Kettle Hill), McKinley
from which to project power, par- had the more formidable war
ticularly in the Pacific, but McKin- record. During the Civil War,
ley had no lust for conflict, remark- he exhibited extraordinary
ing that he’d seen enough piles of bravery and organizational
bodies during the Civil War. He skills, which enabled the then
worked hard diplomatically to get teenager to rise from private
Spain out of its ghastly colonial to major.
war in Cuba without U.S. military t
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intervention, until our battleship exemplary. He was unfailingly
the U.S.S. Maine was blown up in gracious to all, regard-less of
Havana Harbor, making conflict their status. When his wife fell
between Washington and Madrid prey to debilitating illnesses
unavoidable. McKinley then pros- after the deaths of their young
ecuted the war vigorously. daughters, McKinley was
After the war, the U.S. took remarkably attentive to her,
possession of Puerto Rico, Guam despite the intense pressures
and Wake Island. McKinley also of his professional life. When
concluded that we had to take over he was fatally shot, he said to
the Philippines until its people his secretary: “My wife—be
were ready for self-government. careful how you tell her. Oh,
He rightly feared that if we stayed be careful.” F

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 13

FORBES ASIA

BILLIONAIRE BETS

EVER
SKYWARD
Hong Kong’s apartment math
should work for property moguls
who bought HNA’s sites at Kai Tak.
BY ROBERT OLSEN

T
wo of Hong Kong’s billionaire property moguls
have set new records with the loty prices they’ve
paid for land at the city’s former Kai Tak airport.
But in the world’s least afordable housing mar-
ket, who’s to say they won’t come in for a smooth
landing?
Lee Shau Kee’s Henderson Land Development bought two
plots from the cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA
Group for an eye-catching $2 billion in February. With a total
gross loor area, on buildout, of around 1 million square feet,
the transaction equates to $1,931 per square foot.
By the time of its completion in two to three years and tak-
ing into account that Henderson will be pitching a high-end
product, the units may sell on average for $4,076 per square
foot, according to a spokesman from the developer. hat’s be-
cause the majority of the apartments will have unobstruct- commercial space with numerous parks and venues for cul-
ed views of Victoria Harbour, an added attraction for buyers tural and artistic performances along with an already opera-
already willing to pay a premium to live in what the govern- tional cruise-ship terminal.
ment plans as another Central Business District—its “CBD 2” Henderson said that based on a total development cost of
initiative. When completed, overall CBD 2 development (in- just over $2,930 per square foot, it targets a proit margin ap-
cluding the Kai Tak site) will span 58 million square feet of proaching 30% on its project, consistent with its average de-

14 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 Planespotting: Air traic was a part of daily life in Hong Kong for pedestrians and spectators prior to 1998.

velopment margin over the past four years. says it intends to expand an existing residential project called
LARRY CHAN/REUTERS

Wheelock & Co., controlled by billionaire Peter Woo, Oasis Kai Tak, which has been priced on average at $2,887 per
bought another parcel from HNA in early March for $810 square foot ater discount, according to reports. (he com-
million with a buildable gross loor area of 425,000 square pany points to a higher recent sale.) he cost of that site was
feet, which translates to $1,904 per square foot. he company a modest $777 a square foot in 2014. Wheelock declined to

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 15

FORBES ASIA
BILLIONAIRE BETS
comment further
on the transac-
tions.
Woo’s fortune is
estimated at $12.7
billion. He was
the chairman of
Wheelock and its
main subsidiary,
Wharf Holdings,
until he stepped
down in mid-2015.
His son Douglas is
now at the helm.
he Kai Tak
parcel is the largest
available land fac-
ing Hong Kong’s
iconic harbor,
and the govern-
ment estimates it Oasis Kai Tak, a residential development by Wheelock Properties, is a taste of what’s to come.
will eventually be
home to 90,000 residents. It is targeting
investments in infrastructure that will
shorten the commuting time between
Kai Tak and the traditional Central dis-
trict to 15 minutes and is ofering in-
centives for the conversion of industrial last year that are intended to put a stop
buildings in the adjacent areas to spur
its growth into a commercial hub.
Kai Tak closed as Hong Kong’s air-
port in 1998, but in the two decades
since, the seemingly choice develop-
ment site has sat largely vacant even as
much of the city has grown more dense
from population growth and housing
ever more dear. Soil contaminated with
leaked jet fuel and the government’s in-
efficiency were blamed for the lag. Fi-
nally, the sales began in mid-2013, with
an aggressive HNA joining the fray with
bids that were more than double the
previous winning tenders. In all, HNA
scooped up nearly 50 acres in 2016–
2017 for $3.5 billion.
Under pressure from regulators and
creditors, HNA has been selling down
assets to reduce its debt load. he Hain- tervention and low shareholder payouts
an-based company also has unloaded
properties in London and Sydney along
with global equity shares.
“HNA grew too fast. It’s grown fast- to Cusson Leung, JPMorgan’s head of
er than their knowledge,” said Warut
Promboon, managing partner at
Bondcritic, an Asian credit research
16 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
firm in Hong Kong.
Mainland companies that had been
snapping up Hong Kong properties at
record prices were placed under new re- will produce rising prices,” says Peter
strictions by Chinese authorities late
to “irrational” overseas investments.
(HNA hasn’t commented on its Kai Tak
disposal.)
By contrast, Lee’s returns over the
years had earned him nicknames like
“Hong Kong’s Bufett.” Lee’s fortune,
Hong Kong’s second biggest, soared last risen in recent years to about 15,000
year to reach $31 billion, and yet Hen-
derson Land, the property develop-
er that makes up the bulk of his for-
tune, still looks undervalued by some
measures.
Hong Kong’s major property play-
ers continue to trade at a discount of
around 40% to 50% to their net asset
values, and analysts say the trend is
likely to continue.
Feared unsustainability of high
housing prices, risk of government in-
are the main factors behind the discon-
nect between Hong Kong’s residential
prices and property stocks, according
property research.
Hong Kong’s average home pric-
es jumped 14.8% last year, ensuring that
it would retain a
rank as the world’s
most unaford-
able housing mar-
ket for the eighth
consecutive year,
according to De-
mographia In-
ternational’s lat-
est survey. he
strength of the
city’s economy and
its low unemploy-
ment rate despite
immigration pres-
sures both con-
tribute to sustain
strong demand for
new housing. Also,
raw land is banked
by the authori-
ties—Kai Tak’s dis-
posal being a notable exception.
“Economics 101 tells us curtailing
supply in the face of decent demand
Churchouse, chairman at Portwood
Capital and a veteran analyst of Hong
Kong’s property sector. “The Hong
Kong’s government views land as a fis-
cal tool with a policy of drip-feed-
ing land onto the market at a rate that
guarantees prices will remain high.”
Although new-unit supply has
to 17,000 completions per year in the
private sector, that is still well short of
longer-term ranges of 24,000 to 29,000
units a year. Private sector housing sup-
ply has not kept up with demographic
changes over the past two decades.
Churchouse also believes inter-
est rates are unlikely to present much
downside risk because they shouldn’t
rise to levels seen ahead of previous big
corrections. “he point is that there is
not a lot of domestically generated risk
in the housing market in Hong Kong,
risk that could generate a severe crash
of the likes we saw in the early 1980s
and following the 1997 Asian inancial
SCMP / FELIX WONG
crisis,” he says.
So there ought to be enough lit for
a irst-class takeof—of lats, this time—
at Kai Tak. F
 FORBES
MEET THE NEIGHBORS
Park Penthouses
NEW YORK real estate’s big-
gest mystery was solved in Feb-
ruary when billionaire Michael
Dell was revealed as the buyer
who in 2014 paid a record
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penthouse in One57, overlook- FLOORS 89 AND 90
ing Central Park. he building OWNER: MICHAEL DELL
is part of a wave of new super- (Net worth: $24 bil)
Source: Dell computers
tall Manhattan residences—for
a time, One57 (1,004 feet) was
Purchase price (2014):
$100.47 million
the tallest—fetching sky-high Vitals: 6 bedrooms,
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lionaire to call One57 home, Price per sq. ft.: $9,198
and with investing billionaire
Lawrence Stroll putting his
85th-loor pad on sale, it’s still
possible to join this vertically
rareied group.
— Samantha Sharf
FLOOR 85 (FOR SALE)
LAWRENCE STROLL
($2.7 bil)
Fashion investments
Purchase price (2014): $55.6 million
Asking price: $59 million
Vitals: 4 bedrooms,
4 bathrooms, 6,240 sq. ft.
LEON NEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF CHRISTIE’S; ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY CAMPBELL
Asking price per sq. ft.: $9,455
FLOOR 82
SILAS CHOU AND FAMILY
($2.4 bil)
Fashion investments
Purchase price (2014):
$56.1 million
Vitals: 4 bedrooms,
4 bathrooms, 6,240 sq. ft.
Price per sq. ft.: $8,987
FLOORS 75 AND 76
BILL ACKMAN
($1.1 bil)
Hedge funds
Purchase price (2015):
$91.5 million
Vitals: 6 bedrooms,
6 bathrooms, 13,554 sq. ft.
Price per sq. ft.: $6,759
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APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 17
FORBES ASIA

SANSIRI

Breaking Out
After 34 years, Apichart Chutrakul is pushing conservative Thai property company
Sansiri in unexpected directions. BY RON GLUCKMAN
18 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

Connect the bots: “Disruption is everywhere
these days. You have to change with the
times,” says CEO Apichart Chutrakul.
T he pounding music stopped abruptly, and half a dozen young
executives bounded onstage at Bangkok’s Jam Factory, bathed in colored spotlights.
hese weren’t corporate suits. Instead, they were an eclectic bunch: apostles for indoor
farming and co-working spaces, entrepreneurs who ran hip hotels, and the founder
and chief of trendsetting magazine Monocle, Tyler Brûlé. A staid hailand property
developer, Sansiri, had suddenly invested $80 million in their companies in a move to
diversify its business, and this was their coming-out party last November.
Many onlookers seemed bemused; this was a quantum shit for a company that
had never made an outside investment or strayed from its bedrock of residential real
estate. So its new strategy was guaranteed to generate considerable buzz. “Disruption
is everywhere these days,” Chief Executive Apichart Chutrakul told Forbes Asia ater-
ward. “You have to change with the times.”
Still, it would be hard to ind another company in hailand that has so faithfully
followed the corporate dictum “Focus on what you do best.” Nobody knows this better
than Chutrakul, 57, who helped launch his family’s real estate company in 1984 and
has been at the helm through thick and thin—the 1994 merger with the property
division of the Lamsam family (which started Kasikornbank) and Sansiri’s stock list-
ing in 1996, followed by the devastating Asian inancial crisis of 1997. Even ater a
painful reorganization, Sansiri never wavered from its devotion to residential property
development.
hat commitment has kept Sansiri in the top tier of hailand’s big residential develop-
ers. Last year it launched 14 projects, valued at $1.1 billion, a 24% increase over 2016. It
looks to be even busier this year, with 31 projects in the pipeline, worth $2 billion. Accord-
ing to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, net proit is expected to top $102 million
this year, a 22.8% jump over 2017, on expected revenue of $979 million that would be 7.4%
higher than last year. Chutrakul owns at least a $13 million stake.
Sansiri’s success comes at a time when the industry is surging ahead despite ample
red lags. hailand’s economy has been battered in recent years by natural disasters
and political instability. A military government has ruled since a May 2014 coup, and
uncertainty intensiied ater the death of long-reigning King Bhumibol Adulyadej in
December 2016. Yet, as other sectors contracted, real estate has deied warnings from
analysts and continued to expand. Bangkok is awash in construction, with condomin-
iums, luxury malls and office towers rising everywhere. Many projects boast not only
record-breaking price tags, but sizeable foreign investment.
One of the biggest Bangkok projects nearing completion is Icon Siam, a $1.7 bil-
lion riverside development that ranks among the biggest in hai history. It’s spear-
headed by another CEO named Chutrakul—his wife, Chadatip Chutrakul, head of
LUKE DUGGLEBY FOR FORBES
shopping-mall giant Siam Piwat. hey met three decades ago, ater he returned from
studying in the U.S., and have one daughter. “We don’t really talk about our work,” he
insists. He prefers leaving business at the office, relaxing by watching a game of soccer;
he’s a longtime fan and player.
hey also don’t collaborate on projects. “Our businesses are diferent. Her busi-
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 19
FORBES ASIA
SANSIRI
ness is really shopping,” he says. Siam’s Chadatip is indeed best
known for her company’s high-end malls in the Siam district.
But her Icon project will ofer apartments at he Residences at
Mandarin Oriental’s 52-story tower and the 70-loor Magnolia
Waterfront Residences, and boasts big-name partners. Magnolia
Quality Development is chaired by hippaporn Ahriyavraromp,
daughter of Charoen Pokphand Group Senior Chairman
Dhanin Chearavanont. Magnolia and CP each have a 25% stake
in the project, while Siam Piwat has 50%.
Sansiri’s developments are not as grandiose, although its 98
Wireless is the most luxurious condominium project mounted
by the company. Located near Lumpini Park and some of the
major embassies, the 25-story building with only 77 spacious
units has commanded some of the highest prices paid for
residential property in Bangkok. In general, its projects appear
to be less risky than the megaprojects, involving only a fraction
of the capital, so it’s on the hook for less if conditions change.
he company also has a mix of diferent types of projects, so its
“WE INVESTED A SMALL AMOUNT TO
GET A WINDOW TO THE WORLD.”
EXPANSION AND ADDING NEW
TECHNOLOGY ARE CRITICAL. “TODAY
IT’S ABOUT SURVIVAL. IT’S NOT JUST
PROFITS, IT’S SURVIVAL.”
portfolio isn’t dominated by a single, giant project aiming to sell
units at sky-high prices.
Much of the growth for midrange property in Bangkok has
migrated along the expanding mass-transit lines and away from
the soaring land prices of the central districts. Sansiri part-
ners with BTS Group—which built and operates the overhead
Skytrain—to erect condominiums along the new lines. A ive-
year plan budgeted $32 billion for 25 projects. So far, a dozen
projects have been launched and have sold briskly. “It’s really
a no-brainer,” says Chutrakul. “We capture the middle market,
using BTS as an anchor. he results have been phenomenal.
Partnerships these days are important.” He adds that increasing
challenges demand lexibility and new strategies.
his was the catalyst for the decision to invest in six com-
panies in November. he lion’s share was $56 million paid for a
35% stake in Standard International, a small hotel group with
famed properties in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. he
other investments: $12 million in JustCo, a Singapore-based
co-working group; $6.6 million in Hostmaker, a London-based
management company for Airbnb hosts; $6 million in Monocle;
and $300,000 in Farmshelf, which makes indoor-farming shelf
systems for urban dwellers who want a bit of greenery and to
grow their own vegetables for salads. JustCo will launch its irst
20 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
co-working space in hailand in May, while Farmshelf will be
tapped for Sansiri’s high-end projects later this year. Sansiri
President Srettha havisin says the investments weren’t as sud-
den as they seemed but followed about a year of planning and
review: “he it had to be right.”
Chutrakul is looking beyond hailand for customers, and
for good reason. Although political and economic worries have
scared away some foreign buyers, investment continues to low
from Asia and the Gulf. Sansiri estimates that 25% of its sales
go to foreign buyers, and 70% of those are from China. hat’s
partly because Sansiri has followed the money, opening offices
in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Hong Kong
accounts for about half its China sales; Sansiri opened an office
there in January. Another is planned for Dubai to serve the
growing Gulf market.
Part of it is simple logic. “Real estate tends to follow GDP,”
notes Chutrakul. “If the GDP grows, then business is good.”
Lately, hailand’s economy has rebounded, growing by around
3% a year, so Sansiri has been growing
by around 5%, “maybe a little more,” he
says. But in uncertain times, it doesn’t
make sense to be dependent on the same
buyers, he says.
Chutrakul learned some of the hard-
est lessons two decades ago, when the
inancial crisis swept the region, wiping
out vast tracts of wealth. Many compa-
nies went under, especially the ones that
had extended too much credit, such as in
banking and real estate. Sansiri sold of
its inventory, survived and was among
the irst hai companies to successfully
clear their debt and restart.
Foreign investors looded the region, buying up distressed
assets. By a fortuitous turn of events, Sansiri received an invest-
ment from Starwood Capital Group, which later assembled
one of the world’s biggest hotel portfolios. hey sent a young
employee to work with Sansiri: Amar Lalvani. Fast-forward
two decades, and he’s among the executives onstage at the gala
announcing the Sansiri investments. He’s now CEO of Standard
International. “I lived in hailand nearly two years, so really got
to know Sansiri,” he says, enthusiastic about collaborating again.
Chutrakul believes that the Standard brand could be ex-
ported to premier cities in Asia, perhaps with residential units
alongside. “here are lots of possibilities,” he notes. He also
wants to leverage the Monocle brand. Sansiri is far along with
planning for the irst Monocle residential building in hailand,
complete with a Monocle cofee shop and trendy Monocle
ittings. hat should open within a year, and Chutrakul says it
could work in other cities in Asia and beyond. “hese invest-
ments are just the start,” he says. “We invested a small amount
to get a window to the world.” Expansion and adding new tech-
nology are critical, even to established industries such as real
estate, he says. “Today it’s about survival. It’s not just proits, it’s
survival.” F
FORBES ASIA
PAYTM
India’s Virtual
Mall-Cum-Bank
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm uniies small
shops and runs circles around stodgy lenders.
BY HARICHANDAN ARAKALI
S
amsung Electronics sells its phones through about
150,000 authorized shops in India. And Paytm Mall,
through a collaboration with Samsung that started
in November 2017, is bringing all of them onto its
online marketplace, giving each one a QR code (ma-
trix bar code), and the requisite training and support.
Paytm Mall is the recently formed e-commerce business
of One97 Communications, which was separated from its
parent to function independently a year ago. One97 Commu-
nications, based in Noida, operates the Paytm mobile wallet.
And with backing from China’s Alibaba Group and Japan’s
SotBank, billionaire founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, 39, has
been expanding into online commerce, inancial services (in-
cluding wealth management and insurance), as well as travel
and entertainment.
While Samsung is also popular on websites such as
Amazon and Flipkart, its massive oline distribution is its
strength. However, as online smartphone sales rose in India,
it was a challenge for the brick-and-mortar stores to match
e-commerce ofers. Getting onto Paytm Mall’s platform—
whether at an actual retail store or on the online app or
website, or even on Samsung’s own online storefront—means
that “the ofer is the same,” says Amit Sinha, a vice president
at Paytm and COO of its e-commerce business.
“he O2O strategy has been working wonders for us,” says
Sinha. O2O refers to “oline-to-online” because Paytm is
attempting to connect to the internet via its QR codes every
oline store it can reach. And not just with Samsung. Red
Tape, Khadim’s shoes—the latter particularly famous in Kol-
kata—and Lenovo laptops are among the many brands that
are beginning to tap Paytm Mall to boost their sales.
Sinha says the e-commerce business, which saw the formal
launch of the marketplace in April 2017, doubled its market
share to about 14% by November, helped in part by the $350
million-plus in sales in the 30 to 40 days through Diwali the
month before.
In 2017, One97 Communications restructured itself.
he mobile wallet service became part of the newly formed
Paytm Payments Bank, which in turn will lead the company’s
inancial services foray for consumers. And the e-commerce
part of selling various products and services—from train
and movie tickets to smartphones, air puriiers and washing
machines—became part of Paytm E-commerce, a separate
company that runs the Paytm Mall online marketplace and
mobile app.
“We are raising a large amount of money on the e-com-
merce side as we speak,” says Sharma. hat will make the
e-commerce business alone “doubly unicorn,” he adds, and
the entire company could be valued as high as $12 billion.
hat would top Flipkart’s value of $11.6 billion at the time of
the Bengaluru rival’s $1.4 billion fundraising in April 2017,
possibly making Paytm India’s most-valued startup. Paytm
Mall’s funding deal is expected to conclude soon, he says, but
doesn’t add details.
he funding, led by SotBank, is to the tune of $460 mil-
lion, a person with knowledge of the transaction tells Forbes
India, and Paytm Mall will likely raise more money as well.
India’s retail scene comprises some 15 million shops, with an
overwhelming majority of those being run by individual owners.
hey lack scale and have limited inventories, Sinha points out.
Paytm plans to ofer them a way of eliminating these two ob-
stacles, so that those mom-and-pop stores could do a lot more.
Paytm is digitizing them and training them to take orders
from consumers online and at the store. his means the
consumer gets “the same level of service,” Sinha says, that one
is used to at large retailers or on e-commerce sites. It includes
matching the discounts and ofers.
herefore, there will be millions of points of sale and ful-
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 21
FORBES ASIA
PAYTM
illment versus a few large warehouses that the big e-com-
merce sites have. “hat is the core belief that we are building
on, and early results have been really good,” Sinha says.
Paytm has over 300 million users, and the company
processes over 10 million transactions a day, says COO Kiran
Vasireddy. It has 6 million merchants on its network. “he
key is to reach out to every kind of small and large store to hit
10 million stores by the end of March 2019,” he says.
Loans, not just to consumers but also to sellers, form an
intrinsic part of the O2O business as well. Take the case of
Samsung phones, for instance. When each of the 150,000 stores
becomes an “endless aisle” for the consumer and the seller,
Samsung gets to know what is selling where, and deeper ana-
22 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
lytics facilitate what comes next—quick on-the-spot loans.
Of the 150,000 stores, only a few thousand have ever been
able to ofer a loan to a consumer to purchase a fancy smart-
phone. his was because the traditional approach of banks
required a stafer to be physically present at the store and
ofer loans to the buyer, Sinha says.
With Paytm Mall’s network, each store can ofer the same
plan from the same seller “and the campaign goes live at the
click of a button,” he says. “It’s a deep and symbiotic relation-
ship that we’re getting into with Samsung.”
he importance of the lending efort is underscored by the
SUMIT DAYAL
fact that One97’s CFO himself is charged with running the
lending business as well.

The Paytm crew: “We are raising a lot of money on the
e-commerce side,” says founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma
(left); VP Amit Sinha (top) and CFO Madhur Deora.
Madhur Deora joined One97 and stepped into that posi-
tion in 2016. As an investment-banking veteran, previously
at Citigroup, he already knew Sharma and had worked on the
company’s deals, including its important fundraising eforts.
“Oline merchant payments is one of the fastest-growing busi-
nesses at Paytm,” says Deora. herefore, the logic is: Whether
it’s a consumer who has a track record of honest purchases and
minimal returns, or a seller who has been doing “stable” busi-
AMIT VERMA/FORBES INDIA (2)
ness using Paytm, why should they not get attractive loans?
A 10,000-rupee loan (about $150) for a consumer or a
200,000-rupee loan (about $3,075) to a seller would not run
smoothly if done in the traditional way. A Paytm user, however,
already has a history of transactions on the platform, and the
digital platform is far more amenable to that quick loan, point
out Paytm officials. he story is the same when it comes to
the merchant. Paytm’s answer for now is to partner with large
NBFCs (non-banking inancial companies), which provide the
loans, and see their portfolio expand, while Paytm brings in the
tech platform. Paytm has also, in parallel, built the processes
to credit-score its customers and use other analytics for rapid
processing.
Much of 2017 was spent in building one other important
way in which to engage consumers right from when they
receive money from any source—be it their salary or that
quick bit of beer money borrowed from a friend. his was the
Paytm Payments Bank, which within ten months of going op-
erational has already moved to ofer digital and tangible debit
cards to its customers. When its debit card was launched, “we
got orders from 800-plus cities,” says Renu Satti, the bank’s
CEO, who has worked with Sharma for over a decade, includ-
ing the job of running HR operations.
hough currently most of the bank’s 180 million custom-
ers are those who were already mobile-wallet customers, the
bank’s convenience is pulling in new ones too. Unlike tradi-
tional banks, Paytm does not require its savings bank account
holders to maintain a minimum balance.
Besides, India’s payments bank rules place a 100,000-rupee
(just over $1,500) cap on the balance held in an account at a
payments bank at the end of a business day. Paytm is seeking
to turn that into an opportunity to ofer a simple wealth-
management product by partnering with banks to which
excess cash could be moved for more attractive returns. For
now, one gets ixed deposits with IndusInd bank. On-demand
deposits will soon be started, Satti says.
Paytm Payments Bank is also competing with businesses like
Sodexo with corporate ofers. It has added more than 500 busi-
nesses that are giving Paytm’s digital-food wallets to employees,
she says. New packages on reimbursements are in the offing.
he bank will open 100,000 banking outlets along the
same lines it is building its O2O network. So nearby pharma-
cies and groceries will also become banking correspondents.
Salary accounts are expected to be ofered soon, as well. All
this doesn’t mean Paytm will rake in the money anytime
soon. “For players such as Paytm, it will take continuous in-
vestment to make the payments bank sustainable, because the
margins are thin in payments,” says Saurabh Tripathi, a senior
partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group.
In addition, India as a market ofers its own challenges and
is no comparison to China, points out Tripathi, an expert in
banking and inancial services, who has advised clients on
large-scale change and digital innovation. It is still quite some
way away from being fully or even heavily digitized despite
the big changes over the last two years. Large parts of the
population are poor and digitally illiterate. “here is a huge
diference between India and China. China is so far ahead in
terms of digitization and prosperity,” he says. F
With Sayan Chakraborty. Adapted from Forbes India, a
licensee of Forbes Media.
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 23
 PROMOTION

HANDA WATCH WORLD:

TIME FOR THE FUTURE
Last December international film star and HANDA Watch World ambassador Jackie Chan traveled
to Tokyo where he discussed his dreams to make the world a better place—and the journey to turn
them into reality—with fellow benefactor Harushisa Handa.

Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954. At age seven he entered the China Drama Academy, a Peking opera school run by Master Yu Jim-Yuen.
For the next 10 years he studied classical opera, acrobatics, martial arts, acting and singing, cultivating the necessary talents to be the superstar
he would one day become. After graduation he distinguished himself as a skilled stuntman. By the time he reached his 20s he was a well-known
action star with a broad cinematic range that included directing, lighting and props.

Haruhisa Handa wears many hats. Not only
is he president of HANDA Watch World, a
chain of boutiques that specialize in luxury
watches, he is also a philanthropist and edu-
cator. When Jackie Chan first heard from a
friend that Handa is “fluent in eight languages
and well versed in Chinese opera and a dedi-
cated philanthropist,” it piqued his interest.
One thing led to another and before he
knew it, the Hong Kong actor had agreed to
become the company’s ambassador. He then
flew to Tokyo for the sole reason of meeting
face-to-face with Handa at a HANDA Watch
World event where the two quickly realized
their common interests.
“Over several decades I’ve built about
30 schools for underprivileged children in
China,” says Chan. “In comparison, Mr. Handa
has built over 130 schools. It made me won-
der what kind of person he was. Somehow
it doesn’t feel like we just met. It helps that
Mr. Handa is so personable. I’m excited about
working together on future projects.”
Worldwide Success
In the early 1980s Chan’s popularity soared
in Japan and throughout Asia, and by the

end of the 1990s he was enjoying great
success with American and European audi-
ences. Since 2010, Chan has been inundated
with requests to perform in China, but the
demanding schedule hasn't worn him down.
“I’m often asked if I’ll keep performing after
60. If I’m fortunate enough to be offered
more opportunities, then I just have to do it,”
he says, adding with a laugh that although his
enthusiasm should be waning, he’s actually
becoming more energized.
Celebrating Memories
In Chan’s busy life, how important is a watch?
“For me a watch is not just for telling time. It’s
for fashion and also for capturing memories,”
Chan says. “One of my dreams as a child was
to own a nice watch. My father, my godpar-
ents and others gave me watches as presents,
and I’ve bought watches to reward myself for
achievements. So each watch has its own
story. And since watches are small they don’t
take up much space, I can line them up and
reminisce about each story.”
Three Dreams
Chan says he has had three dreams. The first
one was realized in 2002 when he was given
his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The second is ensuring children around the
world get an education and third is making
world peace a reality.
His first dream began when he launched
his acting career at age seven. His formal train-
ing in Peking Opera and martial arts paved the
way for success as an action star in his 20s. He
later found fame in Hollywood with hit movies
such as “Project A” (1983), “Police Story” (1985),
“Rumble in the Bronx” (1995) and “Rush Hour”
(1998), receiving numerous awards for his act-
ing, directing and stunt work. His accomplish-
ments were further recognized when he was
awarded an honorary Oscar in 2016.
Lifetime of Giving
To realize his second and third dreams, Chan
has been practicing philanthropy for more
than 30 years. In a 2007 interview with the
National Association of Professional Martial
Artists magazine, he told a story that speaks
volumes about his character:
“I once visited a children’s hospital bear-
ing gifts. When a patient asked me what
was inside the wrapped present, I couldn’t
answer, as I had delegated all the shopping
to my staff. It was embarrassing that I didn’t
know. Overcome with guilt, I made sure to
personally shop for the children’s gifts before
I visited again the following Christmas.”
PROMOTION
Chan and Handa speaking on stage at a HANDA Watch World event last December. HANDA Watch World
opened a new shop in February, its first store in Nagoya, The Banana Watch Shop. (Nishiki 3-5-14, Naka Ward,
Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture TEL: 81-52-961-8163). In the Tokyo area, HANDA Watch World’s headquarters in
Nishi Ogikubo is called Tokei no Koibito Kissu wa Te ni Shite (“Wristwatch Lovers Kiss on the Hand”) and its
store in Kichijoji is named The Uchu (“Space”) Watch Store.
A powerhouse in the film industry, Chan most successful film stars, he shared his
has created numerous monumental works, secret to success:
by-products of his relentless determination “Whatever you do, let your conscience
and knack for getting things done. He dem- guide you in following your convictions,” he
onstrates the same determination in pursu- says. “Help as many people as you can. To me,
ing his two other dreams. making a good movie is most important. If I
In 1988, Chan established the Jackie Chan were preoccupied with making money, being
Charitable Foundation, donating mats and famous or winning awards, then awards and
other supplies to a martial arts school in money would never come. I think business is
Moscow and another school in South Africa. the same. Focus on one thing and do it for
The foundation also holds lectures at U.S. and the people. If you try to cheat others just so
Cambodian universities. More recently Chan you can make quick money, you’ll end up
has been building schools in remote areas of with nothing.”
China through his Dragon’s Heart Founda- Chan says his meeting with Handa was
tion. He is a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF meant to be.
and UNAIDS, and is a member of the Ameri- “Mr. Handa has been successful in many
can Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet. He industries and has helped many people
also established the Jackie Chan Civil Aviation through his philanthropy,” Chan says. “It is
Foundation in China, performs at charity con- because of this that we met. I feel like I’ve
certs and speaks at events. In 2011, he orga- made a new friend, which means I’m con-
nized a fundraiser to help victims of Japan’s tinuing to expand my circle of contacts, and I
earthquake and tsunami victims. think that’s wonderful.”
Chan’s business interests are diverse as In hindsight it seems like this friendship
well. In addition to owning a stuntman train- was inevitable. Together these kindred spir-
ing school, he is co-owner of Nobu restaurant its will surely be a powerful force in helping
in Beijing, and even has a chain of movie the- Chan’s dreams come true.
aters named after him.
Contact information:
Follow Your Convictions Misuzu Corporation
Chan routinely makes Forbes’ list of the 81-3-3247-5585
world’s highest paid actors. As one of Asia’s www.misuzu.com
 FORBES ASIA

30 UNDER 30
ASIA’S CLASS OF 2018
In its third year, our annual 30 Under 30 Asia list
features young innovators in ten categories who
are reinventing their industries. Representing
24 countries across Asia-Paciic—including
Azerbaijan and North Korea for the irst time—these
inalists were selected from thousands of online
nominations, researched by our team of reporters
and vetted by a panel of A-list judges.

EDITED BY Rana Wehbe

REPORTING BY Ambika Behal, Kate Davies, Ying-Ying Lu, Elaine Ramirez, James C. Simms II, Carla Thomas, Glenda Toma, Yue Wang and Tania Willis.

THE BIRTHDAY CUTOFF TO MAKE THE LIST WAS DECEMBER 31, 1987.

26 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 Entertainment & Sports
Seo-hyun Ahn, 14 Sung Hyun Park, 24
South Korea South Korea
Actress Golfer
Shila Amzah, 27 Malaysia Anushka Sharma, 29
Singer India
Actress
Emily Browning, 29
Australia P.V. Sindhu, 22 India
Actress Badminton player
Seong-Jin Cho, 23 Padmanabh Singh, 20
South Korea India
Pianist Polo captain, Indian
Brandon Ellis, 24 National Polo Team
Australia Emily Song, 27 China
Football player Business development
Kwang-Song Han, 19 executive,
North Korea Creative Artists Agency
Football player Bangtan Sonyeondan
Yuzuru Hanyu, 23 Japan (BTS), age 20–25
Figure skater South Korea
K-pop band
Hu Ranran, 18 China
Filmmaker Harley Streten (DJ
Flume), 26 Australia
Brian Imanuel Record producer
(Rich Brian), 18
Indonesia Sara Takanashi, 21 Japan
Musician Ski jumper
Jain Kim, 29 Nathan Walker, 24
South Korea Australia
Rock climber Hockey player,
Washington Capitals
Katherine Langford, 21
Australia Yip Pin Xiu, 26
Actress Singapore
Paralympic swimmer
Smriti Mandhana, 21
India Young You, 13
Cricket player South Korea
Figure skater
Ah Moon Marip, 27
Myanmar Sung-bin Yun, 23
Singer South Korea
Skeleton racer
Hideki Matsuyama, 26
Japan Zhou Qi, 22 China
Golfer Basketball player
Momina Mustehsan, 26
Pakistan JUDGES
Singer Chatri Sityodtong
Ng On Yee, 27 Singapore/Thailand
Hong Kong Founder and Chairman,
ONE Championship
Snooker player
Brian Imanuel Shohei Ohtani, 23 Japan Kris Wu
China
Baseball player
(Rich Brian), 18 Music producer and actor

M U SICI A N I NDO NE S I A

Making the leap from his parents’ living room

to the cover of the Los Angeles Times, 18-year-
old Brian Imanuel is arguably Indonesia’s best-
known export right now. Jakarta-born Imanuel,
who went by Rich Chigga before switching
to the more palatable Rich Brian, shattered
expectations when his satirical music video
“Dat $tick” went viral in 2016. “The first couple
of months were definitely overwhelming,” he
admits. With a bottomless bass voice coming
from a small frame, Imanuel surprised even hip-
hop heavyweights like Ghostface Killah with his
fluency and mature sound.
His first studio session was with Pharrell,
and the rap prodigy made the transition from
internet fame to legitimate recording artist in
only two years. His debut album, Amen, was
released in February and made him the first
ROBERT GALLAGHER FOR FORBES

Asian artist to reach No. 1 on iTunes’ Hip-Hop

Charts. Imanuel isn’t picking sides, though, when
it comes to American or Indonesian influences
on his art; he’d rather give credit to what really
built him: “It’s just mostly how I see hip-hop, and
how I see everything: through the lens of the
internet.” —Carla Thomas

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 27

 Art & Style, Food & Drink
Adrian Agus, Eugenie Agus, 26, 24 Stanislava Pinchuk, 29 Australia
Indonesia Artist
Cofounders, Puyo Talita Setyadi, 29 Indonesia
Edda Arnadottir Hamar, 28 Founder, Beau
Australia
Kouji Tajima, 27 Japan
Founder, Undress Runaways
Artist, Double Negative
Bhumika Arora, 30 India
Ricky Thien, 29 Australia
Model
Cofounder, Calia
Miko Aspiras, 29 Philippines
Wataru Tominaga, 30 Japan
Chef, Tasteless Food
Fashion designer
Jackson Aw, 28 Singapore
Dian Pelangi, 27 Indonesia
Founder, Mighty Jaxx
Creative director, Dian Pelangi
Anjali Batra, 28 India
Pichaya (Pam) Utharntharm, 28
Cofounder, Food Talk India
Thailand
Chen Peng, 26 China Chef, The Table
Founder, Chen Peng
Snow Xue Gao, 26 China
Nishanth Chopra, 24 India Founder, Snow Xue Gao
Founder, Oshadi
Shishi Yamazaki, 28 Japan
Alissa Dinallo, 29 Australia Artist
Founder, Alissa Dinallo
Heezy Yang, 27 South Korea
Kensuke Fujishiro, 30 Japan Artist
Founder, Cift
John Yuyi, 27 Taiwan
Amira Geneid, 25 Malaysia Artist
Founder & CEO, Zahara
Zhang Jingna, 29 Singapore
Amrita Hepi, 28 Australia Photographer
Dancer, Amrita Hepi
Kimin (Gimin) Kim, 25 South Korea JUDGES
Dancer, Mariinsky Ballet Ronald Akili,
Tao Liang (Mr. Bags), 25 China Founder, PTT Family
Blogger Vivienne Tam,
Vincent Lim, 29 Hong Kong Fashion designer
Cofounder, Lim + Lu May Chow,
Honey Long, Prue Stent, 24, 24 Founder and chef, Little Bao;
Australia Happy Paradise
Multidisciplinary artists
Cecilia Ho,
Greg McNamara, 28 Hong Kong Founder and Executive Director,
Founder, McNamara Art Projects Photo Macau
Archie Oclos, 28 Philippines
Artist

30 UNDER 30

Amira Geneid, 25
FOUNDER & CEO, ZAHARA MALAYSIA

For a long time, Amira Geneid had been looking for a high-quality cosmetics brand that was also halal-compliant. She found
none and so three years ago decided to start one herself. After 18 months of research and development, Zahara was born.
Self-funded and with its products manufactured in Europe, Zahara boasts a line of cosmetics that is not just free of alcohol
and animal products, but also certified halal, meaning its production process and suppliers have been approved under Islamic
law. Some of its products, like the signature water-permeable oxygen nail polish, also aim for convenience, allowing Muslim
MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES

women to perform wudhu (the water cleansing act before prayer) properly without having to remove it.
With Muslims making up a quarter of the world’s population, products targeted for them “shouldn’t be a niche anymore,”
says Geneid. Zahara’s products are sold online in Singapore and Malaysia; its next step is to ofer worldwide shipping by the
end of the year—starting with Indonesia and Dubai, where it is partnering with local courier services. Geneid’s aim is for Zahara
to become an aspirational halal brand that can be used by Muslim women around the globe: “I want to show how beautiful
Muslim women can be—how beauty can be modest and be centered around faith, but it still can be inspiring.” —Rana Wehbe

28 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 Finance & VC
Akim Arhipov, 23 Singapore
CEO, Baasis ID
Bobby Bao, 29 China
Cofounder, Monaco
Wilson Beh, Winnie Chua, 27, 29
Malaysia
Cofounders, PolicyStreet
Saketh BSV, Yogesh Ghaturle, Sathya
Narayanan, Abhinav Pathak, 26, 23,
26, 24 India
Cofounders, Perpule
Myunghun Cha, 28 South Korea
Founder, Coinone
Hugo Chan, Huang Wei Ting, 29, 29
Hong Kong
Cofounders, Kingsferry Capital
Wendy Chan, 25 Hong Kong
COO, PassKit
Kate Crowhurst, 29 Australia
Financial capability oicer, ASIC
Nikhunj Jain, Ayush Varshney, 29,
25 India
Cofounders, NashVentures
Nikhil Kapur, 29 India
Principal, GREE Ventures
Iwan Kurniawan, Reynold Wijaya, 28,
29 Indonesia
Cofounders, Modalku
Louis Liu, Zack Yang, 24, 24
Singapore
Cofounders, FOMO Pay
Li Yao, 29 China
Executive director, Tsing Ventures
Liu Tao, Tu Jianyu, 28, 28 Hong Kong
Cofounders, MioTech
Loi Luu, Victor Tran, 26, 26 Vietnam
Cofounders, KyberNetwork
Patrick Lynch, 28 Philippines
Cofounder, First Circle
Varun Malhotra, 29 India
Vice president, Quona Capital
Clare Murray, 29 Australia
Strategy associate director,
LeapFrog Investments
Rorian Pratyaska, 26 Indonesia
Cofounder, PayAccess
Maxine Ryan, 25 Hong Kong
Cofounder, Bitspark
Pahrada Sapprasert, 29 Thailand
Director, 500 TukTuks (500 Startups
Thailand)
Yu Song, 29 China
Founder, CEC Data & Finance
Investment Management (Hangzhou)
Jackie Tan, 28 Singapore
Cofounder, fundMyLife
Stephanie Tang, 27 Taiwan
Managing director, Rookie Fund
Arun Venkatachalam, 28 India
Analyst, Habrok Capital Management
Soto Yamauchi, 16 Japan
Founder, One Financial
Yang Fan, 30 China
Founding partner, Finup Fintech Group
Zhang Chenxu, 29 China
Senior investment manager,
Peakview Capital
William Zhao, 28 China
Investment vice president,
Bertelsmann Asia Investments
Tu Jianyu, Liu Tao, 28, 28
CO FOUNDERS, MIOTECH H ON G KON G
Ryan Zhou, 23 Australia
Cofounder, CoinJar Former banker Tu Jianyu and computer engineer Liu Tao met in Silicon Valley back in 2015. They had identified shortfalls in archaic
technology used by financial institutions and set out to make “software that can help better manage information,” says Tu.
THIERRY COULON FOR FORBES

JUDGES:
Kai-fu Lee, CEO, Sinovation Ventures
Madhur Deora, CFO and SVP, Paytm
Liu Genping, Partner, Vertex Ventures
Liu explains that he applies machine learning in their feeds: “When you have a lot of data, how you visualize it and how you
communicate this information to clients is even more important than having the information.” The challenge is too much aggregated
knowledge. “So much is left undigested,” Liu adds.
Banks have quants churning out algorithms, but Tu and Liu’s computers can do the same—faster and better. “We hate to say it,
but we’re taking away jobs from analysts.” MioTech has more than 20 clients in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. The fintech startup
has raised $8 million, led by ZhenFund and Li Ka-shing’s private investment arm Horizons Ventures. —Pamela Ambler

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 29

 Retail & E-commerce
Vidit Aatrey, Sanjeev Barnwal,
27, 28 India
Cofounders, Meesho
Ian Ang, Alaric Choo, 25, 30
Singapore
Cofounders, Secretlab
Ankiti Bose, Dhruv Kapoor, 26,
27 India
Cofounders, Zilingo
Noppon Anukunwithaya,
Amornched (Taro) Jinda-
apiraksa, 29, 29 Thailand
Cofounders, TakeMeTour
Augustin Ceyrac, Tommaso
Tamburnotti, 29, 30 Hong Kong
Cofounders, Easyship
Josephine Chow, Lai Shanru, 29,
29 Singapore
Cofounders, ShopBack
Arjit Gupta, Karan Gupta,
Himesh Joshi, Rohit
Ramasubramanian, 29, 28, 29,
27 India
Cofounders, Zefo
Fransiska Hadiwidjana, 28
Indonesia
Founder, Prelo
Tushar Khandelwal, 29
Singapore
Cofounder, Voyagin
Li Xiaoya, 30 China
Cofounder, Huishoubao
Lin Hai, Liu Jieyi, 29, 28 China
Cofounders, Particle Fever
Stanislaus Mahesworo
Christandito Tandelilin, 27
Indonesia
Cofounder, Sale Stock
Kyrylo Medvediev, Olga
Oleinikova, 28, 29 Australia
Cofounders, Persollo
Krishnan Menon, Marshall
Utoyo, 28, 28 Indonesia
Cofounders, Fabelio
Nik Mirkovic, Alex Tomic, 22, 24
Australia
Cofounders, HiSmile
Keyis Ng, 30 Singapore
Cofounder, Cafebond.com
Ammar Roslizar, Ammar
Shahrin, 28, 29 Malaysia
Cofounders, ARBA Travel &
Tours
Bala Sarda, 26 India
Founder, Vahdam Teas
Adeel Shai, Adnan Shai, 30,
28 Pakistan
Cofounders, PriceOye
Dhruv Sharma, 26 India
Founder, GuestHouser
Nyha Shree, 28 Singapore
Cofounder, jumper.ai
Alexandra Spencer, 28 Australia
Realisation Par
Su Chunzi, 28 China
Partner, Flowerplus
Raeesa Sya, 28 Malaysia
CEO, Orkid Cosmetics
Gretta van Riel, 28 Australia
Founder, SkinnyMe;
Hey Influencers
Sanna Vohra, 27 India
Founder, The Wedding Brigade
Michael Wang, 28 China
Cofounder, YCloset
Jonathan Weins, 28 Malaysia
Founder, Dahmakan
Cordelia Xiao, 29 China
Founder, Xiaolusenlin, Abox
Xu XinMing, 28 China
CEO, Shi Lili
JUDGES
Allan Zeman, Founder and
chairman, Lan Kwai Fong
Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO, Rakuten

30 UNDER 30

Su Chunzi, 28
EXECUT I VE VI CE PR ESI DEN T & PA R T N ER ,
F LOW ER PLUS CHI N A
In 2015, Su, working as a Shanghai-based venture capitalist, met
executives from Flowerplus to discuss a potential investment in
the subscription-bouquet startup. Su liked the business model:
Customers pick from four plans (1, 3, 6 or 12 months; prices
range from roughly $20 to $700) and receive arrangements
weekly. Su was won over, so much so that she quit her VC job
and became a partner at the startup, which has since expanded
to 5 million users and over $100 million in sales.
The success of this subscription-based model has given Su
the idea for her next venture, Rouralism. The service, soon to
be launched, will deliver daily-use products such as underwear
and toilet paper. Su expects Rouralism to find a market among
STEFAN CHOW FOR FORBES

China’s white-collar women, who are often too busy to do

household shopping. “As people’s disposable income grows in
China, they are spending more on things that will improve life
quality,” says Su. “This is driving spending on nonessentials such
as flowers and travels—and this is what we call a consumption
upgrade.” —Yue Wang

30 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 Enterprise Technology
Apurv Agrawal, Vikas Gulati, Huy Nguyen, 28 Vietnam
Kanika Jain, Rishabh Ladha, 27, 28, Cofounder, Holistics Software
28, 27 India
Chanam Park, 28 South Korea
Cofounders, SquadRun Solutions
Founder, STEALIEN
Trishneet Arora, 25 India
Ashwin Ramesh, 27 India
Founder, TAC Security
Founder, Synup
Sadia Bashir, 29 Pakistan
Ren Shaoqing, 30 China
Founder, PixelArt Games Academy
Cofounder, Momenta
Chang Le, 29 China
Rory San Miguel, 26 Australia
Cofounder, SoundAI Technology
Cofounder, Propeller Aero
Chen Haoliang, 28 China
Raghav Sarin, 20 India
Cofounder, SpeakIn Technologies
Head, Sapiens X
Chen Zhen, 24 China
Masahiro Shimizu, 26 Japan
Founder, Qfeeltech
Founder, ZEALS
Deng Yaohuan, 29 China
Takumi Shimizu, 27 Japan
CEO, Dorabot
CEO, Refcome
Djoann Fal, Polpat Songthamjitti,
26, 27 Thailand Stephanie Sy, 29 Philippines
Cofounders, GetLinks Founder, Thinking Machines

Feng Zongliang, 29 China Wang Dong, Huan Xu, 27, 28 China

Partner, MetroDataTech Cofounders, Qimai Tech

Kazuo Ishigame, 25 Jing Tianwei, 28 China

Cofounder, Ruff Internet of Things
Yang Fan, 28 China
Founder, MiniVision
CO FOUNDER AND CO O, INFOSTELLAR Operating System Zeng Yuan, 26 China
JAPAN Kazuo Ishigame, 25 Japan Cofounder, vzoom credit
Cofounder, Infostellar Orion Zhao, 26 China
After seeing the success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX,
Jason Lee, 30 Malaysia Cofounder, MokaHR
Ishigame was inspired to launch his own outer
Expansion director for Australia and Zhao Yiyang, 30 China
space startup. During his mechanical engineering New Zealand, NEM.io Foundation Cofounder, Unisound
program in college, however, he realized that Kong Miao, 27 China
science and technology weren’t his strengths. Founder, ZHUGEIO JUDGES
He dropped out in 2014 and helped expand a Toshendra Kumar Sharma, 28 India Yat Siu, CEO, Outblaze
consumer-to-consumer online sales platform, Founder, Tosh Innovations Private Michael Du, Managing Director,
which was sold in 2015. Despite his taste for Li Ping, 28 China China Renaissance; Managing
Cofounder, NewBornTown Partner, Huaxing Growth Capital
entrepreneurship, he dreamed of space: “My
question was, Why isn’t the space industry Jaehyun Nam, 29 South Korea S.D. Shibulal, Cofounder, Infosys
Cofounder, Looxid Labs and Axilor Ventures
considered cool in Japan? Why—with so many
people with the right skill sets—hasn’t Japan
developed space-related products and services
and sold them? Japan’s presence in the global
space sector is zero.”
Aiming to change this, Ishigame cofounded
Infostellar, a sharing service he calls “an Airbnb
for satellite antennas.” In September, investors
led by Airbus Ventures put $7.3 million in Series A
funding into the company, which was established
with two other cofounders, including aerospace
engineer and CEO Naomi Kurahara.
Infostellars’ cloud-based service, StellarStation,
allows ground station operators to make money
on their antennas by renting them out during
their long downtimes. An operator with one
antenna in Japan, for example, would only be
in contact 40 minutes a day with its station.
Ishigame reckons that’s up to a half-billion-dollar
market today. —James Simms
IRWIN WONG FOR FORBES

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 31

 30 UNDER 30

Industry, Shi Xiaogang, 27

Manufacturing & Energy FOUNDER & CEO,
BEI JI N G XLOON G T ECHN OLOGIES
Andrew Almack, 28 India
CHI N A
Founder, Plastics For Change In 2015, Shi Xiaogang founded
Yashraj Bhardwaj, augmented reality (AR) startup Xloong
Yuvraj Bhardwaj, 18, 18 India in Beijing. The company uses technology
Cofounders, Zenith Vipers that superimposes virtual information on
Nikhil Bohra, 29 India real-world views to make consumer and
Founder, Krimanshi Technologies
enterprise gear for various uses.
Ian Buck, 28 Australia
Management consulting analyst,
Xloong’s sports goggles assist cyclists
Accenture with AR-based digital maps, and its
Anthony Chen, 29 Hong Kong Techlens T2 glasses enable remote
Director of strategic development equipment maintenance by scanning
in Asia, Flexport machines and sharing real-time video
Sibabrata Das, Manoj Meena, 29, feeds with engineers, who examine the
29 India
Cofounders, Atomberg Technologies feeds and input responses. “I believe
Shailendra Dhakad, Rajesh Sagitla,
AR will replace PCs and smartphones to
27, 28 India become the next computing platform,”
Cofounders, Carmel Organics says Shi.
Rahul Gayam, 29 India Aided by government grants, Xloong
CTO, Gayam Motor Works is making AR glasses for Chinese police,
Akito Gyoten, 29 Japan which are expected to ship later this
Founder, Strobo
year. The gear, which look like ordinary
Shailesh Gupta, Sumit Dinesh
Ranka, 29, 27 India spectacles, can recognize faces and
Cofounders, Innov8 cross-reference them with profiles
Masatoshi Honda, 26 Japan on China’s national ID databases
Cofounder, Gra&Green to identify potential suspects.
Dana (Xiaoxiao) Hou, 25 China If there’s a match, a red alert
Cofounder, FarmFriend is projected onto an oicer’s
Sang Hun Oh, Seung Bae Son, 26, real-world view, helping to
28 South Korea
Cofounders, Luxrobo make an arrest. “Our focus is
Reyhan Jamalova, 15 Azerbaijan
on security and surveillance,”
Founder, Rainergy says Shi. “There are millions
Yoan Casimir Joseph Kamalski, 28 of police in China, and our
Singapore product can help them track
Cofounder, Hmlet potential suspects more
Yash Kotak, Sanvar Oberoi, Jahan eiciently.” —Y.W.
Peston Jamas, 28, 27, 28 India
Cofounders, Boheco
Aakriti Kumar, 29 India
Founder, Differniture Spaces
Liu Yifeng, 24 China
Founder, Beijing Sunlectric
Pranav Manocha, Ashutosh
Srivastava, 22, 22 India
Cofounders, We-Convert
Anu Meena, 24 India
Founder, AgroWave
Anjal Niraula, 28 Nepal
Managing director, Gham Power
Qiu Chunchao, 27 China
Suteng Innovation Technology
Nishith Rastogi, 30 India
Founder, Locus.sh
Ishrat Sahgal, 28 India
Founder, Mishcat Co.
Shi Xiaogang, 27 China
Founder, Beijing Xloong Technologies
Jasveer Singh, 29 India
Founder, QiK Rooms
Vinesh Sinha, 29 Malaysia
Founder, FatHopes Energy
Julius Tan, 29 Singapore
Founder, Electrify
Tang Bowei, 28 China
Founder, Beijing Ewaybot Technology
Yan Buyi, Yao Jizhong, 29, 29 China
Cofounders, Microquanta
STEFAN CHOW FOR FORBES

JUDGES
Romi Haan, CEO and President,
Haan Corp.
Paul Fang, CTO, Midea
Angie Lau, CEO, Clover Group

32 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 Esther Wang, 30
FOUNDER, JOYTINGLE S I N G A P O R E

While volunteering at a children’s hospital, Esther Wang noticed the fear and
anxiety kids experience ahead of procedures involving needles. Using her design
background, the 29-year-old Singaporean went on to develop an educational toy
character called Rabbit Ray, whose function is to inform and reassure children
about things like injections, vaccinations and intravenous drips.
It may have taken four years in product development, but Wang’s eforts paid
of with Rabbit Ray now being used by leading hospitals in five countries and
available online for purchase by individuals. Rabbit Ray can also be utilized as a
tool to start diicult conversations about terminal illness and death. “These are
important conversations, but often we do not how to enter them,” says Wang,
who believes that by using the language of play, caretakers can create a friendly
and healthy way to talk about such topics. Wang, however, is not stopping
here. Her aim is to take part in making an impact in the health care sector. “I’m
constantly asking myself, ‘What is the next area in which you can touch a billion
lives and make health care more eicient?’” —R.W.

Health Care & Science

Abrahim Ali Shah, Asad Raza, 23,
23 Pakistan
CEO, CTO, Neurostic
Jugal Anchalia, Abhishek Kumar,
26, 25 India
Cofounders, JustDoc
Adrian Ang, 28 Singapore
Founder, AEvice Health
Gauri Angrish, 28 India
Founder, Caredose
Chen Kuan, 29 China
Cofounder, Infervision
Deepanjali Dalmia, 27 India
Founder, Heyday Care
Dong Leiting, 30 China
Professor, Assistant dean,
Beihang University
Dong Lin, 28 China
CEO, Sirui Jiankang
Harris Eyre, 29 Australia
Cofounder, CNSDose
Rohan M Ganapathy, Yashas
Karanam, 26, 23 India
Cofounders, Bellatrix Aerospace
Kshitij Garg, 29 India
Founder, Healers at Home
Samuel Glatman, 29 Myanmar
Founder, Ko Shwe
Dinesh Visva Gunasekeran, 25
Singapore
Founder, Visre
Sirawaj Itthipuripat, 25 Thailand
Neuroscientist, King Mongkut’s
University of Technology Thonburi
Hyungkook Jeon, 28 South Korea
Research professor, Pohang
University of Science & Technology
(POSTECH)
Masahiro Kasuya, Tatsuya Seki,
30, 30 Japan
Cofounders, Meltin MMI
Liu Mingzhen, 27 China
Professor, University of Electronic
Science & Technology of China
MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES
Muhammad Shaheer Niazi, 17
Pakistan
Scientist
Duc Pham, 29 Vietnam
Cofounder, ViCare
Priya Prakash, 27 India
Founder, HealthSetGo
Nicole Seebacher, 29 Australia
Researcher, University of Sydney
Diva Sharma, 29 India
Inventor
Shing Yue Sheung, 23 Australia
Cofounder,
NAVi Medical Technologies
Ryushi Shiohama, Yusuke
Sugomori, 29, 29 Japan
Cofounders, Micin
Prabhdeep Singh, 30 India
Cofounder, StanPlus Tech
Duong Tong, 26 Vietnam
Cofounder, Homage
Esther ChunShu Wang, 30
Singapore
Founder, Joytingle
Min Hao Wong, 29 Singapore
Founder, Plantea
Seonghoon Woo, 28 South Korea
Senior research scientist, Korea
Institute of Science & Technology
(KIST)
Melissa Yu, 29 Taiwan
Founder, Havital HK Holdings
JUDGES
Sonny Vu, President and CTO,
Connected Devices—Fossil Group
Steve Monaghan, Chairman and
CEO, GenLife
Michel Birnbaum, Entrepreneur in
Residence, NTUitive

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 33

Social Entrepreneurs
Kanchan Amatya, 23 Nepal
Founder, Sustainable Fish
Farming Initiative (SFFI)
Azizjon Azimi, 20 Tajikistan
Founder, TajRupt
Shriyans Bhandari, Ramesh
Dhami, 23, 22 India
Cofounders, Greensole
Viola Cheng, 29 Taiwan
Founder, Good Food Enterprise
Anand Chowdhary, Nishant
Gadihoke, 20, 17 India
Cofounders, Oswald Labs
Mathew D’Onofrio, 20 Australia
Founder, Nightlife First Aid
Carlo Delantar, 26 Philippines
Country director,
Waves for Water
Binish Desai, 24 India
Founder,
Eco-Eclectic Technologies
Hamza Farrukh, 24 Pakistan
Founder, Bondh-E-Shams
Muhamad Risyad Ganis,
Yohanes Sugihtononugroho, 25,
25 Indonesia
Cofounders, Crowde
Kento Hoshi, Mariko Hoshi, 25,
28 Japan
Cofounders, JobRainbow
Syed Faizan Hussain, 24
Pakistan
Founder, Perihelion Systems
Sajid Iqbal, 27 Bangladesh
Founder, Change
Suhani Jalota, 23 India
Founder, Myna Mahila
Foundation
Aayushi KC, 28 Nepal
Founder, Khaalisisi Management
34 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
Seokjung Kim, Gina Park,
Minhyun Seong, 26, 25, 25
South Korea
Cofounders, Instinctus
Litia Kirwin, 30 Fiji
Founder, Loving Islands
Natalie Kyriacou, 29 Australia
Founder, My Green World
Lee Lin Swee, Lim Yuet Kim,
Ling Sook Shian, 24, 27, 25
Malaysia
Cofounders, The Picha Project
Li Tianchi, Sun Yue, 27, 28 China
Cofounders, Shenzhen Dianmao
Technology (Codemao)
Elaha Mahboob, 25 Afghanistan
Cofounder, Digital Citizen Fund
Rohit Nayak, 29 India
Cofounder, EcoAd
Kevin Otsuka, 29 Japan
Founder, ABC Coffee Club
Sacheet Pandit, Nishan Chandi
Shrestha, Subash Shretha, 27,
28, 27 Nepal
Cofounders, Eco Cell Industries
Qin Yunquan, 28 Singapore
Cofounder, Kapap Academy
Ayman Sadiq, 26 Bangladesh
CEO, 10 Minute School
Ria Sharma, 25 India
Founder, Make Love Not Scars
Scott Stiles, 29 Hong Kong
Cofounder,
Fair Employment Agency
Ashleigh Streeter-Jones, Caitlin
Figueiredo, 24, 22 Australia
Cofounders,
Girls Takeover Parliament
Sam Waldo, 30 China
Cofounder, Mantra Eyewear
JUDGES
Paul Ronalds, CEO, Save the
Children Australia
Sally Begbie, Director,
Crossroads Foundation
Binod Chaudhary,
Philanthropist and Chairman,
Chaudhary Foundation
30 UNDER 30
Shriyans
Bhandari, Ramesh
Dhami, 23, 22
CO FOUNDERS, GREENSOLE IND IA
Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami
didn’t set out to be social entrepreneurs—
they did so by accident. The pair met
while training for marathons in Mumbai’s
Priyadarshini Park. While discussing their
concern about the environmental impact
of discarding a dozen pairs of running
shoes a year, they discovered that more
than a billion underprivileged people
have no access to footwear. This inspired
them to start Greensole.
Founded at the end of 2013, the
Mumbai social enterprise takes used
sneakers and converts them into sandals
that are then donated to hundreds of
thousands of beneficiaries across India—
especially schoolchildren from poor
backgrounds. “Donating shoes has
helped improve the attendance in rural
schools, indirectly impacting education
in villages,” says Bhandari.
So far, Greensole has tied up
with over 40 corporations, each
contributing $3 per donated pair,
enabling them to make 100,000
pairs a year. —R.W.
ATUL LOKE FOR FORBES

Tara Baker, 29
FOUNDER & EDITOR IN CHIEF,
DANCING W I T H H E R AU ST RA L IA
Frustrated by the lack of representation
within the “heteronormative” wedding
industry, Tara Baker and her fiancée,
Arlia Hassell, decided to create a
wedding magazine catering to the
LGBTQ+ community. Starting initially
as a 20-page digital mini-magazine,
Dancing With Her was downloaded
over 4,000 times in the two weeks
after its launch, which encouraged
the development of the blog, social
media and print orders shortly after.
“With marriage equality being new in
Australia, I am hearing from wedding
vendors daily who are asking if they are
marketing in an efective and inclusive
way for LGBTQ, from photographers
to venues and
celebrants,” says
Baker.
But it’s not all
white dresses and
wedding cakes, Baker
explains: “I get to speak with lots of
people who are planning weddings
who are facing a lot of discrimination.
Sometimes people have the right
intention but the language they use
isn’t really inclusive.”
With wedding equality recognized
now in 40 countries, Dancing With Her
GLENN HUNT FOR FORBES
has developed a global readership of
85,000 people per month. “We share
personal things with our audience; it’s
important to us for them to know we
are two women in love, just like them.”
—Tania Willis
Media, Marketing
& Advertising
Crystal Abidin, 29 Singapore
Anthropologist, Jönköping University & Curtin
University
Gautam Raj Anand, 26 India
Founder, Hubhopper
Tara Baker, 29 Australia
Founder, Dancing With Her
Shobhit Banga, Supriya Paul, 24, 24 India
Cofounders, Josh Talks
Angel Chen, Jeffrey Effendi, 26, 27 Australia
Cofounders, DrawHistory
Anni Chen, 25 China
Founder, Kuaikan Comic
Chen Cong, 28 China
Founder, Dongqiudi
Riad Chikhani, 22 Australia
Founder, Gamurs Group
In Seo Chung, Sang Min Heo, Jang Won Lee, 20,
23, 24 South Korea
Cofounders, Mapiacompany
Ash Davies, 24 Australia
CEO, Tablo
Frederick Devarampati, Sri Charan Lakkaraju, 25,
28 India
Cofounders, stuMagz
Jenny Guo, 27 China
Cofounder, LumiereVR
Jaden Harris, Alex Sumsky, 22, 22 Australia
Cofounders, Forever Network
Catherine Harry, 23 Cambodia
Founder, A Dose of Cath
Jeff Hendrata, Andrew Setiawan, 27, 23 Indonesia
Cofounders, Karta
Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Pandey, Deepit
Purkayastha, 25, 26, 26 India
Cofounders, Inshorts
Ji Fangyuan, 29 China
Founder, Ividea
Hyejin Kang, 28 South Korea
Video creator, Kids Works
Hyunsung Kim, Chanhoo Park, 21, 21 South Korea
Cofounders, Geekble
Li Hu, 28 China
Writer
Miron Mironiuk, 28 Hong Kong
Founder, Cosmose
Milan Reinartz, 29 Singapore
Founder, Postr Media
Bretman Sacayanan, 19 Philippines
Vlogger, Bretman Rock
Shwetal Shah, 25 India
Head of partnerships and outreach,
Erase All Kittens
Sam Stuchbury, 27 New Zealand
New Zealand founder, Motion Sickness
Krystal Sutherland, 27 Australia
Author, Penguin
Tang Ling, 23 China
CEO, Ink Labs Foundation
Tao Weihua, 28 China
Founder, Hangzhou Magua Network
Anshul Tewari, 27 India
Founder, Youth Ki Awaaz
Jiyoung Yang, 27 South Korea
Creator, YD TV
JUDGES
Akira Morikawa, President of NHN Corporation,
Former CEO of LINE
Caspar Schlickum, CEO-APAC, Wunderman
Armie Jarin-Bennett, President, CNN Philippines
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 35
Consumer Technology 30 UNDER 30
Farid Ahsan, Ankush Sachdeva, Honey Mya Win, Shwe Yee Mya
Bhanu Pratap Singh, 26, 24, 26
India
Win, 26, 23 Myanmar
Cofounders, Technoholic Francisco
Cofounders, ShareChat
Dinesh Balasingam, 29 Singapore
Togo Ogi, 30 Japan
Cofounder, FunLife
Serra-Martins, 28
COO, The Chope Group Shunsuke Oyu, 29 Japan CO FOUNDER & CEO, SONDER DESIGN
Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar, 26 India Founder, Connehito AUST RA LI A
Founder, Kaavadia Cheonwoo Park, 26 South Korea Want a customizable keyboard that can change
Nick Chang, 29 Australia CEO, OP.GG
Founder, Honee its display as you command? Australia’s Sonder
Ankit Prasad, 27 India
Chen Jingshu, Chen Yue
has just that. And for $110, you can get your
Founder, Bobble Keyboard
(Richard), Ye Hanzhong (Ayden), hands on one in August.
29, 29, 29 China Francisco Serra-Martins, 28
Australia Cofounded in 2015 by Francisco Serra-
Cofounders, VeeR VR
Cofounder, Sonder Design Martins and his twin brother, Filipe, the startup
Rewaj Chettri, 22 India
Sheng Jiarui, 26 China developed a self-customized keyboard.
Founder, NE Taxi
Founder, MiniUS Using E-ink display—the technology used
Derek Cheung, 27 Hong Kong
Tan Ce, 27 China by Amazon’s Kindle e-readers—it can switch
Founder, Hong Kong Esports
CEO, Apin
Ravijot Chugh, Phalgun Kompalli, displays quickly, changing, for example, from
29, 29 India Eric Tao, 27 China the Korean alphabet to English. “We have
Cofounders, UpGrad Founder, Holla
significantly reduced costs associated with
Hong Zhenye, 25 China Arshan Vakil, 27 India
Kings Learning printing keyboards for diferent countries,”
Founder, Ulandian
Zhu Xiaoxiao, 26 China
explains Serra-Martins. “This allows [companies]
Swapnil Jain, Tarun Mehta, 28, to better target new customers.”
28 India CEO, FitTime
Cofounders, Ather Energy Sonder works directly with suppliers like
Masa Kato, 24 Japan JUDGES Foxconn as well as laptop brands. It also ofers
CEO, Progate Steven Ji, Partner, Sequoia a stand-alone product directly to consumers.
Capital
Asaph Kim, 27 South Korea Serra-Martins sees a future similar to that of
Cofounder, Kamibot Anna Fang, Partner, ZhenFund smartphones, in which this type of interface
Jinu Kim, Chanmin Woo, 27, 27 “will become the new standard in keyboard and
South Korea
notebook interface design.” —Y.W.
Cofounders, Liner
Ui Young Kim, 28 South Korea
Cofounder, EastControl
Woong Hee (John) Lee, 29
South Korea
Founder, One Life One Technology
Leng Xiaokun, 25 China
Founder, Leju Robotics
Liu Wen, Zhang Yibo, 28, 29
China
Cofounders, Illume Research
Peter Marchiori, 26 Australia
Cofounder, Found Careers
Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini,
Hemesh Singh, 27, 26, 25 India
Cofounders, Unacademy

JAMES HORAN FOR FORBES

36 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018 FOR MORE: WWW.FORBES.COM/30-UNDER-30-ASIA/2018

Forbes
Under 3O
Summit
Asia July
16–18,2O18
Hong
Kong Forbes Under 30 Summit Asia will bring together
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.

Follow us    @ForbesAsia | @ForbesUnder30

#Under30Summit | forbesunder30summitasia.com

Supporting Organizations

Supporting Sponsors
 30 UNDER 30

ALUMS ON THE RISE

A look at how some of our previous list members are faring.

Siu Rui Quek

CO FOUNDER AND CEO, CAR O U S E L L

Quek, in Singapore, made our irst Asia list in 2016, thanks to Carousell, an eBay-like Eric Gnock Fah
online marketplace for buying and selling new and secondhand goods in Southeast CO FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
K LOOK T RAVEL
Asia that he cofounded with Lucas Ngoo and Marcus Tan. Speaking to Forbes re-
cently, he says that they had “laid the foundations” at Carousell and are now focusing A travel enthusiast, Gnock Fah of Hong
on innovation. Kong started Klook in 2014 as a Web
“In the startup phase of our business, we were laser-focused on growth and our and mobile platform to book attractions,
mission to inspire the world to start selling,” he says. “We’ve been fortunate to have tours, activities and other travel services
investors that see the value we’re creating and have been willing to invest in grow- in Asia at exclusive rates. Ramping up
ing this business with us.” And this backing—$40 million in a 2016 funding round quickly, Klook has expanded to include
and more than $70 million in another last year—has given them conidence to keep more than 150 global destinations. Last
pushing boundaries. Quek says Carousell may soon start ofering a greater variety of year it raised $90 million from investors
categories, including property and cars. including Sequoia Capital and Goldman
In the last quarter of 2017, Carousell reported 110 million listings—with 140 Sachs. “Our app and website now has
listings posted per minute—and 43 million items sold. It said users were spending as over 12 million visitors per month from
much as 18 minutes on its app. Quek points to Carousell’s investment in artiicial- over 50 countries and regions looking
intelligence-powered listings. “We see AI as the new frontier for the classiieds sector, for travel activities,” says Gnock Fah,
or classiieds 4.0, with its predictive and automated capabilities improving the overall who was featured on last year’s list.
buying and selling experience.” Like Carousell’s Quek, Gnock Fah
But he admits they’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to convincing says getting their backers to understand
people across Southeast Asia to buy and sell online: “We’ve built some amazing com- Klook’s vision has been pivotal to con-
munities all across the region, a validation of the problem we’ve started to solve, but tinued success. “We’re thankful that our
now is when the real work starts.” investors are giving us the freedom to

38 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

work toward what we believe is best for
modern travelers,” he says.
He points to Klook’s foray into Europe
and North America. “We have broadened
our reach . . . more users coming from dif-
ferent countries with a diferent cultural
upbringing,” he says. “Klook will continue
to optimize and localize our user experi-
ence to serve more travelers worldwide.”
With this year’s 30 Under 30 Asia
event to be held in Hong Kong, Gnock
Fah is efusive in his praise for the city’s
improving climate for startups and
innovators. “he Hong Kong startup
community has been thriving in the past
few years,” he says. “With its inherent
diversity, Hong Kong attracts worldwide
talent and has formed a community that
is vibrant, globally minded and ambi-
tious. “Hong Kong’s proximity to Shen-
zhen, China’s largest technology hub,
also provides abundant resources for
companies that are driving technological
innovation.”

Sharndre Kushor and Jamie Beaton

CO FOUNDERS, CRIMSON EDUCATION

Also 2017 honorees, New Zealand-based Beaton and Kushor
were recognized for their work with Crimson Education, an
online platform that helps students everywhere connect with
services including tuition for extracurricular tutoring and uni-
versity admissions advice.
Describing business the past year as “phenomenal,” the pair
tells Forbes: “Each year our student results raise the bar, and
this year has been no exception. he Ivy League reported that
its recent early admissions round was the most competitive
ever. Despite this, 50% of our students who applied for early
admission to Harvard gained acceptance, despite the reported
14.5% admissions rate for early applicants. Crimson also sup-
ported 11 successful applications to Oxford and Cambridge,
despite Oxford receiving nearly 6 applications for each available
place.”
Ater securing $30 million from a series B funding round in
2016, Crimson—which started life as a Facebook page—is now
valued at more than $200 million, according to media reports,
backed by investors in the U.S. and China. “Our systems enable
us to capture relevant data on the student experience as well as
their individual progress, and allows us to make data-informed
decisions over the course of their program to ensure they
achieve the best outcomes—and have a blast doing so,” says
Beaton.
Would they have done anything diferently, in hindsight?
“As we have grown, the impact that our technology has had
on the quality of our service delivery and the student journey
has skyrocketed, and I see this continuing on into the distant
future,” says Beaton. “If only we had started just a little earlier,
who knows where we’d be right now.” —Paul Armstrong

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 39

FORBES ASIA

THE 10 Q

that ushers in the fastest technical evolution

that’s ever occurred in history.
AI amazes and frightens people. Why is AI com-
ing at us so fast?
he foundations of AI have changed very
little in 30 years. he extraordinary pace of
change is that you now have data at scale
and computing at scale. he core ideas of
the AI algorithms haven’t been changed all
that much.
It’s really about hardware.
I can take those same crappy algorithms,
just run at such massive scale against such
extraordinary data sets, that I can now start
to produce interesting results. hat’s what’s
changed.
Are business leaders outside of traditional tech
thinking about this?
I hope so. It’s existential for every business.
he largest car company in the world,
Uber, owns no cars; the largest hotel com-
pany, Airbnb, owns no hotels. he ability
to harness digital assets at scale changes
everything. CEOs and boards need to ask,
“Okay, how do I use my assets, industry
position and these new superpowers?” If
they don’t, well, good luck. Someone will
knock them of.
It takes a strong CEO to tell a board, “We’re
going to transform, but you’ll hate the short-
term results.”
What you say is “We’re going through a

Digitize—or Die
The pace of technological advancement has never been faster,
three-year valley of death. If we don’t,
we’re going to get eaten alive.” If the CEO
goes to the board and it doesn’t support
him, then the CEO should think hard
says VMware chief Pat Gelsinger, and every CEO in America about resigning.
needs to seize the moment. Before VMware, you spent 30 years at Intel.
What did you learn from the Intel founders,
Is the progress of technology speeding or bucks and a credit card, and I’ll give you Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove?
slowing? the world’s largest supercomputer for the Gordon is the humblest billionaire who ever
Both. Moore’s Law hasn’t stopped, but it’s next two minutes, a larger supercomputer existed. One time my wife and I were at Ma-
bending. We were on this doubling-every- than was ever assembled before. Entrepre- cy’s, and I look up and there’s Gordon’s wife,
two-years curve. Now it’s more like dou- neurs around the world can take advantage Betty, looking through the $1 bin [laughs].
bling every three years. of that. The other two, Noyce and Grove, fought a lot.
Why? What’s the meaning of your phrase “the four How’d they put that aside?
Because going from 14-nanometer chips to superpowers of technology”? If you were to watch Andy and Bob argue,
7 nanometers is hard. You’re getting close to he four superpowers are cloud, mobile, you’d say, “They’re going to kill each
physical limits. You need tons of capital to IoT and AI. Cloud is supercomputing other. They hate each other.” But Andy
manufacture them. power at unlimited scale. Mobile is unlim- loved the debate. Andy wanted somebody
But you also said that technology progress is ited reach. IoT is unlimited access. AI is un- with a point of view—and data to defend
speeding up. rivaled intelligence. It really is the cascading it—and the willingness to defend that
Now, in the cloud era, give me a thousand efect of those four things coming together
ERIC MILLETTE FOR FORBES

point of view.

PAT GELSINGER SPOKE WITH RICH KARLGAARD, OUR EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND GLOBAL FUTURIST.
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED. FOR THE EXTENDED CONVERSATION, VISIT FORBES.COM/SITES/RICHKARLGAARD.

40 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018


JAPAN
IN AT THE GROUND LEVEL: J TRUST’S
UNIQUE STRATEGY IN THE ASEAN REGION
By focusing on retail and small business customers, J Trust has found success in a niche
market segment often overlooked by the other big foreign banks in the ASEAN region
Japan’s aging population and shrink-
ing domestic market has compelled
Japanese companies to look abroad
for new opportunities. Like many
other Japanese inancial institutions, J
Trust is focusing its overseas efforts in
the fast-growing ASEAN region.
But while other major banks in
the region focus on mega projects,
providing credit lines ranging from
$10 million to $1 billion, J Trust has
found itself a niche market in micro-
inancing and small business loans, a
strategy which, aside from generat-
ing healthy proits, is improving liveli-
hoods at ground level.
In a developing country, irst-
mover foreign banks generally come
in to provide inancial support for
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
major industrial and infrastructure
projects. J Trust’s strategy involves
coming into a developing market at
a later stage than other players, tar-
geting the retail and small business
customers that are not catered to by
the other big foreign banks.
“We target the populations and
we focus on personal consumer
credit products, which is something
that major banks don’t do. That is
why we do not look upon the major
banks moving into these locations as
competitors, but rather as potential
partners,” says Nobuyoshi Fujisawa,
President and CEO of J Trust.
“As a private consumer-focused
bank, our products will always be
about money. In places like Indonesia,
we focus on micro-inancing so that
people can buy agricultural equip-
ment or supplies. Our actions are
aimed at increasing people’s everyday
living standards.”
Through its subsidiaries in the re-
gion, J Trust provides small loans av-
eraging from just $200 to $300. For
small business customers that need
to buy expensive equipment, such
as agricultural machinery, it can offer
hire purchase and the loan amount is
up to $30,000, but that is generally
its top limit per client.
“Not having other banks address-
ing the consumer market means no
competition for us. Furthermore, J
Trust Indonesia does not only focus
on micro-inances, it also deals in cor-
JAPAN 1
Nobuyoshi Fujisawa,
President and CEO, J Trust
porate loans from roughly $1 million
to $5 million,” says Mr. Fujisawa.
“I expect to have an increase in the
number of banks and services across
South East Asia, while pursuing the
same business approach – micro-
inancing individual clients and mak-
ing people happy. Even though we
are different to the majority of other
banks, the inance industry is well
established, which makes differentia-
tion hard to come by. This means that
in two years’ time, we cannot say that
something will be signiicantly differ-
ent. We must move forward step-by-
step and not lose focus.”
2 JAPAN
JAPAN INVESTS IN HIGH-QUALITY
INFRASTRUCTURE IN ASIA
The race to build
developing Asia has
begun. As China and
Japan battle for their share
of the trillions of dollars-
worth of infrastructure and
construction contracts
over the coming years,
the latter is pledging
to build “high-quality”
infrastructure that will
stand the test of time
To maintain their growth momentum,
the developing countries in Asia need
$26 trillion between 2016 and 2030
(more than $1.8 trillion per year) to i-
nance infrastructure projects in power,
transport, telecommunications and
water, according to a report by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) re-
leased last year. Based on a study of 25
countries, the ADB estimates that total
infrastructure investments in develop-
ing Asia currently stands at around
$881 billion annually, leaving an an-
nual funding gap of $819 billion that
needs to be illed by both public and
private investors.
More than half (56 percent) of the
money will be required for power
projects; 32 percent for transport; 9
percent for telecoms; and 3 percent
for water. East Asia, including China,
will need the largest chunk of the in-
vestment, just over $16 trillion; while
South Asia needs $6.35 trillion and
fast-growing South East Asia, $3.1 tril-
Project Team: Antoine Azoulay (Country Director);
Aline Ouaknine (Project Director); Alexandre Marland
(Editorial Director); Fabrizio F. Farina (Regional Director of
Institutional Relations); Jonathan Meaney (Chief Editor)
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
lion. The remaining $611 billion will be
required in Central Asia and the Paciic
Islands. These infrastructure invest-
ments are crucial for Asian countries
to drive economic growth and attract
foreign investment; and Japanese
companies engaged in construction
are well positioned to support Asia’s
infrastructure drive.
“I was in Indonesia recently, it took
three hours by car to travel 40 km. This
is nothing unusual, it happens every
morning and evening there,” says Mr.
Kotaro Hirano CEO of Hitachi Con-
struction Machinery.
“I was also in India and the road
conditions there make the car shake
as you travel. Whenever I travel to
these countries I always speak to
the local government oficials. They
all mention that unless they improve
their infrastructure they cannot at-
tract foreign investment.
“Therefore, in countries such as In-
donesia, India or Thailand, they really
want to have eficient investments.
They aim to increase the eficiency
of their roads and infrastructures,
which represents a big business op-
portunity where our equipment is in
high demand.”
As the continent’s powerhouses,
Japan and China will be competing
for trillions of dollars-worth of infra-
structure contracts over the coming
years. And while Japan knows it may
not be able to compete with China in
terms of quantity, it is focusing on sell-
ing itself as a developer of high-quality
projects and an alternative to Chinese
infrastructure development.
In 2015, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
pledged to invest $110 billion in “qual-
ity” infrastructure projects across Asia
over 5 years. In November, following
the meeting of U.S. President Donald
Trump and Mr. Abe, Japan once again
reiterated its commitment to invest in
“high-quality” infrastructure in Asia, in
partnership with the United States.
Japan believes that its projects may
initially cost more than China’s, but are
built to stand the test of time – requir-
ing less maintenance and repair and
#TheWorldfolio
#JapanTheWorldfolio
subsequently making them cheaper in
the long term.
“Traditionally within ASEAN, the ini-
tial focus was on getting projects done
for the lowest amount of money,” says
Mr. Joichiro Momii, Director and Senior
Advisor of Fuji Furukawa Engineering
and Construction (FFEC), which engag-
es in the construction and maintenance
of power facilities and production
plants in the ASEAN region.
“Countries have been slowly realiz-
ing that such an approach is not a pos-
itive investment, as it does not produce
infrastructure that lasts. Therefore, we
are witnessing a shift towards develop-
ing high-quality infrastructure and that
is leveraging the potential for Japanese
companies to do well overseas within
the region.”
In Cambodia and Myanmar, FFEC is
offering overseas development assis-
tance for construction projects, show-
casing superior Japanese quality to two
of ASEAN’s least developed nations.
“The focus on knowledge trans-
fer is key to the success of Japanese
investment overseas. Furthermore,
being perceived as bearers of high-
quality projects further reinforces the
advantages of Japanese investment,”
adds Mr. Momii.
“For example, an international con-
struction company recently performed
a building infrastructure investment in
Cambodia, which turned out to be un-
successful. Having realized the quality
standard of Japanese work, they end-
ed up commissioning the construction
of a second local building project to
our company.”
Produced by The Worldfolio.
Forbes Asia magazine did not
participate in its preparation and
is not responsible for its content.

The majority of FFEC’s proits still
comes from Japan. However, it is
increasing investments and gaining
more market share in ASEAN countries
such as Thailand and Vietnam, where
it has had a long-standing presence.
Mr. Momii also wants to help more
Japanese companies enter Myanmar
and Cambodia, through the establish-
ment of business-driven partnerships
with local companies, which otherwise
would be direct competitors. “This
represents a facilitating approach to-
wards the establishment of enduring
relationships,” he says.
Civil engineering irm Raito Ko-
gyo, whose main business is in slope
protection and stabilization, ground
improvement and soil-cement walls,
is another Japanese irm looking to ex-
pand its footprint in Asia as investment
in the region’s infrastructure increases
dramatically. It believes the technolo-
gies it has cultivated in Japan could
help to stabilize the infrastructure
built in Asian countries that are often
subjected to natural disasters, such as
earthquakes or flooding.
“We would like to contribute to
infrastructure development in Asia by
using our expertise in geotechnical en-
gineering that we have built up over
the years,” says company president,
Mr. Kazuo Suzuki.
“Natural disasters, especially cli-
mate-related disasters, are becoming
more severe these days. Under these
conditions, we need to maintain vari-
ous infrastructures such as roads, rail-
roads, airports and ports, and keep
them safe. We have continued to
develop technologies in this ield for
more than 70 years, and now we have
technologies that can respond to vari-
ous ground problems and disasters.
These are the technologies we believe
in the near future we can export to
Asian countries as they start to need
more of these things.”
Indeed, all structures need heavy-
duty paint to stand the test of time.
And Japan’s paint manufacturers are
also expanding in Asia, offering high-
quality products to support the dura-
bility of infrastructure projects.
Nippon Paint manufactures long-
lasting and heavy-duty coatings for
roads, steel works and bridges, ma-
rine vessels, oil and gas pipelines, in-
dustrial plants and automobiles. With
60 percent of its sales coming from
Asia, Nippon is poised to beneit from
the region’s construction and infra-
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION JAPAN 3
while adapting to the customer’s de- soon we would like to expand by hav-
mands. In India, we adopt a B2B and ing production lines in those countries
a B2C approach. For the automotive as well. We would like to set up sat-
industry, in which we have been highly ellite operations in these countries,”
successful, we have been able to rely says Shinichi Iwamoto, President of
on our excellent partners. Neuron Japan.
“We are excellent suppliers, show- “With Neutex in Malaysia and Indo-
casing good products, good quality nesia, right now we are dealing with
and an amazing supply chain. Further- the gaskets, valves and related parts. In
more, we have the ability to customize these markets the competition is very
certain products to best it the needs high. One strategy is to directly com-
of our partners.” pete with the Chinese products. Of
Engineering irm Neuron is also course, we are the winners if we are
Q“We are witnessing a shift competing directly with Chinese com- talking about high-quality products.
towards developing high- petitors for contracts across South East “However, that is not enough, we
quality infrastructure and that Asia. The company has two subsidiar- want to include everything. For ex-
is leveraging the potential for ies in the region: Neutex Advance En- ample, with the expansion joints, the
gineering in Malaysia and Rainbow average product lifespan for Chinese
Japanese companies to do well NEUTEX Engineering in Indonesia. products is two years, whereas a Japa-
overseas within the region” Neutex Advance Engineering manu- nese product is 20 years. Furthermore,
factures piping components (such we highly value the craftsmanship of
Joichiro Momii,
as metal expansion joints), as well as each of our employees in our R&D; this
Director and Senior Advisor, compressors and pumps for oil and is what separates us from our competi-
Fuji Furukawa Engineering gas facilities. Its clients include Malay- tors in China.”
and Construction sia’s national oil company Petronas. Across the world, the ‘Made in
Neuron is one of the growing number Japan’ tag has signiied high quality,
structure spending bonanza over the of Japanese SMEs looking abroad for durability and craftsmanship. Now
coming years. new opportunities. Japan hopes to come out on top in
“At Nippon Paint, we place qual- “It is very rare for Japanese SMEs to the competition with China for con-
ity and technology as key factors to go out of the country. At the moment struction contracts across Asia, by lev-
our success,” says President and CEO, in Malaysia and Indonesia we only eraging on the sterling reputation for
Tetsushi Tado. “To ensure the quality have outlets for sales. Nevertheless, quality it has built over the decades.
of our products, we apply the require-
ments of the automotive industry to
all our market segments, contributing
to the creation of a trusted and reli-
able brand.
“China and the Asian countries
are the most important regions for us
because 45 percent of the demand
for paint and coatings comes from
the Asian region. We have four main
business segments: automotive, in-
dustrial, decorative, and marine coat-
ings. We want to achieve growth in
every segment. So, if you ask which
one is most important, my answer
would be all of them.”
A developer of industrial, auto-
motive, construction and decorative
coatings, Kansai Paint is another paint
company looking to strengthen its
presence in Asia, both in the B2B and
B2C segments.
“Asia is such a massive market that
it is impossible to treat all nations with
the same strategy. Since every coun-
try is at a different stage of develop-
ment, we have learnt to cater for all
segments and stages,” says Kansai’s
president, Mr. Hiroshi Ishino.
“The success of our strategy resides
in creating strong local partnerships
4 JAPAN
TOKYO ENERGY & SYSTEMS SATISFYING ASIA’S
LOOKS TO POWER ASEAN GROWING APPETITE FOR
HIGH-QUALITY
Due to high economic growth, demand for
electricity in the ASEAN region is projected
to double by 2030, growing between 6
and 7 percent annually. This means big
opportunities for foreign investors in the
ASEAN power grid.
With 70 years of ex-
perience in the Japanese
domestic market, Tokyo
Energy & Systems Inc.
(TES) specializes in the de-
sign and construction of
thermal, nuclear and hy-
droelectric power plants.
Bringing its expertise
and Japanese-style atten-
Tsutomu Kumagai,
tion to high quality, TES
President, Tokyo Energy &
has set its sights on the Systems Inc.
ASEAN region, and has
established two joint ventures in Thailand,
SCI Enesys Co., Ltd. and TES Practicum Co.,
Ltd. The company wants to support the re-
gion in developing the most advanced and
energy eficient power grid in the world.
“The ASEAN market bears huge po-
tential, which derives from the large need
to improve the management of its exist-
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
ing energy landscape,” explains Tsutomu
Kumagai, president of TES. “Furthermore,
ASEAN has the potential to build the best
electrical infrastructure in the world, using
a large scope of energy sources towards Faced with a shrinking domestic market, Japanese
a more eficient supply
– fewer losses and bet-
companies in the food industry hope to leverage on
ter productivity at lower demand from Asia’s growing middle classes for high-quality
operational costs.” products, and the rapidly rising popularity of Japanese
“Our competitive ad- cuisine throughout the region
vantage is that we im-
plement infrastructural
projects that are sustain-
able over time. Thanks to
our continued support
services, we supply the
maintenance required
to create long-lasting
projects. Energy systems
are not just about putting a power grid
and support hardware in place. It is also
about making available to future local
operators solid tools and support ser- Famed for its fresh and quality ingredi- the number of Japanese restaurants
vices (in which there is no match in the ents, Japanese cuisine, or Washoku, is across the world (excluding Japan)
market to the Japanese portfolio) that revered around the world. In 2013, Ja- was close to 89,000, a 60% increase
enable them to manage such infrastruc- pan became only the second country on the 55,000 registered in 2013, and
ture in a flexible and sustainable way.” after France to have its cuisine added more than triple the 24,000 counted
to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Herit- in the 2006 survey.
age list. As of the end of 2017, Japan Another survey conducted by the
and France also top the list of the coun- Japan External Trade Organization
tries with the most Michelin three-star (JETRO) suggests that Washoku is ofi-
restaurants – Japan is ranked irst with cially the world’s favorite cuisine. In its
28, while France has 27. survey, JETRO asked people in China,
Not only delicious, Washoku is re- Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the
garded as one of the healthiest cui- U.S., Italy and France: “What is your
sines in the world, and is the main favorite cuisine when you go out to
reason why the country’s 127 million eat in foreign restaurants?” In every
inhabitants enjoy one of the longest place except the U.S., Japanese cuisine
life expectancy rates in the world and was the most popular answer. Around
why Japan enjoys exceptionally low a quarter of the people surveyed in
igures of obesity, as compared to oth- China, Hong Kong, and South Korea
er advanced nations such as Germany chose Japanese food; while in Taiwan
and the U.S. it was a ifth.
With the increasing global de- The growing popularity of Japanese
mand for healthy, fresh and quality food across Asia comes at the perfect
food increasing, it is no wonder that time for those in Japan’s private sector
Washoku’s popularity has grown who face demographical challenges at
rapidly. According to a survey by Ja- home. With a declining domestic food
pan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, market, a result of Japan’s aging and
and Fisheries (MAFF), in July 2015 shrinking population, many Japanese

companies across all segments of the
food industry are looking to boost
their bottom lines by satisfying the
growing Asian middle class’ appetite
for high-quality and healthier food.
“Currently Asia is the fastest grow-
ing economic block in the world with
an expanding middle-income class,
which are ideal conditions for our
business,” says Masayoshi Mizuno,
President of Hokuto Corp.
“I do feel that within the Asian
region, Japan has a reputation and is
acknowledged for always producing
and delivering high-quality products
that are safe and secure. Hence, when
consumers are posed with the ques-
tion whether to choose a cheaper
product or the safest one, I think they
would deinitely go for the latter op-
tion; that is one of Japan’s strengths in
order to gain customer’s trust.”
Hokuto Corp. is principally en-
gaged in the manufacture and sale
of different varieties of mushrooms
such shitake and Bunashimeji, as well
as the sale of cultivating machinery,
wrapping machinery and materials,
as well as wrapping materials, con-
tainers and machinery for food and
other products.
“Concerning the manufacturing
of mushrooms and in terms of the
Asian people’s diet, they are more
focused on consuming mushroom
related products than other parts of
the world. Therefore, from that per-
spective, it is easier for us to enter the
Asian market,” adds Mr. Mizuno.
“One of our key strengths is our
ability to promote high-quality and
healthy products. Take the example
of the Bunashimeji: irst, we begin to
explain what it is, what are its qualities
and advantages, how it is prepared
and inally how it can be incorporated
into different dishes. Asian consumers
used this information, started to buy
more and incorporate them into their
meals.”
While companies like Hokuto are
bringing high-quality food to the
Asian market; Tiger Corp aims to
leverage on the growing demand for
high-quality kitchen wares from Asia’s
expanding middle-classes. One thing
Japan shares with the rest of Asia is a
love of rice; and Tiger Corp is one of
the world’s leading manufacturers of
rice cookers.
“From Japan´s perspective, Asia
has similar food habits to ourselves
and enjoys a preferable location; mak-
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION JAPAN 5
ing Asian countries a target market
with many beneits for Japan,” says
president, Yoshisato Kikuchi. “The
Asian market is seen as the market
with the most advantages because
of the close locality and similarities in
cuisine culture. Our rice cookers are
currently our most popular devices,
and we are currently focusing on new
innovations to further develop our
rice cookers.”
“We initially program our rice cook-
Q“Currently Asia is the Q“The Asian market is seen
ers to best suit the country for which
it is destined to be sold in. Customers
fastest growing economic as the market with the most
are then advised as to the different block in the world with an advantages because of the
uses of the rice cooker. For example, expanding middle-income close locality and similarities
some of our products can also cook class, which are ideal in cuisine culture. Our rice
bread, oatmeal and brown rice. We conditions for our business. cookers are currently our
adjust our product’s features to suit
the choices and preferences of our
One of our key strengths most popular devices, and we
clients.” is our ability to promote are currently focusing on new
Aside from popular rice cookers, high quality and healthy innovations to further develop
the company also makes a number products” our rice cookers”
of other kitchen items such as ther-
mal flasks, food containers and water Masayoshi Mizuno, Yoshisato Kikuchi,
heaters. While Tiger no doubt faces President, Hokuto Corp. President, Tiger Corp.
competition in the Asian market, Mr.
Kikuchi believes its competitive advan-
tage is the high quality of its products,
which, much like the Japanese peo-
ple, live longer than those from other
countries.
“Japanese food is increasingly be-
coming popular and it does enjoy a
healthy image. American people may
eat rice at a sushi restaurant but not
at home. The largest market for our
rice cookers is people with an Asian
background.
“There are a number of selling
points which make our products a bet-
ter choice. To begin with, our products
have high-quality operations and are
produced using substantially higher
quality materials than lower priced
ones from competitors. The life expec-
tancy of our products is simply longer.
“Since Tiger was founded some 94
years ago, we have always aimed at
creating new products that are either:
one, not currently available in the mar-
ket; or two, that add higher value to
existing product. We have maintained
this value throughout our history.
While our industry has always been
highly competitive, we don’t consider
it important to compete in terms of
pricing. Instead, we believe in produc-
ing higher added-value products that
may be reflected in a slightly higher
price bracket. The popularity of our
products therefore adds to our com-
pany’s value.”
6 JAPAN SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MONOZUKURI & ACQUISITIONS:

THE RISE OF JAPANESE M&As
Faced with a shrinking domestic market, Japan’s international M&A activity has
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While global M&A activity has been
slowing down, Japanese irms are
aggressively acquiring assets and
establishing subsidiaries overseas.
Japan Inc. has traditionally shied
away from international M&As. But
the dwindling domestic market and
aging population has forced them
to leave their comfort zone, leading
to a surge of M&A activity in recent
years in a bid to enhance competi-
tiveness and growth.
In December 2012, Shinzo Abe
was elected as Prime Minister and
began implementing his Abenomics
agenda that, amongst other things,
encouraged Japanese companies to
internationalize. Since then, Japanese
irms have made a record of more
than $350 billion of overseas acqui-
sitions. By value, Japan closed nearly
three times more outbound deals in
2016 – about $100bn worth – than
it did during the whole of the 1980s;
with overseas M&As accounting for
70 percent of total M&A activity. In
2017, M&As of foreign entities by
Japanese companies increased 5.7
percent to 672 deals, hitting a record
high for the fourth consecutive year.
Some Japanese companies have
been in the game longer than oth-
ers, recognizing the potential for
business growth through interna-
tional acquisitions a decade before
Abenomics was implemented.
The ALCONIX Group – a com-
pany that through its subsidiaries
and afiliates at home and abroad,
specializes in the trading and manu-
facturing of various non-ferrous
metal products, rare earths and
raw materials – adopted an interna-
tional M&A strategy back in 2001,
after it merged with Mizuho Capital
following a management buyout.
Since then, the company has ac-
quired assets in the U.S., Europe,
China and South-East Asia. Today
about 60 percent of ALCONIX’s
200-billion-yen annual turnover
comes from foreign trade, and that
igure is expected to increase in the
future.
“Having a core business back-
ground in trading, we started by ac-
quiring trading companies and ex-
panded the trading business. Then
in around 2009, we started acquir-
ing manufacturing companies with
a special focus for the ones that
produced parts and components
from non-ferrous metals,” says Ei-
itsu Masaki, President and CEO of
ALCONIX Corp.
“In a matter of years, ALCONIX
has grown into one of the industry’s
major corporate groups. We believe
that this growth comes from our
successes in: one, conducting strate-
gic M&A; two, engaging in aggres-
sive business investments; and three,
fostering and keeping employees
with highly specialized expertise.”
The move into acquiring manu-
facturing companies has really paid
off for the company. In its forecast
for FY2017 (the inancial year ending
on March 31, 2018), sales of manu-
facturing companies will represent a
mere 15 percent of the total gross
sales. However, the ordinary proit
from its manufacturing arm will ac-
count for 64 percent of total proit,
according to Mr. Masaki.
“This mirrors the success of pur-
chasing manufacturing companies.
Despite the fact that the trading
component represents the majority
of our business, proits come essen-
tially from manufacturing,” he adds.
Due to its proximity and high
potential market growth, South-
East Asia has been a natural target
for Japan Inc. ALCONIX’s strategy
in the region has focused on buy-
ing manufacturing companies and
establishing factories, bringing the
qualities of Japanese Monozukuri
to its South East Asian neighbors.
“In South-East Asia, we under-
stand that commodities trading is
not a sustainable business practice.
We therefore started working closer
with local communities – investing
Q“In a matter of years,
ALCONIX has grown into
one of the industry’s major
corporate groups. We believe
that this growth comes from
our successes in: one,
conducting strategic M&A;
two, engaging in aggressive
business investments; and
three, fostering and keeping
employees with highly
specialized expertise”
Eiitsu Masaki, President and
CEO, ALCONIX Corp.
in local manufacturing companies
and collecting the proits from the
products we forward them repre-
sents great business potential,” ex-
plains Mr. Masaki.
“The model we are implement-
ing in South-East Asian countries
aims at lessening the importance
of Japanese production by promot-
ing local domestic trade to increase
regional independence. From an
investor’s perspective, South-East
Asia is a reliable region for invest-
ments. At ALCONIX, our objective
is to spread the quality of our mo-
nozukuri to the region by educating
the local labor force.”
 FORBES ASIA

FROM THE VAULT

Era of Greed:
March 11, 1985
BY ABRAM BROWN

FAST-FORWARD
Conqueror Carl
1985: Already one of America’s most feared corporate
raiders, Carl Icahn embarks on a high-profile but ill-fated
purchase of Trans World Airlines. By 1992 it’s bankrupt.
2018: With his TWA diiculties long behind him, Icahn—
restyled as an “activist investor”—is now the planet’s
73rd-richest person, with a net worth of $17 billion.

“IS THERE NO PLACE TO HIDE these days from those

ghouls who want to suck some corporate blood?” asked
Forbes editor Jim Michaels, introducing our cover story on
the boom in blockbuster buyouts. here had been just one
billion-dollar transaction in 1980: Seagram’s sale of Sun
Co. to Texas Paciic. In 1984 Wall Street put together 17
ten-igure deals, capped by Chevron’s $13.3 billion take-
over of Gulf Oil (roughly $32 billion in 2018 money).
Fueling the frenzy: bank deregulation, undervalued
assets, antitrust leniency and companies newly lush with
cash thanks to 1981 tax-break legislation. Most impor-
tant, perhaps, Wall Street was now lined with inanciers
experienced in handling these mega-acquisitions—irms
such as Drexel Burnham Lambert and Salomon Broth-
ers. “People have learned to do things quickly,” observed
Charles Nathan, a Merrill Lynch executive. “It used to take
weeks to line up bank commitments. Now it can be done
in just a few days.”
Before long, the bankers and raiders would be the
ones wearing masks of anguish. he go-go decade’s high-
water mark came in 1988, when bankers managed nearly
$100 billion (over $200 billion today) in leveraged buy-
outs. But the number of LBOs would fall by nearly 60%
the following year in the wake of a sot stock market and
increased regulatory pressure.

AMAZING AD
Good Olds Days
General Motors’
Oldsmobile division
posted record sales
in 1985 for the third
straight year; its Cutlass
Ciera and Cutlass
L TO R: WILF DOYLE/ALAMY; HANS VON NOLDE/AP; AP

SIGN OF THE TIMES Supreme, respectively,

ranked as the nation’s
Competition Killed the
fourth- and tenth-most-
Video Stars popular models. Overall,
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Sales of blank VCR tapes were
the Detroit giant’s Brown-Bag Hunch
expected to double to more than 200 Deputy editor-in-chief Steve Forbes took a dim view
revenue increased 15%
million units by 1986—but none of the of the increasing prevalence of plastic bags in stores.
to $96 billion (some
big manufacturers could make a profit “The brown bag will stay,” he predicted in a small item
$227 billion today).
amid fierce competition. “We all see headlined “Those *!%!*!#* Plastic Bags.” He wasn’t
this big carrot, and we’re all going after correct, exactly: Plastic would come to dominate
it. . . . This is a war!” moaned Richard G. the end of the checkout line, but given the stuf’s
Mueller, a 3M marketing manager. environmental impact, his instincts were right.

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 47

FORBES ASIA
LOGISTICS
The Maestro of Mergers
Billionaire roll-up artist Bradley Jacobs has spent more than $7 billion assembling a
sprawling logistics company. Now he’s tuning it up to deliver big proits.
BY ANTOINE GARA
D
ecades ago, Bradley Jacobs studied math and piano
(classical and jazz) at Bennington and Brown be-
fore dropping out to make money. Now the bald-
ing 61-year-old CEO of XPO Logistics invokes that
background to explain how he’s parlayed sequential
roll-ups in the gritty businesses of garbage collection, heavy equip-
ment rentals and delivering stuf into a $2.6 billion net worth. “Any-
one can buy a company. You just have to sign a contract and wire the
money,’’ he says. But conceiving how those acquired company parts
can be integrated into an organically growing entity takes a special
creative talent. “Even though I’m not writing a song [in integrating
companies], I’m thinking of ideas that are abstract. It’s a combina-
tion of math and music. I’m visualizing them as clearly as I possibly
can in space and time and then actually executing on them.”
If that sounds a tad highfalutin, consider this: In September 2011
Jacobs’ family investment irm ponied up $62.5 million to gain con-
trol of Express-1, a Michigan-based freight expediter doing $170
million in sales a year. He renamed Express-1 ater its XPO stock
symbol, moved its headquarters to Connecticut and over four years
spent more than $7 billion on 17 acquisitions. Today XPO’s stock
trades at $102, giving it a market cap of $12.3 billion, for a com-
pound annual return of 38% under Jacobs’ watch. hat’s more than
double the S&P’s return and better than Amazon’s.
Jacobs’ stake is worth $2 billion, making up the bulk of his for-
tune, which includes a 50-acre Greenwich estate, a 17,000-square-
foot Palm Beach waterfront mansion just down the road from Pres-
ident Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, and a starter modern art collection with
works by Picasso, de Kooning, Calder and Lichtenstein.
Truth is, corporate roll-ups have a bad rep. Some operators have
overpaid, taken on too much debt or even cooked the books. Yet 14
of 16 analysts covering XPO rate it a buy, persuaded by Jacobs’ deal-
making smarts, his execution and his vision of an integrated logis-
tics company that uses technology to capitalize on the growth of
e-commerce and the worldwide supply chain. Ater Jacobs’ acquisi-
tion run, XPO has strong positions in the U.S. and Europe in freight
brokerage, last-mile delivery (getting heavy goods like refrigerators
from warehouses to consumers), less-than-truckload shipping and
contract logistics (handling all of a company’s logistics). Last year it
netted $312 million ($2.45 per diluted share) on $15.4 billion in rev-
enues. Free cash low increased 77% to $374 million in 2017, and
XPO projects it will top $600 million in 2018.
Signiicantly, ater leveraging up in 2015 to buy U.S. trucker Con-
48 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
way and France’s Norbert Dentressangle, a top player in the more ef-
icient European logistics market, Jacobs turned of the spigot and
returned to headquarters to focus on making the whole thing work.
Headquarters is a single-story uninished concrete building on the
edge of Greenwich, where glass walls mean employees can’t duck Ja-
cobs’ view and “Results matter” slogans hang on conference room
walls. “Missing quarters to me is like termites. Where there’s one
there’s more,’’ Jacobs lectures. Matthew Adams, an analyst at Orbis
Investment Management, XPO’s largest outside shareholder, with
a $2 billion stake, says of the entrepreneur: “You have the inancial
sophistication of a great capital allocator, combined with someone
who’s also a true operator.”
Jacobs has hardly sworn of acquisitions; with XPO’s leverage re-
duced by half since 2015, he brags about having $8 billion in “dry
powder.” But these days he’s talking up organic growth and the
$450 million a year XPO is pouring into automation and technolo-
gy. Of its 95,000 employees, 1,700 are tech professionals, including
100 data quants. “Anything we can automate, we are either automat-
ing already or we have on the drawing board to automate,” he says.
In addition to pricing algorithms, XPO has developed the Uber-
like apps Drive XPO and Ship XPO, which allow truckers to pick up
loads and customers to see their cargo move in real time.
“Back in the 1990s I wrote reports saying FedEx is a technolo-
gy company disguised as a transportation company. Today the same
could be said about XPO,’’ observes analyst Donald Broughton, who
tracks transportation companies at his own St. Louis-based irm.
FOR MOST OF HIS CAREER, Jacobs has been doing deals. His father
was a jeweler in Providence, but college dropout Jacobs was drawn
to the big proits being made in oil as prices spiked in the late 1970s.
He read up on oil brokers and then cold-called his way into the busi-
ness, enlisting the legendary Ludwig Jesselson, head of commodi-
ty house Phillip Brothers, as a mentor. (Jesselson’s son is now XPO’s
lead independent director.) Eventually Jacobs moved to London
(where he met his oil-trader wife, Lamia) and made millions by se-
curing oil from places like Russia and Nigeria and chartering ships
to transport it to Europe. By 1989, however, futures markets were
squeezing the proits of globe-trotting arbitragers like Jacobs, and he
returned to the U.S. to research his next venture.
Jacobs settled on waste hauling ater reading an analyst’s report
describing fat proits at Browning-Ferris. Looking for both talent
and inside dope, he interviewed dozens of industry managers. Two
 Moving man: Bradley Jacobs has gone from oil brokerage to trash hauling to heavy equipment rentals to logistics.
“If you look at all my companies,’’ he says, “the theme is moving stuf from one place to another eiciently.”
former Browning-Ferris execs told him the company had ignored
rural areas. Jacobs hired them and went on an acquisition tear, con-
solidating hundreds of mom-and-pop collectors with overlapping
routes in areas like southern Kentucky and Michigan. He took Unit-
ed Waste public in 1992 and sold it in 1997 (to what later became
Waste Management) for $2.2 billion, netting $120 million on his
original $3 million investment.
As that sale closed, Jacobs was working with investment bank-
ers on his next roll-up play: heavy equipment rentals. He liked it, he
says, because it was not only a fragmented market but also a grow-
ing one, as companies switched from owning to renting equipment
like bulldozers, generators and scissor lits. He invested $35 million
and in December 1997 took United Rentals public. By March he
had raised a total of $285 million in two oferings, retaining a 42%
stake. Jacobs traveled the country tearing out Yellow Pages listings
to ind mom-and-pop rental shops to buy. Ater hundreds of deals,
URI passed Hertz to become the world’s largest equipment renter.
But in 2004 the Securities & Exchange Commission began inves-
tigating URI’s accounting practices. Two former top execs eventually
pleaded guilty to fudging the books from 2000 to 2002 to meet earn-
ings forecasts. Jacobs was never implicated in wrongdoing, and in
July 2007 private equity irm Cerberus agreed to buy URI for $4 bil-
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES
lion, or $34.50 a share, a 25% premium, plus the assumption of $2.6
billion in debt. Jacobs, then URI’s chairman, resigned and went of
to run his private investment company. Five months later, as credit
markets tightened, Cerberus lost its inancing and backed out of the
deal. URI’s stock eventually fell below $5; Jacobs himself wanted to
take URI private but couldn’t get the money. Yet since his departure
from URI, Jacobs’ vision for that roll-up has been vindicated: he
stock now trades at $180, for a market cap of $15 billion.
It took a bit longer for Jacobs to ind his next target industry. In
2011 he began assembling a team of logistics insiders to capitalize on
what he frames as a highly fragmented but growing $3 trillion global
market for moving goods. His thesis: Companies don’t want to own
their logistics headaches and will happily turn the worry over to
an outit like XPO that ofers everything from intermodal and full-
truckload shipping to partial-load shipping, distribution warehouses
and deliveries of heavy goods to a consumer’s door.
Jacobs purposely started out in a capital-light niche of the mar-
ket. Freight brokers like Express-1 don’t own trucks; they’re middle-
men connecting shippers with truckers. But that was only a beach-
head for staging acquisitions. Ater lining up more inancing, Jacobs
snapped up 3PD, which gave him a presence in home deliveries and
installations; intermodal shipping outit Pacer; and contract logistics
leader New Breed, which has such blue-chip customers as Disney,
Boeing and Verizon. A big push now is cross-selling between units.
Jacobs says 94 of XPO’s 100 top customers buy multiple lines of ser-
vice from it, up from 86 a year ago.
And if the economy turns? Say this for Jacobs: He gets the value
of improvisation. “In jazz, if you hit a wrong note, there’s no such
thing as a wrong note. hat’s the note, that’s the reality. You radi-
cally accept that, and you build on it,” he rifs. “Music is really busi-
ness. . . . You have to be using all of your senses at the same time, and
you have to be dancing with the circumstances and evolving.” F
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 49
FORBES ASIA

ALLEN LAW

A GENER ATION E ME R GE S

From Bellhop
to CEO
Hong Kong’s Law family bought a hotel on a whim and now
boasts an entire chain, thanks to dad letting his son run the show.
BY JANE A. PETERSON

A
llen Law was 24 and had just inished a bach-
elor’s degree in math and management at King’s
College London. He was planning to stay abroad
when his father, Law Kar Po, called with a tempt-
ing proposal: return home to Hong Kong im-
mediately and run his newly purchased hotel. “Dad said, ‘We
know nothing about hotels and we are too old to learn,’ ” recalls
Allen. “I decided to take up the challenge. I lew back.”
hat was 2003, the middle of the SARs crisis, and Kar Po
had picked up the Park Hotel brand and its one 16-story hotel
at the bargain price of $67 million. he following months were
a blur for the younger Law as he embarked on a crash course
in hotel management, working two shits at the Park Hotel
Hong Kong in the heart of Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui district.
He learned every job, beginning with the bellhop’s, and became
the general manager in 18 months. “In the beginning, you feel
portfolio will boast 16 hotels. Park Hotel owns 6 of them, holds
a stake in another and manages all of them. hey’re a mix of
luxury, upscale and midscale, and they’ll span 11 cities in eight
countries. “Our strength is unique,” he says. “We invest and
operate. We understand the entire cycle, A to Z.”
Allen says the group’s hotel revenue last year approached
$135 million, nearly 17% more than 2016. hat doesn’t include
revenue for the retail and food & beverage parts of the busi-
ness, which he declines to disclose. He also won’t provide net
proit igures. But the hotels are certainly a valuable asset—
they account for nearly half of Kar Po’s estimated $5 billion in
wealth, which ranked him No. 18 on Forbes Asia’s list of Hong
Kong’s 50 richest in January.
Expansion and diversiication ramped up last year. Park
Hotel opened three hotels it manages: two in Singapore—the
upscale Park Hotel Farrer Park and its irst midscale venue,
MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES

thrown into the deep end of the ocean,” he says, his accent and
manner notably Cantonese. “But you learn how to swim.”
Now 38, Allen is chief executive of the family’s privately
held Park Hotel Group and passionate about the hotel business.
He and the group are based in Singapore and come 2019, the
the Destination Singapore Beach Road—and the luxury Grand
Park Kodhipparu Maldives resort, in which the group holds a
30% stake. Up next: the newly built Park Hotel Yeongdeungpo,
Seoul, which was set to open in 2017 but has been delayed until
the second half of this year, and upscale hotels in both Adelaide

50 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

“In the beginning, you
feel thrown into the
deep end”: Allen Law
at the Grand Park City
Hall in Singapore.
FORBES ASIA

ALLEN LAW

RULE OF LAW
Filial commitments run deep for Allen Law, and he says he visits Hong Kong frequently
to spend time with his parents and many other relatives. A member of the family’s third
generation, Allen has two sisters and some 20 cousins. During his childhood, he recalls,
there were big family gatherings on Sundays where everyone spoke Cantonese. He said
the patriarch, Law Ting-pong, endowed his six children and their ofspring with the family’s
core value: “Do good business and then individually do good to society.”
Ting-pong was Allen’s first employer. As a teenager he spent summers working in the
family’s garment factory in New Kowloon and learning the business—from making yarn
to sewing clothes for top brands in the U.S. and Europe. He’s quick to point out that his
grandfather was a self-made tycoon. Ting-pong had come from China in his early 30s with
nothing and began as a gardener. He didn’t achieve material success until after decades of
hard work and some luck, eventually opening the factory and then starting Bossini Interna-
tional, a listed clothing-store chain.
Apart from chairing Park Hotel Group, Allen’s father, Law Kar Po, invests in non-hotel Patriarch Law Ting-pong’s advice to his
properties and other assets as managing director of Lobo Investment. Allen’s older sister, grandson: “Whatever you do, dream big.”
Wendy Law, a lawyer, is active in the family business, overseeing the clan’s real estate
investments.
Kar Po’s brothers carry on the family’s garment heritage. Elder brother Kenneth Lo runs apparel manufacturer Crystal Interna-
tional, which went public in November and supplies retailers such as Uniqlo and H&M. A younger brother, Ka Sing, and his wife own
67% of Bossini, and his wife is chairman.
Allen calls himself a “freethinker,” rather disconnected from organized religion but loyal to his family’s values and financial legacy.
“From day one I told myself, ‘I am the third generation, I won’t let the business fail,’ ” he says. “I need to protect and preserve wealth—
that’s always in the back of my mind.” —J.P.

and Melaka, which are scheduled to open by the end of next
year.
Meanwhile, Allen is hunting for more acquisitions, par-
ticularly in and around Singapore, which is already home to
roughly half the group’s annual revenue. “he next three years
look extremely positive,” he says, sipping a midmorning cofee
in a quiet corner of the luxury Grand Park Orchard, the group’s
crown jewel in the city.
Looking back, Allen sees his life as divided among his three
favorite places: Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.K., where he
moved for boarding school and now spends part of every sum-
mer. he split seems to feature in his thinking about where to
focus Park Hotel’s expansion. While Singapore and Hong Kong
are prime targets for growth, Law’s aspirations are wider. He’s
looking to manage and buy more hotels throughout the region,
including gateway cities in Japan and Australia. But also on
his radar: a hotel acquisition in London that could launch an
eventual European operation.
“I dare to dream big,” says Allen, his boyish face cracking
a smile. He credits his grandfather Law Ting-pong, the clan’s
founding tycoon, with that two-word mandate just before
his death in 1996 at age 84 (see box, above). “He told me, ‘Do
whatever your heart wants, but whatever you do, dream big.’ ”
In times of challenge, says Allen, he falls back on those words.
part of the market growing much faster than upscale segments.
To catch this wave of new travelers, particularly Millennials,
Park Hotel plans to roll out its midscale Destination brand in
major cities.
While Allen has a largely free hand in managing the busi-
ness, hotel acquisitions are a family afair. “My father gets
involved only with major investments and divestments,” he
says, noting that his father, who serves as chairman, has never
vetoed a hotel purchase Allen wanted to make. Law Po, 69,
declined to be interviewed.
Allen recalls the early days in 2005 when the pair far outbid
local competitors to buy an old four-star hotel that became the
Grand Park Orchard. “We didn’t know anything about Singa-
pore,” he says, thinking back to his arrival from Hong Kong
with just one suitcase. “he silver lining: We could look at the
property with fresh eyes and no baggage.”
What did the pair see? “A fantastic freehold property smack
in downtown,” he answers, adding that straightaway they could
see a clear upside. he retail space, which included a karaoke
bar and a Singtel shop, could be upgraded to generate enough
of a return alone to recoup their initial investment of $185
million. As for the rather tired hotel, when upgraded it would
be a draw for travelers aiming to stay in the heart of Singapore’s
shopping district, not far from the Central Business District
CHU MING-HOI/SCMP

Expanding in Asia would take advantage of the rising hotel and a stone’s throw from the private Mount Elizabeth Hospital
revenue in the region that’s forecast for the next ten years as & Medical Center.
more Asians join the middle class, boosting tourism and the Allen moved Park Hotel’s headquarters to Singapore in
demand for rooms. hat includes midscale accommodations, a 2005, believing that it held more potential for expansion

52 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

than Hong Kong, and he’s lived there since. he government
had just announced initiatives to boost tourism, leading to a
number of hotel sites coming on the market. Within 16 months
Park Hotel had three Singapore projects in the works.
Walking through the Grand Park Orchard today, Allen
marvels at its transformation into a ive-star “cash cow.” He
points to the design features he selected—the subtle herring-
bone pattern that echoes through the halls and the colorful
glass chandeliers by American glass sculptor Dale Chihuly.
And at street level on Orchard Road, the hotel’s money-spin-
ning retail podium teems with customers. Its newest tenant, an
Apple store, opened last spring in a space the size of four shop
fronts. Next door is the upmarket Abercrombie & Fitch retailer,
while around the corner near the hotel entrance, he Hour
Glass operates a luxury jewelry boutique.
But make no mistake; father and son don’t regard hotel
properties as family keepsakes. Rather, every hotel the group
owns is for sale at the right price, especially when it doesn’t
see any more value it can add and the market outlook isn’t
improving. “We are known to be business-driven,” says Allen,
noting that every asset is reviewed each year. “We never try to
catch highest or lowest price. If we’ve done all we can do, we let
someone else have it.”
Sensing a market peak for Singapore in 2013, the Laws sold
two of the three hotels they owned there, putting the proceeds
into Hong Kong residential property,
with a slice for the family’s charitable
arm. he Orchard Road hotel went to
a mainland Chinese bidder; Park Hotel “THE MARKETS ARE HIGHLY VOLATILE,
continues to manage it. While Allen
won’t disclose the price, he points to news
AND IT’S DIFFICULT FINDING THE RIGHT
reports that note it was a record-breaking PROJECT. WE’RE WAITING. WE ARE LOW
igure of more than $900 million, setting
a new benchmark for Singapore of nearly
RISK. WE’RE NOT IN A RUSH.”
$1.2 million a room.
Before the sales the Laws had planned
to take the group public, but during nine months of prepara-
tion, market conditions changed and the portfolio’s value fell.
“We missed the right time and called it of,” says Allen, adding
that he and his father would again consider going public if the
opportunity looked promising.
Last year the Singapore press reported that Park Hotel
would entertain ofers for its last Singapore property, the
luxury Grand Park City Hall that also includes a retail podium.
Property agent Savills reportedly had it on the market for
around $740 million, or what could be a record $1.25 million a
room, which prompted speculation that the group was shiting
to an “asset-light” strategy.
Allen dismisses that characterization, while saying a
potential buyer now would be looking at an even higher
$1.37 million a room. Though he won’t discuss details,
he said Park Hotel began receiving unsolicited bids from
several players last summer that made a potential sale worth
considering, particularly because hotel renovations would
be finished this summer. “All properties are for sale,” he
stresses. “It’s a matter of price. That’s our take.”
Also on the market for several months last year, though
of the market now: the new Park Hotel Farrer Park in
Singapore’s Little India, owned by RB Capital since 2013
and opened last May. Beginning with the construction, RB’s
chief executive, Kishin RK, worked with Law to develop the
property, which, like the Grand Park Orchard, sits next to a
private hospital complex. “Allen thinks like an owner,” says
RK, citing what he says is Allen’s entrepreneurial spirit, atten-
tion to detail and keen eye for proitability. “It’s been a good
relationship.”
Networking is clearly important to Allen’s wider ambitions.
Hiring and retaining quality staf to build the brand is his No.
1 challenge, especially in China, where the group owns three
hotels. He regularly travels throughout the region to build
relationships with staf as well as with customers and partners.
Trips can last anywhere from two days to two weeks a month.
As for his leadership style, the former math major calls himself
“very meticulous” and prone to micromanaging. “Numbers
still talk to me quite well,” he says. “If I don’t look into the de-
tails, things may fall apart. I stress-test the system to make sure
everyone is on the ball.”
He also stresses what he regards as the company’s core
values of integrity and honesty. “If we think we can’t get the
business without corruption, we call it of,” he says, noting that
in Indonesia and India, Park Hotel considers only management
contracts and does not invest in projects because it cannot
abide by local practices. “To me there’s 1,001 ways to make
money so why sacriice core values?”
Despite sticky relationship ties to Hong Kong—his parents
would like to see their son return home—Allen seems likely to
remain in Singapore, where he is a permanent resident and is
raising two young sons. His wife, Tan Shin Hui, granddaughter
of retired Singapore billionaire banker Wee Cho Yaw, heads
the group’s communications operation. hey were married in
2010. Will he become a Singapore citizen? He says he doesn’t
know, but then adds that to do so, he would have to give up his
two passports—Hong Kong and the U.K.
For now, he appears pleased with the status quo. He calls
Park Hotel “very healthy,” with cash reserves to deploy, but as
always, he and his father are exercising caution as they search
for the next property play. “he markets are highly volatile, and
it’s diicult inding the right project,” he says. “We’re waiting.
We are low risk. We’re not in a rush.” F
APRIL 2018 FORBES APRIL | 53
 Venture
ANGERED AND FRUSTRATED BY TECH’S SUFFOCATING
CAPITALISTS ARE CHANNELING EMOTION INTO ACTION.
CREDIT TK

PROVIDE A BLUEPRINT FOR HOW TO TRANSFORM

54 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
 I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

Catalysts BY ALEX KONRAD AND BIZ CARSON

OLD BOYS’ CLUB, A GROUP OF ELITE VENTURE

THEIR WEAPONS—INVESTING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP—
ANY CRUSTY INDUSTRY FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 55
 A
ileen Lee stared at the email in her drats
folder for nearly a month, unsure what to
do. he summer of 2017 had been bru-
tal for venture capital. One San Francisco
irm, Binary Capital, was evaporating as a
partner resigned over allegations of sexual
harassment. Accusations of inappropriate
sexual advances and afairs would soon
lead cofounders of two other prominent
irms—500 Startups and multibillion-dol-
lar irm DFJ—to resign. Silicon Valley was
facing a reckoning, an early #MeToo mo-
ment, months before that scandal radiat-
ed out of Hollywood.
Over that July, Lee, a veteran venture
capitalist who ranks 97th on this year’s
Midas List, made the decision to take
a risk. Addressing a note to 23 women
she called the “breakfast club”—most-
ly friends in partner roles at other VC
irms—Lee proposed they team up to
help women enter the venture industry
and rise through the ranks. “hink we all
have the same feelings—that the stuf that
has recently been highlighted in articles
about the gender power dynamic, harass- Jess Lee, 35
ment and the lack of women in VC is just PARTNER, Sequoia Capital
not okay,” she wrote. “We have a window ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT: $8 billion (est.)
to try and come up with changes for our NOTABLE DEALS: Dia & Co, TuneIn
industry for the better.”
he 48-year-old Lee had paid her dues After the “roller coaster” of building commerce site Polyvore and selling it to
Yahoo for $230 million, Jess Lee says that as an investor in “the sisterhood,”
in venture’s relationship-driven industry,
she’s excited to back other female founders in turn. “I don’t have a problem
spending 13 years at storied irm Klein- being known as someone who invests in girly things,” she says. “I think they
er Perkins Cauield & Byers before found- can make a lot of money.”

56 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S

Kirsten
Green, 46
MIDA S LIST NO. 77
FOUNDER, Forerunner
Ventures
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT:
$300 million
NOTABLE DEALS: Dollar Shave
Club, Jet.com, Glossier

It wasn’t until joining All

Raise that Kirsten Green
fully appreciated how much
she’d tolerated “micro-
aggressions” throughout
her career, such as having
her advice ignored, being
talked over and constant-
ly interrupted. “Everybody
knows it needs to change.
And plenty of people want
that change,” she says. “And
maybe it will because we
picked up this megaphone
and did something, and put
action behind it.”

1 8
2 7 9
3 4 6
5

12
20 21
10 11
15
16 18
13 14 17
19
22 23

27
24 28
26
25

1. Jennifer Carolan Reach Capital 2. Jocelyn Goldfein Zetta Venture Partners 3. Rebecca Kaden Union Square Ventures 4. Trae Vassallo Defy 5. Wayee Chu Reach
Capital 6. Maha Ibrahim Canaan 7. Kara Nortman Upfront Ventures 8. Dana Settle Greycroft 9. Stephanie Palmeri Uncork Capital 10. Eurie Kim Forerunner Ventures
11. Theresia Gouw Aspect Ventures 12. Patricia Nakache Trinity Ventures 13. Stacey Bishop Scale Venture Partners 14. Sarah Tavel Benchmark 15. Jenny Lefcourt
Freestyle Capital 16. Ann Miura-Ko Floodgate 17. Anu Hariharan Y Combinator 18. Renata Quintini Lux Capital 19. Mar Hershenson Pear VC 20. Shauntel Poulson
Reach Capital 21. Jodi Sherman Jahic Aligned Partners 22. Leah Busque Fuel Capital 23. Eva Ho Fika Ventures 24. Megan Quinn Spark Capital 25. Aileen Lee Cowboy
Ventures 26. Kirsten Green Forerunner Ventures 27. Jess Lee Sequoia Capital 28. Emily Melton DFJ. Not pictured: Amy Banse Comcast Ventures; Jennifer Fonstad
Aspect Ventures; Chian Gong Reach Capital; Dana Grayson New Enterprise Associates; Nairi Hourdajian Canaan; Jocelyn Kinsey DFJ; Katie Rae the Engine; Kristina
Shen Bessemer Venture Partners.

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 57

 I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S

Aileen Lee, 48
MIDA S LIST NO. 9 7
FOUNDER, Cowboy Ventures
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT: $100 million
NOTABLE DEALS: Bloom Energy, Dollar Shave Club,
Rent the Runway

Worried that she wouldn’t be taken seriously, Ai-

leen Lee wore her MIT class ring and eyeglasses she
didn’t need for her first decade as a venture capital-
ist. “In the beginning, I had this feeling like I am not
worthy, that I should just do work and try to not get
fired,” she says. Now she’s looking to build a move-
ment that “creates more than tweets,” namely, long-
term change: “It shouldn’t feel like you’re walking into
Mad Men when you walk into a VC firm.”

Ann Miura-Ko, 41
MIDA S L I ST N O. 5 5
COFOUNDER, Floodgate
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT: $500 million
NOTABLE DEALS: Lyft, Refinery29, Xamarin

When Ann Miura-Ko joined Floodgate, a prominent founder who became

a Stanford professor told her to finish her Ph.D. “It will give you the credi-
bility that you may not think you need,” she remembers hearing. Now Mi-
ura-Ko coaches women who are interviewing for jobs at venture firms.
“What I never wanted to be was a great female investor,” she says. “Does
that mean I invest in things I have a unique perspective on? Yes. Do I take
on female causes? Yes. Does it mean I want to be defined by that? No.
There’s a subtle difference.”

ing Cowboy Ventures in 2012. Cowboy
had only recently broken into the top tier
of venture capital and was in the midst of
investing its second fund of $60 million.
Leading an activist movement could be a
business risk. But she decided that if she
didn’t speak up then, she never would.
She hit “send” just ater 11 p.m. on
July 31. hirty minutes later, the irst re-
sponse appeared in her inbox, from Se-
quoia Capital’s Jess Lee, who’d become
a partner in that blue-chip irm nine
months before. “In. Let’s do it,” she re-
plied. “hank you for leading the charge,
Aileen. I’m happy to help organize/host/
be your logistics slave.” One by one, 20
other women on the email followed suit.
Tech investing is among the most
male-dominated industries in America.
he number of female partners in ven-
ture actually declined following the dot-
com bust, falling from 10% in 1999 to
6% in 2014, according to a Babson Col-
lege survey. hat number has rebound-
ed to about 9% today, but at 74% of U.S.
venture funds there are no women deci-
sion makers; at 53% of the largest funds,

58 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 RANK Name /2017 RANK
T HE L I ST FIRM
Notable Deal
The Forbes Midas List ranks the top 100 tech in-
vestors in the world. We pick VCs on the num-
there are no female investors at all. If Lee’s 1 Neil Shen /11
ber and size of exits over the past five years. SEQUOIA CAPITAL CHINA
group could ind a way to efect long-term We count only exits above $200 million or pri- Alibaba

change in this old boy network, it could vate rounds valuing companies at $400 mil- 2 Bill Gurley /7
BENCHMARK
lion or more. Neil Shen, seen on our 2014 Forbes
serve as a model for hidebound industries Uber
Asia cover (right), is
around the world. No. 1, thanks to invest- 3 Jim Goetz /1
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
She had one thing going for her. Four ments that include Ali- WhatsApp
women on her initial email blast rank baba, Meituan Dianping, 4 Carl Gordon /8
among the world’s most powerful venture JD.com and, recently, ORBIMED
Acerta
capitalists: Ann Miura-Ko (No. 55 on this an exit through online
lending platform Ppdai 5 Robert Nelsen /16
year’s Midas List), Kirsten Green (No. 77), ARCH VENTURE PARTNERS
Group, which raised $221 Juno Therapeutics
heresia Gouw (No. 89) and herself. And
million in an IPO on the 6 Mary Meeker /6
there were also up-and-comers like Sequoia’s NYSE in November 2017. KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
Airbnb
Jess Lee, Union Square’s Rebecca Kaden and
Sarah Tavel from Benchmark. As champions 7 Peter Fenton /3
BENCHMARK
of entrepreneurial capitalism and free enter- he group is in talks with her personal of- Docker
prise, these women knew that if they seized ice, Pivotal Ventures, to formalize its sup- 8 J.P. Gan /30
QIMING VENTURE PARTNERS
the commanding heights—by funding more port. All Raise has commitments of $2 mil- Meitu
female founders and mentoring more fe- lion from such supporters as Silicon Valley 9 Douglas Leone /9
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
male investors—they would be impossi- Bank. ServiceNow
ble to ignore. Protesting the power structure Like a startup itself, All Raise faces risk 10 Brian Singerman /5
might generate one-day headlines. To cata- as it builds on early success. Its volunteer FOUNDERS FUND
Stemcentrx
lyze change over a period of decades, they
11 Eric Paley /31
needed to become the power structure. J.P. GAN FOUNDER COLLECTIVE
Uber
Called All Raise, the group, now with
Picture 12 Mike Maples Jr. /20
36 women, granted Forbes exclusive access Perfect FLOODGATE
as they try to rewrite their industry’s play- Okta
His rapid rise to the
book. he stated mission is to double the Midas List’s Top 10 13 Kui Zhou /25
SEQUOIA CAPITAL CHINA
percentage of women in VC partner roles comes from invest- New Dada
over the next ten years and increase total ments in picture- 14 Roelof Botha /34
VC funding to female founders from 15% editing app Meitu SEQUOIA CAPITAL
and e-commerce Square
to 25% in ive years. All Raise was already platform Meituan- 15 Byron Deeter /39
the invisible hand behind two of tech’s big- Dianping. —A. Knapp BESSEMER VENTURE PARTNERS
Twilio
gest diversity eforts in recent months: the
16 Scott Sandell /24
mentoring series Female Founder Office NEW ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATES
MuleSoft
Hours and a 700-startup pledge for diversity members will have to scale carefully and
called Founders for Change, featuring tech avoid burnout while working within an in- 17 Rob Hayes /21
FIRST ROUND CAPITAL
billionaires like Instagram founder Kevin dustry known for its resistance to change. Uber

Systrom and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston.   Should they succeed, All Raise’s members 18 Dennis Phelps /45
INSTITUTIONAL VENTURE PARTNERS
Two startups have already secured fund- have the chance not just to open the eyes of Snap
ing because of All Raise. Education-sav- an industry but also to kickstart a transfor- 19 Josh Kopelman /35
FIRST ROUND CAPITAL
ings service CollegeBacker raised $75,000 mation of American business, where shock- Flatiron Health
toward its seed inancing thanks to a meet- ingly only 6% of the biggest publicly traded 20 Hans Tung /19
ing at the Female Founder event. Agentolo- companies are led by women. GGV CAPITAL
Musical.ly
gy, a fast-growing maker of real estate sot-
21 Neeraj Agrawal /17
ware, raised a $12 million round led by an AT THE ALL RAISE February meetup in San BATTERY VENTURES
PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUISE POMEROY FOR FORBES

Coupa
All Raise member acting on a tip from an- Francisco, Medha Agarwal rushes to thank
other. And through a private database of in- her cohost and fellow venture capitalist 22 Joe Lonsdale /88
8VC
terested female tech leaders—dozens strong Maha Ibrahim, a partner at Canaan who in- Wish

and growing—these groups are not just re- vests out of an $800 million fund. 23 Xiaojun Li /13
IDG CAPITAL
butting irms that say they can’t ind women; For more than four hours, Agarwal and Xiaomi
they’re acting as part of the change. 92 other women hear stories from Ibrahim, 24 Xiao Ping Xu /72
ZHENFUND
Ater months of secrecy, All Raise’s Aileen Lee, Miura-Ko and others, covering Meicai
members are going public. When Melin- everything from how to speak up in partner 25 Jeffrey Jordan /18
da Gates surveyed the industry to see who meetings to when to switch irms. Agarwal, ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
Airbnb
had the most promising plans for diversi- a midlevel principal at Redpoint Ventures,
ty and inclusion, All Raise caught her eye. a $4 billion-in-assets shop in Menlo Park,

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 59

 RANK Name /2017 RANK
FIRM
Notable Deal

26 Tony Florence /75

beams with excitement as she schemes how stage irm with $230 million in assets. More NEW ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATES
to replicate All Raise’s network with peers Jet.com
recently, public outcry over school shoot-
in her more junior role. “All of these senior ings pressured Walmart and Dick’s Sporting 27 Steve Anderson /4
BASELINE VENTURES
women have done so much of the heavy lit- Goods to change their rules on gun sales. Stitch Fix
ing for us,” she says. In venture capital the customers are the 28 Bryan Roberts /58
VENROCK
hrough the networks created at such entrepreneurs who take the checks, and 10X Genomics
events, All Raise is building a support sys- All Raise has been quick to seize on their 29 John Doerr /29
KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
tem for women like Agarwal that was miss- changing priorities. In January, Lefcourt Twitter
ing from venture’s recent past. Former and Aileen Lee began recruiting founders 30 Sameer Gandhi /23
Google Ventures partner Shanna Teller- to talk publicly about emphasizing diversity ACCEL
Dropbox
man lasted only two years in
31 Rebecca Lynn /44
venture’s boys’ club. “I sat in ALFRED LIN CANVAS VENTURES
Lending Club
for the irst [partner] meet-
ing and immediately felt What Shoppers Want 32 Alfred Lin /22
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
like something was of,” she The former Zappos chief operating Airbnb
oicer turned investor is on a hot
says. Tellerman let to found streak from big consumer hits. He’s
33 Anton Levy /26
GENERAL ATLANTIC
home-design startup Modsy on the board of Airbnb, food-de- Alibaba
and won’t consider a return livery app DoorDash and interior- 34 Scott Shleifer /59
to VC unless irms change design website Houzz. All three have TIGER GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
Despegar
raised massive amounts of capital in
their gender ratios. 35 Vinod Khosla /RETURN
the last year—$1 billion for Airbnb,
he struggle to retain $535 million for DoorDash and $400
KHOSLA VENTURES
Square
women isn’t just a venture million for Houzz. —B.C.
36 Deven Parekh /99
problem. In tech, women INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS
Yext
leave their careers twice as
oten as men, with 56% out by the time they when it comes to hiring, boards of directors 37 Shailendra Singh /NEW
SEQUOIA CAPITAL (INDIA) SINGAPORE
reach a midlevel role, according to a Har- and funding. Over the week of March 18, PT Go-Jek Indonesia

vard Business Review report. more than 400 entrepreneurs looded so- 38 Marc Andreessen /27
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
In inance, that problem is exacerbat- cial media with matching black-and-white Samsara
ed by irms’ struggles to bring new women photos declaring their support, including 39 Jeremy Liew /32
LIGHTSPEED VENTURE PARTNERS
in. Historically, venture irms have blamed billionaire Airbnb Snap
the pipeline problem, infamously articulated CEO Brian Chesky 40 Mitch Lasky /40
by VC billionaire Michael Moritz in 2015: and Warby Parker BENCHMARK
Snap
Firms would love to hire women, he argued, co-CEO Neil Blu-
41 Jeremy Levine /54
but lack qualiied female candidates. “What menthal. BESSEMER VENTURE PARTNERS
Pinterest
we’re not prepared to do is lower our stan- he results were
dards,” he said. immediate. At Pat- 42 Allen Zhu /84
GSR VENTURES
he women at All Raise don’t buy it, and reon, the white- DiDi Chuxing

they’re taking action. A work group that in- hot artist crowd- 43 Lee Fixel /79
TIGER GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
cludes Miura-Ko and Stephanie Palmeri of funding site, CEO Spotify
Uncork Capital, a irm with $305 million in Jack Conte asked 44 Jim Tananbaum /52
FORESITE CAPITAL
assets, has built a conidential database of its most recent in- 10X Genomics
executive women outside of the VC indus- vestor, hrive Capi- 45 Ryan Sweeney /60
RAVI MHATRE
try who are privately interested in becoming tal, to forgo a board ACCEL
Qualtrics
VCs. he work group is also tracking open seat in favor of ap- The Force Is 46 Ravi Mhatre /76
positions. It has received requests from ten pointing an inde- With Him LIGHTSPEED VENTURE PARTNERS
AppDynamics
irms already and made 25 introductions to pendent director Mhatre soars up the
ranks from his invest- 47 Hemant Taneja /70
women from the list. “We’re taking away the who would add to GENERAL CATALYST
ment in enterprise Stripe
question that you don’t know who to hire,” the board’s diversity.
software maker Mule-
says Rebecca Kaden, a partner at Union hrive agreed, and 48 Jonathan Silverstein /55
Soft, which Salesforce ORBIMED
Square Ventures, the New York irm known the job went to Chi- acquired in March for Ascendis Pharma
for early bets on Tumblr and Twitter. cago Public Media $6.5 billion. He was also 49 David Cowan /65
a major investor in App- BESSEMER VENTURE PARTNERS
Another way to drive change: through chief Goli Sheik- Twitch
Dynamics, an enterprise
the customer. McDonald’s didn’t update its holeslami. At pop- software firm bought 50 Matt Cohler /57
BENCHMARK
menu until patrons voted for healthier op- ular meditation app by Cisco for $3.7 billion Tinder
tions with their dollars, notes Jenny Lef- Headspace, CEO last year. —A. Knapp
court, a partner at Freestyle Capital, a seed- Rich Pierson says he

60 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 RANK Name /2017 RANK
FIRM
I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S Notable Deal

won’t raise money from an all- 51 Andrew Braccia /64

ACCEL
JEFF HORING Slack
white-male irm ever again.
Headspace’s pledge is a Data Diver 52 Yuri Milner /15
DST GLOBAL
warning shot. But All Raise’s Horing, a Goldman Sachs and MIT Airbnb
partners—capitalists to the alum, focuses on data, analytics and 53 Aydin Senkut /51
enterprise software businesses. He’s FELICIS VENTURES
core—know that it’s more ef- Adyen
put money into Wix, a platform for
fective to motivate with greed building websites, and Shutter- 54 Jeff Horing /83
INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS
than with fear. Without a di- stock—both are now public—and Darktrace
verse partnership, they argue, in July led a $75 million Series D
round for Darktrace, the cyberse- 55 Ann Miura-Ko /77
investors run the risk of miss- FLOODGATE
curity firm created by Cambridge Lyft
ing out on the next Katrina University mathematicians. —I.B. 56 Gaurav Garg /48
Lake, the founder and CEO of WING VENTURE CAPITAL
FireEye
e-commerce company Stitch
Fix. Lake has been lauded for reaching near- a lot of conidence that what you’re choosing 57 Jim Breyer /10
BREYER CAPITAL
ly $1 billion in revenue and taking her com- to include is the right stuf,” she says. Etsy
pany public despite raising only $42 million 58 David Weiden /95
KHOSLA VENTURES
in venture cash, but she says that wasn’t all WHEN ALL RAISE’S members irst answered Instacart
by design. She would’ve have happily raised Aileen Lee’s call to action, Harvey Weinstein 59 James Mi /NEW
LIGHTSPEED VENTURE PARTNERS
more money. Problem was, no one was of- still reigned in Hollywood and Matt Lauer Rong360
fering it. Lake says, “Let’s be honest, this was ruled the airwaves at NBC. So as industries 60 Frank Rotman /NEW
the situation we were forced into, and we like entertainment and media come to terms QED INVESTORS
Credit Karma
made the best of it.” with their own patterns of harassment and
61 Erhai Liu /RETURN
Women-led businesses are one of the sexism, All Raise has a head start. JOY CAPITAL
Mobike
fastest-growing segments
of entrepreneurship. Be- BETH SEIDENBERG 62 Beth Seidenberg /RETURN
KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
tween 2007 and 2016 Flexus Biosciences
Rx for Success
the number of wom- 63 Fred Wilson /42
Since joining Kleiner Perkins 13 years UNION SQUARE VENTURES
an-owned businesses in- ago, Seidenberg, a physician and former Coinbase
creased 45%, according chief medical oicer at Amgen, has be- 64 Hurst Lin /50
to an American Express come the firm’s in-house biotech expert. DCM
58.com
Some of her big finds: Flexus Biosciences
report. But women still 65 Jeffrey Lieberman /
(eventually acquired by Bristol-Myers
have only a small piece of Squibb in 2015 for $1.25 billion) and rare- RETURN
INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS
the VC pie. Female-co- disease specialist True North Therapeu- DeliveryHero
founded startups repre- tics (sold to Bioverativ for roughly $400 66 Klaus Hommels /RETURN
sented only 15% of capital million last year before Sanofi acquired LAKESTAR
Spotify
its new parent company). —I.B.
raised last year, Pitch- 67 Peter Thiel /12
Book says. In a 2014 Har- FOUNDERS FUND
Palantir
vard study, men and women pitched the In March, members pitched limited
68 Ben Horowitz /47
exact same ideas for funding; men were far partners—the institutions and endowments ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
Okta
likelier to get investment ofers. that invest in VC irms—on creating their
One of All Raise’s solutions is to meet own diversity plans. hey’re creating Fe- 69 Joel E. Cutler /49
GENERAL CATALYST
founders earlier and get them support fast- male Founder Office Hours video sessions Lemonade

er. Its most public efort so far has been so founders anywhere can get access to the 70 Bryan Schreier /97
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
the popular series Female Founder Office same support. And in the fall, they hope to Dropbox
Hours, which matches women entrepre- host a big conference for women across all 71 Todd Chaffee /61
INSTITUTIONAL VENTURE PARTNERS
neurs and investors in one-on-one meet- venture roles. Twitter
ings to share startup fears and fundraising For now they’re working ater-hours as 72 Kevin Comolli /36
tips. Since November, it has hosted events volunteers, but All Raise will have to evolve ACCEL
SimpliVity
in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San in order to last. Burnout is a real concern
73 Yi Cao /NEW
Francisco (twice). At the irst two events when people are working what can feel like SOURCE CODE CAPITAL
Bytedance
more than 800 women signed up for 80 a second job, something Spark Capital’s
slots. Ursula Mead, founder of North Caro- Megan Quinn calls a “gender tax.” Enter Sil- 74 Jenny Lee /69
GGV CAPITAL
lina-based InHerSight, a job-ratings site for icon Valley Bank and Melinda Gates. With YY

women, turned around and made immedi- the $2 million already pledged from inves- 75 Michael Eisenberg / RETURN
ALEPH
ate changes to her pitch deck ater attend- tors and more in the works, All Raise plans WeWork
ing the February Office Hours. “It gives you to hire an executive director and full-time

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 61

 RANK Name /2017 RANK
FIRM
I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S Notable Deal

76 David Yuan /RETURN

staf. A steering committee with deined re- that not every new REDPOINT VENTURES
sponsibilities will allow some members, like general partner will APUS

Aileen Lee and Jess Lee, to direct group ef- be a diverse can- 77 Kirsten Green /98
FORERUNNER VENTURES
forts and others to take on more casual roles. didate, we include Dollar Shave Club
As has proved to be the case in other in- a diversity and in- 78 Quan Zhou /63
IDG CAPITAL
dustries, success will be gradual. Forbes con- clusion review on CreditEase
tacted 125 partners in 50 male-led venture every discussion 79 Roger Ehrenberg /NEW
IA VENTURES
irms to ask their views about diversity and of every position,” The Trade Desk
hiring plans. Most didn’t respond. But lead- says billionaire
80 Navin Chaddha /73
ers from 20 irms did. “While we recognize LinkedIn cofound- MAYFIELD FUND
Lyft
er Reid Hofman at
81 Ron Conway /43
Greylock Partners. SV ANGEL
JULES MALTZ Airbnb
he women of
All Raise are coni- 82 Peter Levine /87
IPOh! ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
dent that their in- Three of Maltz’s invest- GitHub
vesting success will ments have gone public 83 Neil Rimer /NEW
INDEX VENTURES
speak for itself in a in the past year: Dropbox Funding Circle
in March, Web marketing
sector driven by i- 84 David K. Chao /RETURN
firm Yext in April 2017, DCM
nancial return. To and enterprise software SoFi
win, they’re doing maker MuleSoft in March 85 Randy Glein /RETURN
it together—a 2017 (Salesforce subse- DFJ GROWTH
Ring
new mentality for quently bought MuleSoft
for $6.5 billion a year 86 Ted Schlein /90
women who have, KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
later). Another Maltz AppDynamics
up until the launch investment, Slack, could
of All Raise, largely 87 Jules Maltz /NEW
soon IPO too. —K.C. INSTITUTIONAL VENTURE PARTNERS
Icarus producer David Fialkow and director succeeded alone. Yext
Bryan Fogel at the 2018 Oscars with “I’m a capitalist. I 88 Mamoon Hamid /86
presenters Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern. KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS
want to win the best deals. I want my irm Slack
to win the best deals,” says Emily Melton, a 89 Theresia Gouw /74
Oscar Meets partner at DFJ. “But other than that I want ASPECT VENTURES
ForeScout

Midas to also see my female colleagues win and be

successful, because I think that helps us all.” F
90 Steven Ji /66
SEQUOIA CAPITAL CHINA
Ganji
David Fialkow might have just scored the 91 Rich Wong /53
ACCEL
newest status symbol in venture capital: UiPath
an Academy Award. The General Catalyst SONALI DE RYCKER 92 Asheem Chandna /28
GREYLOCK PARTNERS
cofounder and managing director (No.
To Russia AppDynamics
82 on last year’s Midas List) took home With Money 93 Jeff Crowe /71
NORWEST VENTURE PARTNERS
a golden statuette in March as a produc- De Rycker, head of Spotify
er of Icarus, the Best Documentary Fea- Accel’s London of-
94 Salil Deshpande /33
ture winner that exposed Russia’s se- fice, earns her debut BAIN CAPITAL VENTURES
spot thanks in part to MuleSoft
cret Olympic doping program. Picking a
an early bet on Avito, 95 Sonali De Rycker /NEW
filmmaker and a founder requires a simi- the Russian version ACCEL
Spotify
lar eye, he says. “You have to back great of Craigslist bought
by South African 96 Young Guo /NEW
founders before you have all the facts. IDG CAPITAL
conglomerate Naspers in 2015 for $2.7 billion. Meitu
They need to be able to pivot to the op-
De Rycker, a native of Bombay, India, has also
portunity and have a great and honest
97 Aileen Lee /NEW
added stakes in Spotify and e-commerce startup COWBOY VENTURES
Wallapop to Accel’s portfolio. —K.C. Good Technology
story to tell,” says Fialkow, 59, who has
produced more than ten documentaries. 98 Ping Li /78
LEFT: ERIC MCCANDLESS/GETTY IMAGES

SPECIAL THANKS to TrueBridge Capital Partners of Chapel Hill, North ACCEL

“Investors and producers both have to
manage highly creative, super-mission-
driven people and give them resources,
direction and spot opportunities for suc-
cess.” —Steven Bertoni
Carolina, for its wisdom and hard work in co-producing the Midas List. Heptio
LIST EDITOR: Alex Konrad. ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Igor Bosilkovski, 99 John Vrionis /46
Biz Carson, Kathleen Chaykowski, Alex Knapp, Samar Marwan. UNUSUAL VENTURES
DATA SOURCE: PitchBook, Dow Jones VentureSource. AppDynamics
Go to FORBES.COM/MIDAS for complete coverage, videos and interviews.
METHODOLOGY: We rank VCs on the number and size of exits over the 100 Jan Hammer /NEW
past five years, with a premium on bolder and early-stage deals. We count INDEX VENTURES
only exits above $200 million or private rounds valuing companies at Robinhood
$400 million or more.

62 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018


The Next Frontier for Jim Breyer:
China and Blockchain
BY YUE WANG
F
amed venture capitalist Jim Brey-
er made his fortune largely by in-
vesting in Silicon Valley. Now he
is increasingly looking East, where op-
portunities are beckoning in China.
he billionaire investor (No. 57 on
the Midas List), best known for his
early bet on Facebook, has a long his-
tory of investing in the Middle King-
dom. hrough a partnership with local
investment irm IDG Capital—an or-
ganization he irst got to know during
a 2004 trip to China and now serves as
lead strategic advisor—Breyer backed
Chinese tech powerhouses, including
ride-sharing irm Didi Chuxing and
smartphone maker Xiaomi. Today he is
looking closely at a number of potential
investments in areas including block-
chain, health care and inancial servic-
es, allocating tens of millions of dollars a
year—or a third of Breyer Capital’s total
funds—to promising startups in the
world’s second-largest economy, he told
Forbes during a recent interview.
Of particular interest is blockchain,
the technology underpinning digi-
tal coin transactions that is essential-
ly about building secured data stor-
age across multiple computers. hough
China banned initial coin oferings
last year out of fear of illegal fundrais-
ing activities, it still “greatly supports”
blockchain-related research, said Hugo
Shong, a former journalist who founded
IDG China in 1993 and is Breyer’s long-
time partner in the country. his trans-
lates into opportunities for coinvest-
ments like the U.S. blockchain startup
Circle, which counts both Breyer Capi-
tal and IDG among its backers in a $60
million fundraising round in 2016.
Blockchain is having an impact on
health care in the U.S. by enabling bet-
ter medical data collection and record-
sharing. For example, startups like Med-
Rec (which doesn’t have Breyer as an
I N N O VAT I O N FA C T O R I E S
investor) is tapping blockchain
technology to create a common
health care database that every
doctor and patient can access
no matter which service provid-
er they use. Paige.AI, which land-
ed $25 million in funding led
by Breyer Capital in February, is
combining blockchain and artii-
cial intelligence to develop com-
puter models for early cancer di-
agnosis. his would be a major
asset in China as patient infor-
mation there remains far more
fragmented among its one mil-
lion health care facilities. Data
and diagnostic information isn’t
always shared efficiently and is
oten handwritten, making it
more difficult to track.
“A lot of underlying block-
chain technologies in China have “Many of the best technology entrepreneurs and
uses in very speciic areas,” Brey- leaders I met are from China,” says Breyer.
er said. “Most of the early signif-
icant winners in blockchain will be in goal is nurturing irms that can com-
the areas of intech. At the same time, I pete internationally, Shong says.
see opportunities in health care services And Breyer knows where to look for
and payments in large.” advice on Beijing’s policy whims. In ad-
What’s more, China’s growing tal- dition to IDG, Breyer has built a rela-
ent pool is a big attraction. Its universi- tionship with China’s Tsinghua Univer-
ties are producing top-notch talents in sity, where he sits on the advisory board
areas like blockchain and artiicial in- of the School of Economics & Man-
telligence. “Many of the best technolo- agement. Other members include Chi-
gy entrepreneurs and leaders I met are na’s central bank governor Zhou Xiao-
from China, and are only increasing in chuan and Alibaba founder Jack Ma,
terms of quality and the depth of inno- as well as Apple CEO Tim Cook and
vation,” Breyer said. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Last year,
Still, investing in the country is not board members met Chinese president
without its challenges. Beijing has been Xi Jinping to listen to his view on re-
tightening capital controls over the form, shortly ater Xi was given a sec-
past year, imposing more caps on the ond ive-year term during an important
amount of money allowed outside the party congress in October. “I spend lots
country as it seeks to stem cash out- of time with Tsinghua leaders to un-
lows. Breyer, however, doesn’t worry derstand their view of important initia-
much about this for now, as the current tives,” Breyer says. “Many Chinese and
focus is helping the Chinese companies U.S. long-term relationships tend to
he backed grow locally. But the ultimate fracture, so I am very lucky.” F
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 63
Technology
The Vacation
Predictor
While many bank on AI paying of in the future,
one of the world’s hottest apps, Hopper, has
raised $84 million by monetizing it right now.
BY KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI
O
ne of the most cutting-edge travel apps in the
world makes its home in a decidedly old-fash-
ioned setting: an active zinc factory in Montre-
al’s former garment district. Walking through
a maze of sputtering machines and chemical vats, Fred
Lalonde, founder and CEO of Hopper, the world’s fastest-
growing flight-booking app, explains why he has rented the
space since 2009. “As bad as this place looks, it was prob-
ably the smartest place to start a data center,” he says. The
building is powered by a hydrodam, part of a Canadian sys-
tem that delivers a supply of cheap electricity and a perfect
match for an energy-hungry startup making a big-data bet:
that AI-driven recommendations can make travel more af-
fordable and personalized than what people can craft for
themselves.
Unlike most other travel sites, which generally want
you to book right away, Hopper is predicated on patience.
“Think of an e-commerce site that tells you 70% of the time,
‘Don’t buy,’ ” says Sophie Forest, a partner at Brightspark
Ventures, the startup’s first investor. “Hopper is that anom-
aly.” Aimed primarily at the leisure-travel market, the app
uses a sophisticated algorithm to predict the best deals and
64 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
times to fly and buy—alerting users at the optimal moment,
FRANCO VOGT FOR FORBES
well before prices go up or down by specific amounts.
Since its launch in 2015, Hopper has become the most
formidable newcomer in an $800 billion flight market dom-
inated by Expedia, Lalonde’s former employer, and Booking
Holdings (previously called Priceline), and now boasts more
than 20 million users.
In January, Hopper was the fourth-most-download-
ed travel app in the U.S., after Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. The
120-person company, led by Lalonde, 44, and cofounder and
CTO Joost Ouwerkerk, 46, generated about $15 million in
revenue last year by selling flights, almost entirely through
push notifications.
Customers buy more than $1.5 million in flights per day
across more than 300 airlines, and give Hopper a $5-per-
ticket fee (airlines pay a 1% to 4% commission). Hopper
says customers save an average of $50 per ticket and claims
its airfare forecasts are 95% accurate up to a year in advance.
Meanwhile, Kayak predicts flight prices only seven days out,

and many competitors, such as Google, indicate whether
prices will go up but not whether a better deal is coming.
Experiments were part of Lalonde’s childhood in Que-
bec City, where his father, a biologist, regularly brought
home new computers, which Lalonde used to learn to pro-
gram. Instead of attending college, he moved to Los Angeles
in 1993 to start an online airfare-ticketing company called
Travel Online before the launch of Expedia. Unable to raise
funding, he moved at age 23 to Montreal to be with his girl-
friend (now wife), novelist Dominique Fortier. Soon after,
he built Newtrade Technologies, which replaced faxes be-
tween hotel reservation systems and booking sites with soft-
ware; it was acquired by Expedia in 2002.
As an Expedia executive overseeing hotel products and
deals, Lalonde was struck that there weren’t better ways for
people to discover places, not just prices. In 2006 he left to
build a destination site, taking Ouwerkerk, Expedia’s prod-
uct manager, with him. The journey was a long one: For
the first few years, they lacked the capital to build powerful
TRAVEL
Flight planners: servers but began making deals to col-
Cofounders Lalonde lect flight-price records and travel data.
and Ouwerkerk
envision Hopper In 2011, Series A funding enabled them
as an always-on to build a long-term data center. By 2013
“leisure companion,”
automating how
they had enough data to start building al-
people find new gorithms. Hopper.com launched the next
activities locally and
year.
on vacations.
Traffic soon flooded the website, but
people were interested only in one small section: flight fore-
casting. Lalonde realized users didn’t want to pick a destina-
tion until they knew flight costs and decided to shut down
the website to work exclusively on airfare prediction. His
other key directive: Hopper would exist only on mobile. In
2015, Hopper released its app.
Hopper has raised $83.6 million in venture funding from
firms such as Accomplice and Omers Ventures (the compa-
ny was valued in late 2016 at about $300 million), and it’s
poised to become much larger. Purchases driven by AI—for
example, suggestions to travel on different dates or to dif-
ferent locations—now drive 25% of sales, up from 5% in
November. The AI knows, for example, that Hopper users
watching a flight from New York to Hawaii are more likely
to end up purchasing a flight to the Caribbean. Over time,
Lalonde expects AI to generate 75% of purchases.
“If I’m watching a trip for a family of four in Salt Lake
City in February, Hopper knows, ‘Oh, I want to ski,’ ” says
Jeff Fagnan, a partner at Accomplice. “What happens if I
shift you to Denver instead for $100 less? They’re changing
the whole supply-and-demand curve of the industry.”
Most users are spontaneous Millennials, like Morgan
Avery, 24, a retail coordinator in New York City. Avery start-
ed using Hopper after she snagged a $164 round-trip tick-
et from New York to L.A. She got an alert at dinner and pur-
chased on the spot. “Hopper almost guarantees I get the
cheapest option,” she says. “It’s the worst thing to book a
flight and see the next week that it’s dropped $200.”
In late 2017, Hopper extended its forecasting and book-
ing tool to hotels, likely an even larger business opportunity.
The app now offers over 200 hotels, typically sold at a 10%
to 15% discount in five major U.S. cities, and aims to make
hotels available in 15 more cities in the next six months.
Hopper’s flight deals, “Secret Fares,” debuted in Janu-
ary and enable airlines to fill lower-cost seats faster, allow-
ing more time to sell last-minute and business-class tickets,
the main revenue driver for airlines. The tool sells seats at
roughly a 10% to 20% discount.
Today Hopper is focused on international growth (users
can buy flights in more than 160 countries) and adding ho-
tels. Lalonde expects head count to double to more than 200
people by the end of 2018, mainly in data science, engineer-
ing and customer service. In a world that’s becoming more
isolationist, Lalonde thinks Hopper can make travel cheaper
and more convenient.
“Our AI is getting people to start shopping earlier and
buy things they didn’t know they wanted,” he says. “We’re no
longer just a better mousetrap.” F
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 65
Investing
Mr. 30%
Who’s the world’s best hedge fund manager? David Tepper? Stevie
Cohen? Try Joe Edelman, a wannabe psychologist with a bead on biotech
who has quietly built the best track record of the past two decades.
BY NATHAN VARDI
I
t’s late December and Joseph Edelman is onstage at the rootop
bar at Manhattan’s Dream Downtown hotel. With gin-infused
cucumber cocktails lowing and the Manhattan skyline glitter-
ing through the windows behind him, Edelman is strumming
his sunburst Fender Stratocaster and belting out a credible cover of
Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up.” It’s Perceptive Advisors’ annual holi-
day party, and Edelman’s performance is something of a victory lap.
His lagship fund is up 41% net for 2017.
Hedge fund managers typically distinguish themselves in difer-
ent ways—how much money they manage, the total amount of fees
they earn or their personal wealth. Edelman manages $3.8 billion,
serious money but far less than other, more famous hedge funds.
And while Edelman recently joined the three-comma club with a
$1.1 billion net worth, he is outranked by at least 45 other hedge
fund managers tracked by Forbes. Edelman’s Perceptive Life Sciences
hedge fund’s claim to fame is its astounding long-term performance.
Its annualized 30.2% net-of-fees return since its inception in 1999
is the best among all human-managed hedge funds—even beating
David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management’s 25% annual return since
1993. For Edelman it represents a more than 130-fold return.
“It is nothing short of extraordinary, and Joe has done it out of
the limelight,” says Leslie Lake, a longtime Perceptive Life Scienc-
es investor who manages $1.5 billion of hedge fund investments at
Invus Financial Advisors. “Over 18 years it’s not random. here is
something in his DNA.”
At 62, Edelman is not well-known outside of the narrow area of
biotechnology investing. But in the world of clinical data and end-
points, he’s a rock star whose success has enabled him to charge
his limited partners a management fee of 3% of assets and 25% of
proits. He cares little about size: “I want a really good track record.
hat is my scorecard,” he insists. And he believes his edge is derived
mostly from his understanding of the idiosyncrasies of human
behavior.
As a teenager, Edelman spent summers in the company of fa-
mous scientists like two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling
while working at the laboratory of his father, Isidore Edelman, ini-
tially a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and
eventually chairman of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at
Columbia University. “I learned to have an appreciation for the sci-
entiic method. It’s a way of thinking, and a certain level of skepti-
cism that you need,” Edelman says.
Ater studying psychology at UC San Diego, Edelman pursued
66 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
HEDGE FUNDS
a graduate degree in pharmacology but abandoned it in 1980 to
move to New York City with a vague notion of combining science
with business. He got his M.B.A. at New York University in 1987,
ater studying part-time while working as a bookkeeper at an ac-
tors’ union. His next stop: Wall Street, as a research analyst cover-
ing biotech.
Edelman struggled in that position, because he was unable to
form consistent opinions. He kept focusing on probabilities and
changing his mind. “I think the stock is going higher but not that
much—you can’t publish stuf like that on the sell side,” Edelman
says of his days at Prudential Securities.
What Edelman really wanted to do was manage money. He
took a job at a small hedge fund and then started Perceptive Advi-
sors in 1999 ater he was able to raise $3.5 million from friends and
a hedge fund manager. His timing was perfect. In his irst year—in
the midst of a bubbly bull market that catapulted biotech stocks up
102%—Perceptive returned 129%.
With that gale-force wind at his back, Edelman has been buying
and shorting small-to-midsize biotech stocks ever since. As with
other funds devoted to the sector, his staf is stacked with doctors
and Ph.D.s in biological sciences. But there are a lot of scientiical-
ly trained geniuses parsing data on Wall Street these days. Edelman
claims his edge is his training in psychology. It’s why he named his
hedge fund Perceptive Advisors.
“Psychology is very important. here is perception and reali-
ty. Biotech stocks are driven by whether a drug works, if it will be
approved and if it will sell more than consensus,” Edelman says.
“hat’s an eight-year process. here are a few single days of events.
Everything else is a perception of that event.”
For Edelman it’s all about understanding the biases of mar-
ket participants. He views the stock market like a poker game: “If
a hand is going well, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bet more as
subsequent cards are played, even though the ‘price’ of participating
has gone higher as the pot gets bigger,” he says.
He is obsessed with the idea of repeat surprise—that a negative
surprise is oten followed by more negative surprises and that posi-
tive surprises also occur in streaks. Edelman ofers his biggest posi-
tion, Neurocrine Biosciences, as an example. Last year the compa-
ny’s Ingrezza became the irst drug approved by the Food & Drug
Administration for the treatment of a movement disorder associated
with the long-term use of drugs for schizophrenia. Ingrezza’s irst-
quarter revenue came in much higher than anticipated, but analysts
 Perceptive Advisors’ Joseph
Edelman: using psychology
to stay one step ahead of
Mr. Market’s ticks.
still didn’t raise estimates enough for the remainder of 2017. Edel-
man observes that when analysts—bull or bear—are too low in their
expectations, they tend to stay somewhat conservative. Bears tend to
not raise projections very far unless they are willing to do a 180 and
turn bullish. In 2017 Neurocrine kept beating expectations.
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES
Edelman doesn’t believe in buying low and selling high either.
“Only buy if the analysis indicates the stock is worth more and sell
if it’s worth less,” he says. “his may involve buying something back
at a higher price than where you sold it if new analysis or informa-
tion says it should go higher.” In the case of Neurocrine, Edelman
bought in at $5 and continued to buy it as high as $80. he stock
recently traded for $84.
“We are really focused on only looking forward,” Edelman says.
“You have to take your history with the stock out of the way.”
Another unique aspect of Edelman’s approach is the sheer num-
ber of positions in his portfolio—some 200—which makes his fund
more diverse than rival index ETFs like iShares Nasdaq Biotech-
nology fund. But there is a method to Edelman’s madness. “I don’t
APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 67
Investing HEDGE FUNDS

ALL IN WITH A HEDGE FUND MASTER

With some 200 positions, long and short, Perceptive Advisors is as big as some index funds. Yet Edelman’s top five holdings below
make up about a third of his portfolio.
NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES (NBIX), SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Edelman says Ingrezza, the first drug approved for the treatment of
involuntary jerky movements associated with the use of antipsychotic medications, could also treat Tourette syndrome.
AMICUS THERAPEUTICS (FOLD), CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY Edelman has high hopes for the company’s treatment for Pompe disease, a
rare muscle-wasting affliction that kills infants, which combines an engineered enzyme replacement with a molecular chaperone.
GLOBAL BLOOD THERAPEUTICS (GBT), SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Edelman is bullish on Voxelotor for treating sickle-cell
anemia, a $5 billion global market. GBT is Perceptive’s biggest potential home run.
ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS (ALNY), CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS The company’s RNA-interference program includes a remedy
called patisiran, which aims to inhibit the activity of a gene connected to a rare disorder that attacks organs and the nervous system.
ZOGENIX (ZGNX), EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA The company is advancing the science of antiepileptic remedies by showing that target-
ing serotonin can be a game changer in maladies like Dravet syndrome epilepsy in children. Edelman expects its new drug, ZX008,
will work in other rare seizure disorders.

look at it as positions I like or don’t like. I think in terms of proba-
bilities and express it in position sizes,” Edelman says.
About 80% of his positions are in biotech; the rest are primarily
in medical devices or specialty pharmaceuticals. A common theme
is that there must be some science involved. He avoids insurers and
has very few Merck-like big pharmas or big hospital chains. To beat
the market, Edelman goes “all in” on his good bets and folds when
necessary, carefully sizing each position to make them count in a
way that makes sense to him.
“We have a very strong team that knows how to igure out what
drugs are going to work, but what is unique is what Joe brings
to the table,” says Adam Stone, Perceptive’s chief investment oi-
cer. “here are a lot of brilliant scientists running portfolios nowa-
days, but not experienced money managers who know how to size
a portfolio like Joe.”
In 2017 Edelman made a big bet on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals,
whose stock climbed 229% last year ater a late-stage trial revealed
one of its drugs inhibited the activity of a gene connected to a rare
nerve disorder. he trial showed that the drug, patisiran, could
stop transthyretin production in the liver and alleviate symptoms
in patients.
Edelman and his team had worked for months on patisiran,
and they were ready to spring into action late in 2016 when health
concerns arose over a diferent Alnylam drug, causing its stock to
plunge. Edelman believed patisiran had a good chance of working
safely and made Alnylam his biggest new position in anticipation
of the clinical results in September.
No doubt, much of Edelman’s track record can be attributed to
the excellent performance of health care and biotech stocks over
the past two decades. But Edelman has proved his mettle in down
markets as well. In 2016 biotech stocks plunged 21%, but six prof-
itable short positions and two long home runs helped his fund re-
turn 3.8% net of fees. Last year Edelman doubled the performance
of the stocks in the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which returned
21%. Edelman has had only two down years—2008 and 2002.
For all his stock-picking wins, however, Acerta Pharma of Red-
wood City, California, was a game changer. When Perceptive start-
ed taking a $20 million stake in the private company in 2013,
Acerta was developing a so-called BTK inhibitor for blood can-
cers like mantle cell lymphoma. In 2016 AstraZeneca swooped in
and bought a majority stake for $4 billion, turning Perceptive’s in-
vestment into $400 million. But Edelman didn’t sell “high.” If Astra-
Zeneca exercises its option to buy the rest of the shares for $3 bil-
lion, Perceptive will score again.
Edelman oten inds success investing in orphan drugs used to
treat rare conditions. Part of the reason he sailed through the 2016
biotech crash was his big position in Sarepta herapeutics. he
company had been developing a drug for Duchenne muscular dys-
trophy, a form of the muscle-wasting disease that devastates young
boys. Sarepta was seeking accelerated FDA approval for a remedy,
eteplirsen, which costs roughly $300,000 a year.
Even though eteplirsen had shown promise in a small trial, the
FDA’s medical staf was skeptical. Edelman was surprised that the
market had discounted the clinical results, and he became con-
vinced that top FDA oicial Janet Woodcock’s public comments
indicated she would back accelerated approval. “Parents were un-
derstandably going crazy, the drug was safe and there was a good
chance there was a beneit from it,” Edelman says. “Woodcock was
talking to the parents, and if you read her speeches she was more
liberal than the FDA’s neurological division.” In September 2016
eteplirsen recieved accelerated FDA approval, and Sarepta’s stock
soared.
Currently, Edelman’s highest risk-reward position is Global
Blood herapeutics. he California company is developing a drug
for sickle-cell anemia. he potential reward is huge because the
standard of care in sickle-cell disease, which oten includes blood
transfusions, doesn’t work well and has numerous adverse side ef-
fects. Edelman thinks it’s potentially a $5 billion global market.
Downside: It’s unclear whether Global Blood’s approach will actu-
ally work.
“I don’t want to be a hedge fund manager who doesn’t take
much risk,” Edelman says. “Otherwise, why I am doing this?” F

68 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN
TRUST THE NEWS?

Because we’ve covered the We’ve never taken sides in any

story from every angle. war, revolution or election.

We’ve reported the facts And we always champion

whatever the obstacles. the truth.

We’ve always asked the bbc.com

difficult questions.
Japan’s 50 Richest
BY KERRY A. DOLAN

Race to the Pinnacle

A familiar name sits on the top of the list, but other titans gain on him.

I
t was a good year for the super-
wealthy in Japan. he Nikkei
stock market rose 7% in the 12
months through late March, the
yen strengthened 6% against the
dollar and the country drew a record
number of foreign tourists. As a result,
80% of those on our list of Japan’s 50
Richest have larger fortunes than they
had a year ago. Some of the biggest
gains were in sotware, manufacturing,
retail and cosmetics. In total, Japan’s top
50 are worth $186 billion, up from $152
billion last year.
Masayoshi Son holds on to his spot as
No. 1 richest for the second year in a row.
Son’s telecom and investing irm Sotbank
made headlines for buying a signiicant
chunk of Uber at a discounted price in Jan-
uary. hen in late March, Uber announced
it would merge its Southeast Asian business
with Grab—a ride-hailing irm that also
counts Sotbank as an investor. His fortune
rose $1.5 billion to $21.9 billion as investors
sent shares of Sotbank higher.
he biggest gainer in dollar terms
was Takemitsu Takizaki, whose Motor-man Shigenobu Nagamori jumped six places, to $5.5 billion.
fortune climbed an impressive $5.1
billion to $17.6 billion. His Tokyo-listed sensors irm, Key- Germany’s Black Forest region. Noevir’s shares climbed some 60%
ence, is beneiting from increasing factory automation, which in the past year. he other newcomer, Eiichi Kuriwada, chairs SG
requires sensors to monitor the performance of machines and Holdings, parent of package delivery irm Sagawa Express. His late
robots. Sales growth is strong both in Japan and the U.S. father, Kiyoshi Sagawa, founded the delivery service in 1957.
Another manufacturing fortune that soared belongs to Notable drop-ofs include Naruatsu Baba, founder of
Shigenobu Nagamori, who at $5.5 billion is worth $2 billion smartphone game maker Colopl, whose shares fell slightly, and
more than a year ago. His irm Nidec makes motors and con- Kazuo Inamori, founder of manufacturing irm Kyocera. Its
trol equipment for home appliances and industrial customers stock dove in the winter on woes in the solar business.
AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG

and has operations in the U.S., Mexico, China and the U.K. Net worths are based on stock prices and exchange rates
here are two newcomers this year. Hiroshi Okura founded from March 23.
Tokyo-listed skincare and cosmetics irm Noevir Holdings, an Reported by James Simms, Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin,
Avon-like direct-selling irm with products inspired by a visit to Angel Au-Yeung and Chloe Sorvino.

70 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 THE LIST

1. MASAYOSHI SON
$21.9 BILLION
SOFTBANK AGE: 60

2. TADASHI YANAI
$19.3 BILLION S
FAST RETAILING
AGE: 69

3. NOBUTADA SAJI
$18 BILLION S
SUNTORY AGE: 72

4. TAKEMITSU TAKIZAKI
$17.6 BILLION S
KEYENCE AGE: 72

5. AKIRA MORI
$6.6 BILLION S
MORI TRUST
AGE: 81

6. SHIGENOBU NAGAMORI
$5.5 BILLION S
NIDEC AGE: 73

7. HIROSHI MIKITANI
$5.4 BILLION T
RAKUTEN AGE: 53

8. KEIICHIRO TAKAHARA
$5.2 BILLION S
UNICHARM
AGE: 87

9. AKIO NITORI
$4.8 BILLION S
NITORI AGE: 74

10. HIDEYUKI BUSUJIMA

$4.6 BILLION
SANKYO AGE: 65

11. YASUMITSU SHIGETA

$4.3 BILLION S
HIKARI TSUSHIN
AGE: 53

12. KOBAYASHI BROTHERS

$4.1 BILLION S
KOSE

13. MASAHIRO MIKI

$4 BILLION
ABC-MART
AGE: 62

14. MASATOSHI ITO

$3.9 BILLION
SEVEN & I HOLDINGS
AGE: 93

15. MINORU & YUJI OTSUKA

$3.4 BILLION S
OTSUKA

16. KAZUO OKADA

$3 BILLION S
UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT
AGE: 75
ANDREU DALMAU/EFE/NEWSCOM

17. CHANG-WOO HAN

HIROSHI MIKITANI: USE MY CRYPTOCURRENCY $2.8 BILLION T
MARUHAN
To help fuel sales at his e-commerce firm Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani joined the crypto craze in February, announcing plans AGE: 87
for a new currency, Rakuten Coin. It’s not so out of the blue. Rakuten established a blockchain research lab in 2016 and
briefly took Bitcoin payments in the U.S. Rakuten Coin, which has yet to be launched, will be linked to existing customers’
reward points and usage on Rakuten’s multiple e-commerce sites. “We have been preparing to do this for a long, long SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
time,” Mikitani said at a conference in February. “This is not something we just came up with.” —James Simms ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 71

Japan’s 50 Richest
BY ANIS SHAKIRAH MOHD MUSLIMIN

Tourism
Takeover
J apan has become a tourism hotspot, growing
steadily over the past ive years. In 2017, a record
28.7 million tourists visited the island nation,
contributing nearly $40 billion to the economy,
nearly 18% more than in 2016, the latter according
to the Japan Tourism Agency. Most foreign tourists
hail from Asia, with two thirds coming from South
Korea, China and Taiwan. (To approach a common
language, Masatoshi Ito’s giant 7-Eleven chain in
TAKAO YASUDA
Japan has reportedly started labeling prepared His discount retailer Don Quijote posted 9% revenue growth in 2017, partly
foods in both English and Japanese.) fueled by demand from tourists. Popular products in some stores are
labeled in English, Chinese, Korean and Thai, and stores accept payment in
From 2011 to 2015, Japan’s tourism industry foreign currencies, including Chinese yuan and Thai baht.
grew 33% per year—one of the highest rates in
the world. Relaxed visa requirements for Asian
countries and the growth of discount airlines are
likely fueling the boom, says Takeshi Akagi, head
of research in Japan for real estate advisory irm
Jones Lang LaSalle. he Japanese government aims
to attract 40 million tourists by 2020, when Tokyo
will host the Summer Olympics.
hese companies owned or run by some of
Japan’s richest—and one tycoon who hasn’t yet

DON QUIJOTE: TREVOR WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES; MIWAKO DATE; AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG

made the list—are already beneiting from or bet-
ting on the boom in tourism.

NUMBER OF FOREIGN TOURISTS TO JAPAN:

32
MIL1
28.7
MIL
24
MIL
19.7
MIL
13.4
MIL

MIWAKO DATE
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 The president of Mori Trust and her father, Chairman Akira Mori (No. 5,
1
FORECAST FROM JTB CORP. inset), are broadening the company in hospitality, partnering with
SOURCE: 2014–2017 FROM JAPAN NATIONAL TOURISM
America’s Hilton last year to build a hotel-and-timeshare resort on
ORGANIZATION. tourist-friendly Sesokojima Island in Okinawa.

72 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 THE LIST

18. YUSAKU MAEZAWA

$2.7 BILLION
START TODAY
AGE: 42

19. YOSHIKO MORI

$2.6 BILLION
MORI BUILDING
AGE: 77

20. KINOSHITA FAMILY

$2.5 BILLION
ACOM

21. TADA BROTHERS

$2.4 BILLION S
SUNDRUG

22. TAKAO YASUDA

$2.35 BILLION S
DON QUIJOTE
AGE: 68

23. MASATERU UNO

$2.2 BILLION S
COSMOS PHARMACEUTICAL
AGE: 71

24. KATSUMI TADA

$2.15 BILLION S
DAISHO GROUP
AGE: 72

25. SATOSHI SUZUKI

HIDEO SAWADA
$2.1 BILLION S
Up-and-comer Sawada, worth an estimated $800 million, runs publicly traded travel agency H.I.S., which provides
POLA ORBIS HOLDINGS
package tours, operates two theme parks and 25 hotels and runs bus tours. H.I.S made headlines in 2015 when it AGE: 64
introduced its Henn na Hotel brand, stafed by robots like the one above.
26. MASAHIRO NODA
SAWADA: TREVOR WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES; HEN-NA HOTEL: RODRIGO REYES MARIN/AFLO/NEWSCOM; ABC SHOES: AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG

$ 1.9 BILLION S
OBIC AGE: 79

27. HIROKO TAKEI

$1.8 BILLION
TAKEFUJI

28. KANAZAWA BROTHERS

$1.7 BILLION S
SANYO BUSSAN

29. YASUHIRO FUKUSHIMA

$1.6 BILLION S
SQUARE ENIX
AGE: 70

30. CHIZUKO & MICHIO MATSUI

$1.55 BILLION S
MATSUI SECURITIES
AGE: 65

31. KENJI KASAHARA

$1.5 BILLION T
MIXI AGE: 42

32. KENTARO OGAWA

$1.45 BILLION S
ZENSHO HOLDINGS
AGE: 69

33. YASUAKI YAMANISHI

$1.4 BILLION S
IZUMI AGE: 71

34. NOBUTOSHI SHIMAMURA

$1.37 BILLION
MASAHIRO MIKI SHIMAMURA AGE: 92
Miki’s footwear retailer ABC-Mart said last year that it got a boost in sales from tourists to Japan,
most of whom came from China.
SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 73

Japan’s 50 Richest

SATOSHI SUZUKI:
RINGING UP BEAUTY SALES
Tapping enthusiastic influencers to sell your cosmetics
and lotions can be a pretty good business. Satoshi
Suzuki’s firm Pola Orbis has some 46,000 “Beauty
Directors” peddling the company’s skin care creams
and antiaging treatments across Japan. Sales rose
nearly 12% to $2.2 billion last year. He’s betting on
boosting business with stores in China and Hong
Kong. Also gaining in the sector are new lister Hiroshi
Okura and the Kobayashi brothers, with their firm
Kose. “Chinese consumers are buying luxury cosmetics
products in stores, online, at airport duty-free shops
and abroad where they are traveling,” says Bolor
Enkhbaatar, analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley
Securities, who adds that Chinese tourists to Japan like
the lower prices, the bigger selection and the fact that
“they can be sure the products are not fake.”

ONLINE GAMES

Joining the Esports Wave

F
orget muscles of steel. he hottest new sport globally
requires quick ingers and a screen. Esports—essentially
competitive videogaming—has taken of, especially in
North America, China and South Korea. Japan’s antigambling
laws stymied tournaments—until recently. In February the
Japanese Esports Union, a merger of the country’s three largest
esports organizations, began issuing licenses to pro gamers to
bypass the country’s strict laws.
Young fans who grew up playing games online are willing
to spend up to $100 or more to watch gaming competitions
in person. hey also spend to buy special computer-gaming
gear for their desktops. he esports industry pulled in approxi- tions outside of Japan. Tsujimoto announced that 2018 will
mately $650 million in revenue worldwide
in 2017, according to market research irm
Newzoo. By 2020 that could surge to $1.4
billion. More than half of esports’ most ar-
Konami’s football game series. In February, Konami was one of
ive developers to award licensed professional gamers cash for
the irst time at an official Japanese esports tournament, before
a reported crowd of 72,000 people.
Cygames, a subsidiary of Susumu Fujita’s (No. 36) game
maker CyberAgent, partnered with California-based esports
irm Next Generation Esports last year to run an esports com-
petition in North America.
Kenzo Tsujimoto, an up-and-comer worth almost $400
million, founded and chairs game irm Capcom, whose Street
Fighter-branded games have been popular in esports competi-
be “eSports year one” for Japan. Other
companies likely to pile on to the esports
craze include Yasuhiro Fukushima’s (No.
29) game maker Square Enix, as well as
KYODO/NEWSCOM; AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG

dent fans are in the Asia-Paciic, and esports
will be an official sport at the 2022 Asian
Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.
Videogame developer Konami—founded
by Kagemasa Kozuki (No. 37)—partnered
with esports irm eFootball.Pro last year
to create a professional competition using
“Japan’s gaming culture provides
the perfect conditions for esports.”
powerhouses like Nintendo and Sony.
“Japan’s inherent gaming culture
provides the perfect conditions for the suc-
cessful development of esports, now that
obstacles to its growth have been lited by
the government,” says Jurre Pannekeet, se-
nior market analyst at Newzoo. —A.S.M.M.

74 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

 THE LIST

35. KAZUMI IIDA

$1.35 BILLION 3
IIDA GROUP HOLDINGS
AGE: 78

36. SUSUMU FUJITA

$1.33 BILLION S
CYBERAGENT
SHIGENOBU NAGAMORI: AGE: 44

THE FRENCH CONNECTION 37. KAGEMASA KOZUKI

$1.32 BILLION S
As Japanese automakers position KONAMI HOLDINGS
themselves for the future of electric cars, AGE: 77
Nagamori’s specialized motor manufacturer
38. HIROSHI OKURA
Nidec is joining the scramble. Nidec inked $1.3 BILLION Ì
a deal late last year to build electric motors NOEVIR HOLDINGS
for Peugeot’s parent company—in France. AGE: 81
Groupe PSA, which also owns the Citroen,
Opel and Vauxhall car brands, announced 39. SOICHIRO FUKUTAKE
the creation of a joint venture with Nidec’s $1.28 BILLION
BENESSE HOLDINGS
French arm, Nidec Leroy-Somer Holding, in
AGE: 72
December. Nidec absorbed electric motor
maker Leroy-Somer in early 2017 as part of a 40. EIICHI KURIWADA
$1.2 billion acquisition. $1.2 BILLION Ì
SG HOLDINGS AGE: 71

40. YOSHIYUKI SANKAI

$1.2 BILLION
TAKAFUMI HORIE CYBERDYNE AGE: 59

Aiming Higher 42. YOSHIKAZU TANAKA

$1.17 BILLION
GREE
AGE: 41

T
akafumi Horie knows all about lying too et company aiming to drastically lower the cost of
43. YOSHIKO SHINOHARA
close to the sun. space-launch services. It is a work in progress. he $1.15 BILLION
he entrepreneur briely achieved launch last year of its irst rocket intended to reach TEMP HOLDINGS
AGE: 83
billionaire status and appeared on the 2005 list space ended badly, with the rocket falling into the
ocean a minute ater litof. 44. SHOJI UEHARA
of Japan’s 40 richest before the stock price of his $1.1 BILLION
internet company, Livedoor, cratered. he com- Interstellar said in December that a fund man- TAISHO PHARMACEUTICAL
HOLDINGS
pany delisted the following year. Horie spent ager, Rheos Capital Works, is the main sponsor AGE: 90
nearly two years in prison starting in 2011 for of a second light, now set for sometime in April.
45. HIROSHI ISHIBASHI
securities law violations. he irst launch attempt was inanced primarily $1.05 BILLION
Now Horie, 45, with a net worth likely less than through crowdfunding, with a target of $256,000. BRIDGESTONE
AGE: 71
$50 million, is reaching beyond earthly pursuits. In (For about a hundred grand, a donor could push
2003 he founded Interstellar Technologies, a rock- the launch button.) Horie has said costs need to 46. HAJIME SATOMI
$1.04 BILLION S
come down to the aerospace equivalent of a Honda SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS
Super Cub moped— which costs about $2,500—to AGE: 76

make satellite launches more accessible. He aims to 47. MASAYUKI ISHIHARA

$1.03 BILLION T
put small satellites into orbit by 2020 and eventu- HEIWA AGE: 69
ally develop a rocket for asteroid exploration.
48. YOICHI & KEIKO ERIKAWA
Crowdfunding and six-igure budgets are a $1 BILLION
far cry from Horie’s halcyon days over a decade KOEI TECMO HOLDINGS

ago: Besides his brief lirt with billionairedom

IMAGINE CHINA/NEWSCOM; KYODO/NEWSCOM

49. MASATOSHI KUMAGAI

then, he also ran for parliament with the back- $970 MILLION 3
GMO INTERNET
ing of Japan’s then-prime minister—unsuccess- AGE: 54
fully. But for Horie, it’s clear that not everything 50. HIROKAZU SUGIURA
Horie (right) fortune has fallen to earth, but he has come back down to earth. —J.S. $960 MILLION S
SUGI HOLDINGS AGE: 67
has lofty ambitions for his rocket company.

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APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 75

TECHNOLOGY BEN SIN // GADGETMAN

HUAWEI’S ASCENT
THERE WERE NUMEROUS signs at though the overall revenue figure of $8.7 billion
Huawei’s recent launch event of its P20 is small.
flagship phone series to suggest that the Until 5G kicks in in a year or so—which Hu
Chinese tech and telecommunications says Huawei is on the verge of achieving—the
giant has made it as a premium consumer company’s fastest growing and most visibly
electronics brand: The launch was held prominent area is its smartphones. Despite
at the picturesque (and obviously not having virtually no market in the U.S., Huawei
cheap to rent) Grand Palais in Paris; more surpassed Apple as the second-biggest phone
than 2,000 members of the media were in brand in the world by units shipped, and the
attendance; Huawei billboards were plas- company’s bold strategy to ditch the mid-tier or
tered all over Europe; and, perhaps most entry-level market and focus on premium (ex-
important, the lack of surprise, shock or pensive) smartphones seems to be paying of.
disappointment over the over-$1,100 price tag of the P20 Pro. This year marks Huawei’s 30th birth-
Attendees—tech insiders, mostly—expected the top-end model of day, and the company, following the general
Huawei’s smartphones to be priced at (or even higher than) the iPhone Chinese idea that age 30 is when a boy truly
or Samsung level. And why wouldn’t they? Despite recent U.S. market becomes a man, is looking for new growth. “As
issues, Huawei phones are well received by tech writers and are, appar- we look to 2018, emerging technologies like the
ently, selling well. Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial
In an annual business report meeting with journalists (including intelligence and 5G will soon see large-scale
myself ) held in late March at the company’s Shenzhen headquarters, application,” explains Hu. “Throughout this
Huawei announced that its total revenue grew 15.7%, to $92.5 billion, process, Huawei will . . . pay special attention
in 2017. More impressive, net profit grew 28.1%, to $7.3 billion, a huge to the practical challenges that our customers
improvement over 2016’s 0.4% rate. face as they go digital. Our job is to help them
Huawei’s Deputy Chairwoman and Chief Financial Officer Sabrina overcome these challenges and achieve busi-
Meng, along with CEO Ken Hu, told reporters there are two factors ness success. Ultimately, we aim to bring digital
that explain how the company managed to bump up net profits and net to every person, home and organization for a
profit margins at a rate higher than total revenue growth: The company fully connected, intelligent world.”
became more efficient at growing smartphone sales. “In 2016, one of the Considering the lengths to which the U.S.
biggest areas that dragged consumer business group profits down were government has gone to prevent Huawei
the high cost of components,” said Meng. “So we developed a better sup- from entering its market, it doesn’t appear
ply management chain and improved our working the company’s ambitious
relationships with vendors.” vision will include the U.S.
Hu, meanwhile, added that whether it’s brand for now. Huawei will likely
image with consumers or phone units sold, the ramp up eforts in Europe
THOMAS KUHLENBECK FOR FORBES (TOP); MARLENE AWAAD/BLOOMBERG

company saw significant improvements in 2017. and Latin America—but

According to data released to the media, Huawei as long as the company is
and sub-brand Honor combined to sell 153 million shut out of the country still
handsets in 2017, generating $37.85 billion in sales. responsible for the most
The privately owned Chinese company’s bread high-end phones sold,
and butter, however, is network equipment, which Huawei will have a hard
generated roughly $47 billion over the past year, time achieving its ambi-
though its 3% growth percentage is tepid compared tious goal of becoming
with years past or Huawei’s other departments. number one.
Huawei also saw a 35.1% growth in its enterprise But is No. 2 really that
business unit, which handles cloud and data, The P20 Pro comes with a $1,100 price tag. bad? F
BEN SIN IS A HONG KONG-BASED CONTRIBUTOR TO FORBES.COM WHO WRITES ABOUT CONSUMER TECH.

76 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018

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Forbes Life
Buildings for Everyone
Unlike some of his glitz-and-glamour colleagues, Balkrishna Doshi
creates works for the common folk to enjoy and to live in.
BY KARL SHMAVONIAN
I
n early March, Balkrishna Doshi was
announced as the winner of the 2018
Pritzker Architecture Prize, the irst
Indian to win the prestigious award.
Doshi, 90, though not well-known outside
of India, worked with 20th-century-archi-
tecture giants Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.
He is also an educator and an urban planner.
he Pritzker jurists wrote of the winner:
“Over the years, Balkrishna Doshi has al-
ways created an architecture that is serious,
never lashy or a follower of trends. With
a deep sense of responsibility and a desire
“My works are an extension of my life”:
to contribute to his country and its peo- Balkrishna Doshi, winner of the Pritzker.
ple through high-quality, authentic archi-
tecture, he has created projects for public administrations and
utilities, educational and cultural institutions, and residences
for private clients, among others. Doshi is acutely aware of the
context in which his buildings are located. His solutions take
into account the social, environmental and economic dimen-
sions, and therefore his architecture is totally engaged with
sustainability.”
The Amdavad Ni Gufa gallery houses the work of Maqbool Fida Husain.
78 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018
Writes Doshi of his award: “My works
are an extension of my life, philosophy
and dreams trying to create [a] treasury of
the architectural spirit. I owe this presti-
gious prize to my guru, Le Corbusier. His
teachings led me to question identity and
compelled me to discover new regionally
adopted contemporary expression for a sus-
tainable holistic habitat.”
he award was created in 1979 by the
Pritzker family of Chicago—who made their
fortune in the Hyatt Hotels chain. he Pritz-
ker website states that the prize is given “To
honor a living architect or architects whose
built work demonstrates a combination of
those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has
produced consistent and signiicant contributions to humanity
and the built environment through the art of architecture.”
Doshi will formally receive the award in May at the Aga
Khan Museum in Toronto. (All of Doshi’s projects pictured here
are in Ahmedabad, India, with the exception of Aranya, which is
in Indore, India.) F
HUGO AYMAR/HAYTHAM-REA/REDUX (TOP)
Aranya Community Housing provides afordable housing for 80,000 people.
 BALKRISHNA DOSHI

Doshi is founder, architect and teacher at the Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology. Doshi worked on Louis Kahn’s indian institute of Management.

Kamala House, Doshi’s home, is named after his wife. Residences built for the Life Insurance Corp. feature terraces for the smaller units.

Premabhai Hall: “A good theatre...is the extension of the most active and creative part of a city. It is a place where all artists meet and recreate a new image of life.”

APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 79

 THOUGHTS ON

Change
“Usually when “WITHOUT
people are sad, DEVIATION
they don’t do FROM THE
anything. They NORM,
PROGRESS
just cry over IS NOT
“Let reality
their condition. be reality. Let POSSIBLE.”
But when they things flow —FRANK ZAPPA
get angry, they naturally
forward in “A step backward
bring about a whatever way
after making a wrong
change.” they like.”
—LAO TZU
turn is a step in the
—MALCOLM X
right direction.”
“Change is inevitable. “A man of destiny knows —KURT VONNEGUT
In a progressive country, that beyond this hill lies
change is constant.” another and another.

ROBERT PARENT/THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; DE AGOSTINI/BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA/GETTY IMAGES; SONY PICTURES CLASSICS/NEWSCOM; CLARENCE SINCLAIR BULL/JOHN KOBAL
—BENJAMIN DISRAELI The journey is never
complete.”

FOUNDATION/GETTY IMAGES; AGENCE OPALE/ALAMY; NEWSCOM; JACK MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES; BILDAGENTUR/GETTY IMAGES; ARTUR WIDAK/GETTY IMAGES; POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES
“THE HISTORY OF THE —F.W. DE KLERK
WORLD IS NONE OTHER
THAN THE PROGRESS
OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS
“Slide the weight from
OF FREEDOM.”
your shoulders and
—G.W.F. HEGEL
move forward.”
—BARBARA KINGSOLVER

“THERE IS NOTHING STABLE

IN THE WORLD; UPROAR’S
YOUR ONLY MUSIC.”
—JOHN KEATS
“It is not only by the
“IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE
questions we have
ATTITUDES, START WITH answered that progress
A CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR.” may be measured, but
—KATHARINE HEPBURN
also by those we are
still asking.”
—FREDA ADLER
“IDLE TO
PRETEND WE
HAVE LOST
PARADISE. WE
NEVER HAD IT; IT
IS STILL TO MAKE.”
—SUSAN ERTZ
UNPOPULAR ESSAYS, BY BERTRAND RUSSELL; SISTERS IN CRIME, BY FREDA ADLER;
PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, BY G.W.F. HEGEL; THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER;
“  ‘CHANGE’ IS SCIENTIFIC,
‘PROGRESS’ IS ETHICAL.
CHANGE IS INDUBITABLE,
WHEREAS PROGRESS IS A
MATTER OF CONTROVERSY.”
—BERTRAND RUSSELL
FINAL
THOUGHT
“Our future lies
in continuing
to look up,
continuing to look
“YOU OVERPOWER THEM out, continuing
ONCE FOR ALL, AND THEY to probe for the
ARE GONE; YOU CHANGE
THEIR COUNTENANCE AND pie in the sky.
SEND THEM AWAY.” It’s there.”
—JOB 14:20 —MALCOLM FORBES
SOURCES: MALCOLM X SPEAKS; THE TIMES BOOK OF QUOTATIONS;
ANGER IN THE SKY, BY SUSAN ERTZ; PLAYER PIANO, BY KURT VONNEGUT.

80 | FORBES ASIA APRIL 2018