200 ‘BEST UNDER A BILLION’: JAPAN JUMPS AUGUST 2017 • WWW.FORBES.COM

PLUS 50SINGAPORE’S RICHEST

5-STAR STIR SONIA CHENG IMPORTS ROSEWOOD BRAND UNDER WING OF HER CLAN

AUSTRALIA...... A $12.00 ...... RS 375 KOREA...... W 9,500 PAKISTAN...... RS 600 TAIWAN...... NT $275 CHINA...... RMB 85.00 ...... RP 77,000 ...... RM 24.00 ...... P 260 THAILAND...... B 260 HONG KONG...... HK $80 JAPAN...... ¥1238 + TAX NEW ZEALAND...... NZ $13.00 ...... S $12.50 UNITED STATES...... US $10.00

CONTENTS — AUGUST 2017 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 7

S PAGE 20 10 | FACT & COMMENT // STEVE FORBES “I WAS SHOCKED, Crackdown on North Korea unavoidable now. EVERYBODY WAS SHOCKED.” SINGAPORE’S 50 RICHEST — Sushi King founder 42 | MAYO FOR THE MAINLAND FUMIHIKO KONISHI Loo Choon Yong is taking his Raffles hospital brand to China. on Malaysia’s large appetite BY JANE A. PETERSON for sushi 46 | WHEN THE ‘LOVE’ GOES Choo Chong Ngen woos a different customer to his new inn brands. BY JESSICA TAN 50 | THE LIST Fortunes rise amid a bitter battle in Singapore’s first family. BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI

BEST UNDER A BILLION 26 | MAKE IT FLOW Chunlin gave up a prized state job to hustle for China’s burgeoning water industry. BY JANE HO 29 | LESSONS LEARNED Asset-heavy Indian schooling firms sink after good early marks. BY ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN 30 | EYEING NEW MARKETS Why China’s largest ophthalmological chain is focusing on the U.S. BY ELLEN SHENG 32 | THE LIST Sales of our top 200 publicly traded Asia-Pacific companies grew an average 55% last year. BY CHRISTINA SETTIMI COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY VIRGILE SIMON BERTRAND FOR FORBES UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL TOTALS AND PRICES EXPRESSED IN OUR STORIES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS.

2 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

CONTENTS — AUGUST 2017 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 7

COMPANIES, PEOPLE 12 | SCORING WITH THE ‘UNSCORABLE’ Chinese fintech firms use their big data to extend credit to the smartphone masses. BY REBECCA FENG 15 | FACE TIME China is quickly embracing facial-recognition technology, for better and worse. BY YUE WANG 16 | NEXT TYCOONS: HONG KONG HOMECOMING Sonia Cheng grew up in New World . Now she’s opening new ones for the family S PAGE 46 empire as her Rosewood Hotel Group keeps expanding. “PEOPLE THINK BY RON GLUCKMAN 20 | REINVENTING SUSHI HOTEL 81 MEANS Entrepreneur Fumihiko Konishi is serving up halal sushi for the masses. GEYLANG. DIFFERENT BY CHEN MAY YEE NAMES CAN CATCH 23 | THE NEW FACE OF FLIGHT Cirrus CEO Dale Klapmeier talks personal single-engine jets. DIFFERENT FISH.” BY RICH KARLGAARD —CHOO CHONG NGEN, Hotel 81 24 | SERIAL PLEASURE founder, with daughter Carolyn, CFO China’s online reading craze is so big it’s challenging Amazon’s Kindle. BY JINSHAN HONG 70 | AUSTIN POWERED Real estate mogul Nate Paul has an $800 million net worth. Wait until turns 31. BY NATHAN VARDI T PAGE 42 76 | DEAL TOY: A PIECE OF THE ROCK Looking back at the 1989 purchase of Rockefeller Center by a Japanese conglomerate. “THERE ARE PLENTY BY ANTOINE GARA OF DOCTORS, IF YOU 77 | BORDEAUX TO YIWU KNOW HOW TO LOOK How European wine is now going to China on Silk Road trains. FOR THEM.” BY WADE SHEPARD —LOO CHOON YONG, cofounder TECHNOLOGY of Raffles Medical Group 60 | BUILD, RACE, FIGHT . . . AND CHAT Discord’s communications service for gamers has outgrown messaging giant Slack. BY KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI

FORBES LIFE 78 | THE LONG GAME An exclusive look at Congaree, a new South Carolina golf club. BY ERIK MATUSZEWSKI 80 | THOUGHTS On bubbles.

4 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 Semarang, Central Java

Where history will complete your leisure

Ever remember when history was fun? No? It's probably because you haven't seen them face to face. Here, history comes alive before your eyes and will greet you like you're their next door neighbor. Feel Indonesia's vibrancy of the past yourself in events such as Kota Lama Festival (September), where you can feel, taste, and hear old traditions in Semarang's Old Town, Borobudur Masterpiece Ballet (August), where you can watch the legendary tale of Buddha’s teachings, and Reog International Festival (September), where you can witness a mystical performance of Reog Ponorogo. Get lost in the old soul of Indonesia's cultural experience, or have another. You can have it your own way in the land of endless wonders.

www.indonesia.travel indonesia.travel @indtravel indonesia.travel FORBES ASIA SIDELINES

Editor Tim W. Ferguson Editorial Director Karl Shmavonian Art Director Charles Brucaliere Senior Editor John Koppisch Uneasy Anniversaries Wealth Lists Editors Luisa Kroll, Kerry A. Dolan Photo Editor Michele Hadlow Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy his summer brought Research Director Sue Radlauer a couple of significant Online Editor Jasmine Smith 20-year anniversaries Reporter Grace Chung T in Asia. Neither was what Intern Rebecca Feng you’d call a celebration. Editorial Bureaus It was July 1997 when Beijing Yue Wang Hong Kong was handed Shanghai Russell Flannery (Senior Ed.); Maggie Chen India Editor Naazneen Karmali over to the People’s Repub- lic of China. I was visiting Contributing Editors Bangkok Suzanne Nam Moscow at the time, seeing Not exactly party time in Hong Kong. Chennai Anuradha Raghunathan the aftereffects of Soviet Hong Kong Shu-Ching Jean Chen times, and felt more than a little trepidation. I had fond days in the crown Jakarta Justin Doebele colony—fonder I’m sure than some native Hong Kongers did. But ambiva- Melbourne Lucinda Schmidt lence about this switch wasn’t limited to the expats. Perth Tim Treadgold Singapore Jane A. Peterson Today there is ambivalence in spades. Yes, Hong Kong is richer still, Taipei Joyce more gleaming. It still has formal rule of law and a separate status from Vietnam Lan Anh Nguyen the rest of China—is in fact of use to Beijing for that reason. Beneath the Columnists Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Ben Sin surface, however, the ground is moving, and many long-timers sense it. Production Manager Michelle Ciulla Still, although the economic border with the mainland is increasingly porous, Hong Kong remains an outpost. This is most obvious regarding free speech—so evident again in the outpourings there in memory of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese dissident and Nobelist who died while a prisoner of EDITOR-IN-CHIEF the state and whose work was officially hidden from his people. Steve Forbes For all that, Hong Kong’s return to China likely was inevitable. Like- wise, the Asian Financial Crisis that began in summer 1997 was long in the Lewis D’Vorkin making. Debt and currency manipulation to service an entrenched elite, FORBES MAGAZINE plus the overreach of many who wanted to join in the good life, brought EDITOR Randall Lane EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Noer a comeuppance. Western financial poohbahs didn’t alleviate the situa- ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Mansfield tion, and ordinary strivers suffered years of consequences. Yet from that

FORBES DIGITAL collapse came a sounder order. Asia today has fewer booms but is more VP, INVESTING EDITOR Matt Schifrin widely prosperous and, ideally, has less likelihood of an awful bust. VP, DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY Coates Bateman There are still shortcomings in much of “tiger” Asia’s practices, includ- VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Salah Zalatimo ing crony capitalism and undemocratic processes. Popular sovereignty VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK Christina Vuleta ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS is, of course, still part of the Hong Kong rub. Twenty years on from that Frederick E. Allen – Leadership eventful summer, what’s transpired calls for neither cheers nor tears but Loren Feldman – Entrepreneurs Janet Novack WASHINGTON for reflection and resolve. Michael K. Ozanian SPORTSMONEY DEPARTMENT HEADS Mark Decker, John Dobosz, Clay Thurmond Avik Roy OPINIONS Jessica Bohrer VP, EDITORIAL COUNSEL

FOUNDED IN 1917 B.C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917-54) Tim Ferguson Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954-90) James W. Michaels, Editor (1961-99) Editor, forbes asia William Baldwin, Editor (1999-2010) [email protected] KYODO/NEWSCOM

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CEO/ASIA, FORBES MEDIA CONVERSATION PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER, FORBES ASIA William Adamopoulos Our profi le of former NBA hoops star SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS Tina Wee, Serene Lee Yao Ming and his generous eff orts to Eugene Wong save wildlife in Africa and improve SENIOR DIRECTOR, REGIONAL SALES Lawrence Jang SENIOR DIRECTOR, MARKETING & AD SERVICES the quality of life for poor kids in Aarin Chan China (Heroes of Philanthropy, “A Star DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Eunice Soo Returns Home,” July, p. 24) prompted DIRECTOR, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Janelle Kuah John Loundes to post: “I have been DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Audra Ruyters tired of professional sportsmen and DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CONFERENCES Jolynn Chua women for many years. Th is story DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Pavan Kumar brings me some real joy to read. Giv- SENIOR MANAGER, CONFERENCES Quek Xue Wei ing back when other, easier options, SENIOR MANAGER, MARKETING & RESEARCH Joan Low OFFICE MANAGER/ASSISTANT TO THE CEO/ASIA could have been taken. THANK Jennifer Chung YOU, Yao Ming.” Th e Philippine Daily AD SERVICES MANAGER Fiona Carvalho Inquirer praised local members of AD SERVICES MANAGER-DIGITAL Keiko Wong the Heroes list: “Filipinos have again MANAGER, EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Melissa Ng CONFERENCE MANAGERS Clarabelle Chaw, Cherie Wong made a global mark, this time in ASSISTANT MANAGER, CONFERENCES Isabel Wong terms of philanthropy. Be they celebri- ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES ties or everyday Joes, Filipinos are no Angelia Ang, Sharon Joseph, Sabrina Cheung strangers to the gift of giving.” Our Q&A with Andrew Ng regarding the rise of MARKETING EXECUTIVE Gwynneth Chan CIRCULATION SERVICES artifi cial intelligence (“Executive Manual for AI,” July, p. 52) stirred a bit of disdain Taynmoli Karuppiah, Jennifer Yim from Jay West: “For the [forbes.com contributor’s] website that hosts the audio clip of the interview to consider itself any part of IT, it sure does seem to look like it was coded for Windows 2000. I imagine you can see the dust piles on that HTML.”

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FACT & COMMENT “With all thy getting, get understanding”

CRACKDOWN ON NORTH KOREA UNAVOIDABLE NOW BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THE TERRIBLE DEATH of student Otto its nuclear and missile programs. We’ve Warmbier at the hands of North Korea seen how successful that Neville Cham- should be the catalyst for a genuine crack- berlain-like move has been. down on this repugnant regime, for hu- Pyongyang has routinely violated manitarian and national security reasons. such agreements since Bill Clinton The Trump administration, thankfully, is began this abject appeasement process taking the North Korea situation far more in 1994. North Korea’s nuclear pro- seriously than its predecessors. gram proceeds apace, and tests of its When President Trump met with increasingly potent ballistic missiles— China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in April, he which will soon be able to reach our pressed the Chinese president to take shores—are now routine. meaningful measures to curb North t4UBSUBQQMZJOHTFSJPVTTBODUJPOTPO Korea’s aggressiveness. So far, China hasn’t followed BMMCBOLTBOEDPNQBOJFTUIBUEPCVTJOFTTXJUI/PSUI through successfully. ,PSFBWe began doing this in the early 2000s, and the That’s why there are several steps the U.S. should sanctions were starting to be effective, which is why take immediately, which would start to inflict serious Pyongyang signaled the Bush administration that, if we let economic pain on Pyongyang and put pressure on China up, it was ready to make a deal. We backed off the sanc- to make good on its own pledges. tions, but the North didn’t change its behavior. t#BSBOZUSBWFMUP/PSUI,PSFBCZ64DJUJ[FOTUIBUJTOPU Any financial or commercial entity found not to be FYQMJDJUMZTBODUJPOFECZ8BTIJOHUPO While the State Depart- in compliance would be barred from doing any busi- ment strongly warns U.S. citizens not to go to that odious coun- ness with the U.S. That ban would cover noncomplying try, that’s not the same as an outright prohibition. Remember, companies everywhere—including those in Europe and every dollar spent in North in China. Banks in violation Korea by an American goes would be kicked out of the directly into the hands of SWIFT (Society for World- murderously psychotic dic- wide Interbank Financial tator Kim Jong-un to finance Telecommunication) net- his nuclear and terrorist work, which is the world’s activities. largest payment-messaging t1VU/PSUI,PSFBCBDL system. This would effective- POUIF64MJTUPGUFSSPS- ly prevent such banks from JTUTUBUFTIn a misbegot- conducting any international ten bout of appeasement transactions. Three North President George W. Bush Korean banks were recently removed that designation ousted from SWIFT, but this in 2008, in the hopes that measure would also apply doing so would induce to financial institutions that Pyongyang to keep its deal with companies doing

promises to throttle back Kicking the North Korea can down the road is no longer an option. business with the North. IMAGES KNS/AFP/GETTY

10 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 t"OOPVODFUIBUUIF64/BWZXPVME ly dead serious about decisively dealing nations that we are not abandoning our CFGSFFUPJOUFSEJDUTIJQTTVTQFDUFEPG with this rogue regime. post-WWII policy of protecting them USBOTQPSUJOH/PSUI,PSFBONJMJUBSZ t4UFQVQPVSBOUJCBMMJTUJDNJTTJMFFG- and keeping the peace in the region. QSPEVDUT JODMVEJOHOVDMFBSQBSUT PSPG GPSUT XJUIUIFTUBUFEHPBMPGTIPPU- Powerful stuff, this. But kicking the USBOTQPSUJOHNJMJUBSZJUFNTPSOVDMFBS JOHEPXOBOZGVUVSFNJTTJMFTĕSFECZ North Korea can down the road, as we QBSUTUP1ZPOHZBOH This would force- /PSUI,PSFB Such efforts would reas- have done for more than 20 years, is fully let the world know that we are final- sure South Korea, Japan and other Asian no longer a viable option.

Cold War’s that could then reach Russia. (We determination and skillful diplomacy once had shorter-range missiles sta- won the backing of the U.S. and sub- Unheralded Hero tioned in Turkey, but we had quietly stantially softened French resistance Historians often cite the trio of Ronald pulled them out as part of the deal (Kohl had worked hard for years to Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Margaret that settled the 1962 Cuban Missile establish a close relationship with Thatcher as having played critical roles Crisis.) But would Bonn (then the France’s president, François Mit- in bringing down the evil empire of the capital of West Germany) allow those terrand). In the end Kohl not only Soviet Union. A fourth name should be weapons on German soil? Opposi- merged East Germany with West added: Helmut Kohl, who died recently tion—stoked with plentiful amounts of Germany, but he also got Moscow to at age 87. Soviet cash and fueled by an elabo- acquiesce in the new country’s re- When Kohl became chancellor in rate Soviet-orchestrated propaganda maining in NATO. 1982 of what was then West Ger- campaign—was fierce: “Don’t let our The chancellor also pushed hard for many, the Soviet Union was engaged country become a nuclear wasteland! the creation of the euro, even though in an ultra-high-stakes political Keep American missiles out!” Germans wanted to maintain their offensive to shatter the Western alli- Chancellor Kohl was having none beloved deutsche mark. Kohl believed ance and win the Cold War. Moscow of it; there was no more equivocation a unified currency would help further had developed and then positioned like that of his predecessor. He was integrate Germany with the rest of Eu- intermediate-range nuclear missiles firm: Those U.S. rope. He wanted that were aimed primarily at Ger- missiles would to do everything many. The goal: to blackmail West be placed on possible to avoid Germany into fatally weakening its German soil. a repeat of what ties to NATO, which would enable Period. Despite had happened the Soviet Union to dominate Eu- intense pres- in the first half rope. The threat looked all too real. sure, domesti- of the 20th cen- If Moscow fired its missiles at Ger- cally and from tury. He can’t be many, would the U.S. retaliate with a Moscow, Kohl blamed for the nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, wouldn’t back fact that most risking its own nuclear annihila- down. SF with Helmut Kohl, 1984. It was clear the Europeans today tion? After all, even if we made such Moscow lost German leader wouldn’t buckle under to pressure (and almost from Moscow or domestic demonstrators. a response, the Soviets would still its great gamble, all economists be capable of firing off enough of a setback that was even more damag- elsewhere) are embarrassingly clueless their missiles to obliterate us. Mos- ing than its blinking during the Cuban about what constitutes an effective cow was betting that its targeting of missile showdown, because this was monetary policy. Germany with shorter-range rockets a crucial factor in setting the stage Kohl was Germany’s longest- would, for all intents and purposes, for the fall of the Berlin Wall several serving chancellor (1982–98) since emasculate our nuclear deterrent years later. Otto von Bismarck. Kohl reunited and force the West German govern- Kohl had two other major achieve- Germany by peaceful means in 1990. ment to cut a deal with Moscow, ef- ments during his time in office. One Bismarck achieved the original Ger- fectively becoming a neutral nation was the peaceful reunification of his man unification through “blood and à la Finland. country after the fall of the Berlin iron,” that is, by cynically engineering The obvious response was for the Wall. The U.S.S.R. wasn’t keen on a series of wars with his neighbors. U.S. to station its own intermediate- Germany’s coming together again, May Helmut Kohl’s legacy be the range nuclear missiles in Germany nor was France or Britain. But Kohl’s one that triumphs in the future. F

JULY 2017 FORBES ASIA | 11 FORBES ASIA RAPID-FIRE FINANCE

SCORING WITH THE ‘UNSCORABLE’

Chinese fintechs use their big data to extend credit to the smartphone masses.

BY REBECCA FENG

hat can you do in stallments within a month after goods are individuals because they lack a reliable 52 seconds? Internet delivered. Hua Bei accounted for 28% of credit score. In fact, most Chinese peo- juggernaut Alibaba the transactions made on Singles’ Day in ple, by Western standards, are simply “un- can generate 2016. Fifteen million users applied to in- scorable”—only 25% of the population RMB 1 billion in crease their Hua Bei credit limit before have a credit history. Wsales for its annual online shopping carni- the carnival even began. Once debt-leery The remaining 75% is the battleground val. Last November 11, China’s so-called Chinese consumers are finally at ease Chinese fintech companies are racing to- Singles’ Day, sales across Alibaba plat- with spending borrowed money, at least ward. They say that with big data they forms reached new heights: RMB 120 bil- online. can provide alternative credit scores to lion, or $17.9 billion. Behind the dazzling Offline borrowing, however, is still the unscorable. More-established con- numbers is its Alipay unit’s new tool Hua largely absent. Hua Bei is basically a vir- tenders include China Rapid Finance and Bei (“Just Spend”). tual credit card, but 60% of the users have CreditEase, and Yongqianbao has joined Hua Bei functions as a mini-loans pro- never owned a physical credit card. Tra- the fray. The winning strategy, they say, vider. Users can pay for purchases in in- ditional banks are not lending money to is twofold—targeting the right potential

12 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 The Chinese have leapfrogged a generation of consumer finance, using mobile credit and payments. borrowers and developing the best data ing to FT Confidential Research, 80% of ital footprints, and technologists are col- model to provide customized loans to Chinese consumers in first-tier cities have lecting them. Combined with other, each loan applicant. used Alipay while 79% have used cash. seemingly meaningless data points, they That the Chinese have leapfrogged a For the whole year, $5.5 trillion third-par- enable algorithms to predict consumer generation of consumer finance is clear. ty mobile payments were completed in behavior, including how likely a purchas- With spending increasing, credit card use China. er/borrower is to make a payment. per capita actually declined from 0.34 in Like credit card networks, Chinese fin- In the world of data, this is machine 2014 to 0.29 at the end of 2015, according techs are not lenders—they front for affil- learning. The electronic brain “learns” to People’s Bank of China. In that same iated banks. But they sweep up valuable from each loan applicant. Data points year, however, mobile payment users grew data. The data mills open the way for the may begin to amass as early as the appli- 65%. By last May, Alibaba’s Alipay sur- banks to put credit into millions of smart- cant’s completion of the online form— passed cash and become the most fre- phone QR codes. say, the number of corrections made in

VCG/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES VCG/VCG quently used form of payment. Accord- Mobile payments in turn generate dig- the application process. (The machine

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 13 FORBES ASIA RAPID-FIRE FINANCE

Targeting roughly the same group of FROM PORN FILTER users, three-year-old Yongqianbao of Bei- jing distinguishes itself by a high loan ap- TO CREDIT RATER proval rate—20% to 30% , it says. The in- dustry average is in the single digits. Jiao Shing Tao, CEO and chairman of a small Las Vegas company, Remark Holdings, Ke, founder and CEO of Yongqianbao, sounds a bit cocky when he speaks of plunging into the huge Chinese fintech says the high approval rate is a sign of space: “Our data model is trained by the amount of data they [the fintech com- an accurate AI risk-management model, panies there] can never acquire. They no longer have to train their own data ICE (identification, calculation and eval- models. Just buy ours.” uation). “Many people have the miscon- Remark has managed to collect data from almost every social media site on ception that more data points will neces- Earth: 1.3 billion active user profiles, 10 billion images, 15 billion posts and sarily lead to more accurate data models, 50 billion comments are gathered from Tencent, Alibaba, Facebook, Twitter and but that’s not exactly right,” Jiao says from others. Remark’s intelligence platform, KanKan, was assembled to analyze data his Beijing headquarters. “For a machine and build facial-recognition algorithms to help live-streaming companies filter to learn, you also need to feed it with out pornography. enough loan outcomes and feed it fre- Now the New York-born Tao, 40, has decided that credit rating in China has quently.” Yongqianbao has fed 10 million a more stimulating future. The NYU Stern graduate argues that a comprehensive loan outcomes to ICE so far, and every data set can generate algorithms for any domain. “Data is the new oil,” he says. month 2 million more samples are added. “Banks and P2P lending platforms provide us their historical loan outcomes. “While our loan approval rate is high, We feed our models with those and sell our algorithms back to them,” adds our default rate is low,” says the Tsinghua Chinese-born-and-bred Jason Wei, Remark’s . The com- computer science graduate. Yongqianbao pany, with $59 million in revenues in 2016, claims to have signed up one of Chi- wouldn’t disclose the exact default rate. na’s largest banks for KanKan. Back in October, Jiao told 36Kr, a Chinese “Many say that social data are not as relevant as financial data in determining media outlet dedicated to entrepreneurs, a person’s credit score,” Wei says. “Well, the connection may be weak, but human that Yongqianbao’s default rate was 60% of beings are not to judge how weak the connection is, machines will.” —R.F. the industry average. The company raised $67 million this March from investors, in- cluding Sinovation Ventures, Lee Kai Fu’s may notice that a cleaner “form” indi- China Rapid Finance (CRF), China’s firm. cates more likely repayment.) Addition- largest consumer-lending marketplace by Ning Tang, CEO of CreditEase, was a ally, if the applicant agrees, fintech com- number of loans facilitated, calls its target pioneer in the Chinese fintech sector. He panies gain access to activity data, such users EMMAs (emerging middle-class, founded the Beijing company in 2006; its as social media (WeChat moments) or mobile-active consumers), a group of 500 online consumer finance arm, Yirendai, Tmall shopping records. The more appli- million underserved borrowers. These are had the first IPO of a such a fintech com- cants, and more inputs, the surer the pat- “typically young people aged 23-to-29- pany, in late 2015. Last year, it had reve- terns will be. years old, urban, employed, well-educated nues of $488 million. While China’s internet giants—Alib- and heavy smartphone users,” CRF tells “When we first founded our compa- aba, Baidu and Tencent—all have their Forbes Asia. Founded in 2001 by Zane ny, we didn’t even know what to name it own lending arms, these platforms are Wang, who holds a Ph.D. in statistics, the because there was no such word as inclu- usually exclusive to their existing user Shanghai company initially was only an sive finance or [what’s also called] P2P base. Tencent’s Wei Li Dai is by invitation institutional risk manager but expanded lending,” says Tang. “Over the past ten only. Users need to show good account into the online-finance business in 2010. years, we as an industry have made break- history at Tencent’s WeBank to be invited The company employs a “low and throughs in individual credit rating, but to apply for loans. Alibaba’s Jie Bei (“Just grow” strategy. It started with small loans rating small and medium-size enterprises Borrow”)—a counterpart to Hua Bei— to prime and near-prime EMMAs, helping is still an untapped field.” lends to approved Alibaba customers; them build up their credit history. With To tackle that more complex challenge, Baidu has You Qian Hua (“Has money repayment histories at the CRF platform, Tang says, fintechs must share their data. to spend”), a product heavily focused on many of these now qualify for larger and Two years ago, CreditEase established Zhi providing college loans. longer-term loans. On July 10, the compa- Cheng A Fu, a data-sharing platform, and In comparison, independent fintech ny reached 20 million cumulative loans. offered free access to its data points col- companies target a wider population by The total for the first half of 2017 was near lected over ten years. “Many say that we developing the best credit scoring algo- the number in all years leading to 2017. may lose because of this,” he says. “But I rithms for matching lenders with borrow- Publicly traded since April, it expects to think if we don’t do this, the entire indus- ers (the unscorable 75%). exceed $100 million in revenues this year. try will lose.” F

14 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA CANDID CAMERAS

Getting Faced China is quickly embracing facial recognition tech, for better and worse.

BY YUE WANG

ould you want to have what you see in the Fast and Furious mov- your face tracked by ies, only with even higher accuracy,” Meg- ever-present camer- vii’s Xie says, referring to a fictional system as so others can know called God’s Eye that can immediately lo- your identity and cate anyone’s whereabouts through surveil- Wwhereabouts? While the answer is likely to lance cameras. be no for many in the West, the scenario is Other uses, however, would spook many becoming a reality in China. in the West. As part of a national campaign Facial-recognition technology, a staple to promote “civilized” behavior, regulators of Minority Report-style movies, is quick- have deployed facial recognition to name ly inserting itself into the daily lives of more and shame jaywalkers in dozens of Chinese and more people in the country. Unfettered cities. In Jinan, for example, face-reading by privacy regulations, China’s largest inter- cameras take videos of pedestrians crossing net companies are scooping up hundreds of roads on a red light. Offenders’ personal in- “China will remain ahead of Western countries.” millions of photos from their online apps to formation, including names and home ad- teach computers to analyze facial features. people’s faces before allowing entry. Some dresses, are then displayed on screens at the These companies have identified potential colleges have even resorted to installing this side of roads as a warning, according to the revenue streams through advances in arti- technology to spot “ghost writers” trying to state-run Xinhua News Agency. ficial intelligence, while catering to Beijing’s sit exams for other students. And one KFC Under Chinese law, this doesn’t con- interest in deploying the technology for en- in Beijing is scanning customers’ faces to stitute a breach of privacy. Although facial hanced surveillance. recommend menu items based on such fac- recognition has been around for years, the For example, search giant Baidu show- tors as age, gender and mood. most relevant law regulating its use didn’t cased its facial-recognition technology at “In China, facial-recognition technol- go into effect until this past June, accord- the company’s first AI developer confer- ogies are as good as those developed in ing to Ronald Cheng, a partner at interna- ence in Beijing. It is also using it to verify Western countries,” says Wang Shengjin, tional law firm O’Melveny. China’s newly customer identities for insurance firm Tai- a professor at the department of electron- installed cybersecurity law has rules on col- kang. Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of ic engineering at China’s prestigious Tsing- lecting personal information, including bio- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, now al- hua University. “But we are far ahead when metric characters, for commercial use, but lows users to make transactions by scan- it comes to deploying it commercially.” this doesn’t apply to local governments, ning their faces. Today’s Headlines, a pop- The technology’s biggest fan, however, is Cheng says. ular local-news app, uses facial recognition the Chinese government. In a bid to moni- Citizens can request deletion of personal to verify partner writers, according to Xie tor citizens more closely, authorities are inte- information or seek remedies if companies Yinan, a spokesperson for Beijing-based grating facial recognition with the country’s are found to be in violation of the cyberse- facial-recognition startup Megvii, which li- vast network of 176 million surveillance curity law, he says. But as the law is only a censes its technology to news and entertain- cameras; there are only 50 million in the month old, enforcement remains to be seen. ment platforms. U.S., according to consultancy IHS Markit. Regardless, China is moving into a fu- In some of these cases, the verification Much like in the U.S., the authorities use ture where face-reading cameras will be ev- process requires users to tune in through facial-recognition technology to cross-ref- erywhere. “China will remain ahead of live video. Computers can then analyze their erence surveillance footage, here using a Western countries in using facial recogni- facial movements and make cross-referenc- huge data trove of national-ID photographs tion,” said Leng Biao, an associate profes-

QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG es with national-ID photographs to verify to catch criminals and terrorists. The tech- sor at the School of Computer Science & identities, Xie says. The technology can also nology has become so good that it can even Engineering at China’s Beihang University. distinguish still photos from real people, he match a person with photos taken ten years “From a government strategy perspective, said. Meanwhile, many hotels, schools and apart. There are also ways to enhance the the technology will move much faster than kindergartens are installing cameras to scan quality of obscure shots. “It is similar to in the U.S. and Europe.” F

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 15 FORBES ASIA SONIA CHENG

A GENERATION EMERGES

Hong Kong Homecoming Sonia Cheng grew up in New World hotels. Now she’s opening new ones for the family empire as her Rosewood Hotel Group keeps expanding.

BY RON GLUCKMAN

hen it comes to luxury hotels, Hong is putting up a 66-story tower with 398 hotel rooms and Kongers can be a bit blasé. Most of the 199 long-term residences. glitzy global brands are represented, and New World is part of Enterprises, founded opulent new openings occur regularly. So by Cheng Yu-tung, who died last September just after his 91st the buzz over the arrival of a new brand birthday and left a roughly $15 billion fortune. He had come Wthat’s more than a year away seems surprising. All the more so from China as a teenager and his rags-to-riches tale began because the brand, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, has little vis- with his transformation of a gold shop into Chow Tai ibility in Asia, with just a single hotel in Beijing. Fook, one of the world’s largest jewelry chains. Unlike many Much of Asia may be unfamiliar with Rosewood, but Hong Hong Kong tycoons whose family dynasties end up hobbled by Kong is already enamored of the upscale hotel group. “I’m a succession disputes, he carefully plotted his own transition. Son total fan of Rosewood, and everybody in Hong Kong cannot took over and groomed his four children, Adrian, wait to have our own,” says Goodwin Gaw, a major hotel owner Sonia, Brian and Christopher, to run the family businesses. and investor. “Rosewood is like a Four Seasons for Millennials. Rosewood is the baby of 36-year-old Sonia, or rather, one of It’s really connected to young travelers, especially Asian.” four babies. Hailed as a model Millennial, she’s the chief execu- Hong Kong hotel-and-property company New World tive and also a mother of three under the age of 5; her husband Development bought U.S.-based Rosewood in 2011, and in the runs a restaurant company (see box, p. 18). Under her, Rose- third quarter of next year it expects to finally open the chain’s wood has become one of the world’s fastest-growing luxury first Hong Kong hotel. It knocked down the New World Centre hotel brands. Among its prized properties are the historic Hôtel on Salisbury Road in overlooking the harbor and de Crillon, in Paris on the Place de la Concorde, which just

16 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

FORBES ASIA | 17 FORBES AUGUST 2017 Rosewood CEO Sonia Cheng. Rosewood “I like to be a little unconventional”: be a little unconventional”: to “I like Rosewood instantly catapulted New World into the top the top into World New catapulted Rosewood instantly calls it Kong, in Hong Capital Gaw of the chairman Gaw, but the Rosewood deal provided an unexpected path. “They unexpected an path. the had Rosewood dealbut provided they did over what experience, and and knowledge of a wealth so well was not it “But she says. was amazing,” the last 30 years it.” knew about a small audience Only marketed. different with companies two merging But resorts. of category new challenges America, presented and Kong in Hong cultures, the beginning because easyat was not “It CEO. this young for members, the time reassuring team of spend to a lot have you convincing the company, do with to want we what showing everyone is sure] [making this is a newthem that chapter, she says. vision,” one and goal one toward working Cheng took over New World’s hotel-management business business hotel-management World’s New took over Cheng in 2008, while still in her 20s. She says her plan all along was to was all along plan her says 20s. She in her in 2008, while still travelers, Age New well-heeled a new luxury at tier aimed create reopened, and the Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Upper Manhattan’s on the Carlyle Hotel and reopened, number is set that but 20 Rosewood now are hotels, There Side. , are the pipeline years—in a few within double to tented a lavish and An, Vietnam, Hoi and Penh Phnom Phuket, as the head all, Laos. In Prabang, in Luang villa encampment hotel-management World’s New Group, Rosewoodof Hotel under the in 18 countries, 57 hotels she oversees company, World New brands. Pentahotel and Rosewood, World New the Rosewood including Beijing these and of hotels, many owns hotel. Kong the new Hong will own it and the Carlyle, VIRGILE SIMON BERTRAND FOR FORBES FORBES ASIA SONIA CHENG

“a brilliant move to buy Rosewood. It didn’t have a good HOSPITABLE HUBBY strategy for growth. She’s handled this transition perfectly.” Indeed, revenue and profits are growing. Rosewood says Sonia Cheng’s husband, Paulo its gross operating revenue last year grew by around 10% Pong Kin-Yee, 40, is also a over 2015, while gross operating profits increased nearly scion of a wealthy Hong Kong 20%. It forecasts another 6.2% bump in revenue and a family and the pair shares a 14% rise in profits this year. Privately held, it declined to passion for travel and good disclose actual revenue and net profit figures. food. His grandfather Pong It doesn’t hurt to have a billionaire grandfather, but Ding-yuen arrived from China Cheng always aimed to earn her stripes. She worked at and started steel company Warburg Pincus and Morgan Stanley in New York and Shiu Wing. After the patri- Hong Kong doing real estate valuations after her educa- arch’s death, Paulo’s grand- tion at St. Paul’s Co-educational College in Hong Kong, mother Cynthia Pong Hong boarding school in Connecticut and then Harvard. “I Paulo Pong Siu-chu took over. Forbes did a major in applied mathematics in economics. The Kin-Yee Asia valued her fortune at reason I did that was no one else did it,” she says, break- $1.1 billion in 2011. ing into laughter while noting that many of her peers Sonia’s brother Adrian introduced the two; they were married were majoring in economics or East Asian studies. “I in 2012. Like his wife, Pong went to college in Cambridge, Mas- like to be a little unconventional. I wanted something sachusetts, but at MIT. He started Altaya Group in 2001 as a pre- challenging, I didn’t just want to go the easy route, and mium wine importer. He’s also an executive director of Classified that’s always been my life, always trying to find the chal- Group, which boasts more than a dozen high-end restaurants in lenging route.” Hong Kong and went public last year. And he’s a partner in Dud- She’s often tapped to speak at conferences on the inter- dell’s, a two-star Michelin restaurant in Central serving ests of affluent young travelers,but confesses a shyness of cuisine, and is planning a Duddell’s in London. the spotlight. “I speak at the conferences to help promote And as with his wife and hotels, his career path began early, the brand,” she says. “When people label me as this star in his case with an intense fascination with wine. While other kids or something, this young woman CEO, I don’t enjoy it. took off for Greece or Australia, following his high school gradua- I don’t think I deserve it—yet.” She’s also in demand to tion in 1996 he went to Napa Valley in California. He later worked speak at schools and universities about women in the in vineyards in France. —R.G. workplace and other topics, which she finds a better fit. XIAOMEI CHEN/SCMP; JEROME FAVRE/BLOOMBERG; BILLY H.C. KWOK/BLOOMBERG H.C. BILLY JEROME FAVRE/BLOOMBERG; CHEN/SCMP; XIAOMEI

Adrian A FATHER Cheng AND SON CHAT

In an email exchange, Sonia Cheng’s father, Henry, 70, chairman of and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, and then her brother Adrian, 37, the group’s executive director, discuss the transition to Henry Cheng the next generation with Forbes Asia’s Ron Gluckman.

Forbes Asia: We see many examples in dren were qualified to lead the company, Difficult situations teach you and the Hong Kong of problematic generational through their education, through their people around you how to weather a storm shifts.H ow did your father [the late experience and through the same commit- so you are better prepared for the next one, Cheng Yu-tung] do this differently? ment to the whole New World family. My which will surely come. I tell my children Henry Cheng: The answer lies in my fa- father raised me that way, and I raised my that how they deal with downturns will ther’s deep appreciation for the people who children that way. teach them far more than uninterrupted helped build this company and invested success, so don’t be afraid of them. I always in it. He realized that he owed them a debt You were part of a similar shift but faced also remind my kids that having the right of gratitude, and the best way to repay it considerable challenges. What lessons people around them, and encouraging and was to ensure that his son and grandchil- were learned? believing in them, is essential.

18 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 “That I enjoy, because I hope my experience can inspire a lot of U.S. and the Caribbean, commanding a loyal following, but its young students.” growth had plateaued and it was exploring its options. Much like Eloise, the girl who lived in New York’s Plaza Cheng wasn’t looking to acquire a marquee brand, but one Hotel in a series of children’s books and movies, Cheng was of the Rosewood owners the family knew suggested a meeting. enchanted by hotels as a child. “My family was one of the first Rosewood was never widely shopped around, and there was developers of luxury hotels in Hong Kong and in China,” she no bidding war. The deal was done quickly, and New World says, “so I grew up surrounded by hotels.” Indeed, she spent paid $225 million, a price some felt was inflated. Now many much of her childhood in hotels, including the Regent on the call it a bargain. “It was a great buy,” says Bill Barnett, managing Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, which is now the Intercontinental director of the Asia consultancy C9 Hotelworks. New World, he Hong Kong, and the New World Hotel across Salisbury Road, says, was positioned to unlock the value of Rosewood. “It was where the new Rosewood Hotel is being built. She recalls how perfect timing.” she would have slumber parties in the hotels with her cousins. Symon Bridle, who came to Rose- But running hotels is different from staying in them. “It wood after 18 years with Shangri-la, another heralded Hong was overwhelming at first, because I didn’t have the standard Kong hotel company, says: “The challenge is creating a brand Cornell University hotel degree or 20 years of hotel experience,” identity and getting it right at the beginning.” He concedes that she says. “I did a crash course. I literally went from department Rosewood’s exact formula for luxury “is hard to explain” but to department to try to understand how everything works. I credits Cheng for offering a fresh perspective. She wants her learned a lot in a very short period.” hotels to be hip destinations in each city; so she focused on cre- As she methodically spent two years visiting each hotel and ating lively lobbies and facilities rich in local color. “She didn’t talking to staff, she also mapped out her idea for a luxury brand come to this with a lot of baggage. She knew hotels, grew up in appealing to travelers like herself. “The audience we are target- them, but she really brought a young mind-set to this. We’re ing is looking for a different experience,” she says. “These are prepared to do things differently.” the affluent explorers, and they are looking for an adventure, The payoff has been in both accolades and bookings. After a sense of surprise, of discovery. They don’t want the expected opening in Beijing in 2014, Rosewood became not only the anymore. We’re delivering the unexpected.” buzzy new place to bunk but also to be seen. “Sonia has a pas- The acquisition of Rosewood was a fortuitous break. It had sion for hotels, and it shows,” notes Gloria Chang, director of the a rich history, but a limited reach. It was founded in 1979 by Hong Kong office of Horwath HTL, an international hotel and Caroline Rose Hunt, herself a rich daughter (of early U.S. oil tourism consultancy. “Rosewood really did a good job in Beijing. tycoon H. L. Hunt). Her first hotel was Rosewood Mansion Everybody is looking forward to seeing Rosewood in Hong on Turtle Creek in Dallas. The luxury brand spread across the Kong.” F

It must be hard to balance being chairman anced their lives well and managed to build potential for growth is phenomenal. Since and also father. You must sometimes feel fulfilling personal lives as well as professional, this generation is the same age and has the like jumping in when Adrian and Sonia which makes me very happy as a father (and same experience and outlook of younger propose their own ideas for the businesses? grandfather!). Chinese consumers, I think we bring a spe- I tell myself to keep an open mind, be sup- cial insight and recognition to doing business portive, offer advice only when asked and How did your family prepare you and with them. jump in only when necessary! It’s important Sonia for the transition? for me to listen to the next generation rather Adrian Cheng: They gave us the freedom How is it working with your sister than sticking only with my own protocol. to explore and develop different interests, and father? My children are incredibly talented, mature and that’s been invaluable in setting our own We have always been close and feel free and capable individuals with great ideas and stamp on what we do and proposing initiatives to go to each other for second opinions vision. We discuss different things all the that we feel are the best way forward. Most when we hit obstacles. One of the major time—and they may not be happy with my importantly, I think we’ve been groomed since challenges is that we are all very busy stance—but they do respect that I have been childhood to be aware of a sense of responsi- with work and our own families—which doing this for a lot longer than they have and bility to others and, I hope, humility. keep growing!—so it’s getting more and will follow my lead. more difficult to sit down with each other What is your view on building the business outside of work. And often it’s over the Any fatherly advice to offer? in China? family dinner and similar situations when Sometimes I think they try to do too much, China will always be a wellspring for us—our you really have time to get far-ranging in too soon, but that perhaps is the way of the roots in the country go deep, our business your conversations rather than focus on a younger generation. I think they have bal- interests there are well established, and the short-term decision to make.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 19 FORBES ASIA SUSHI KING

Reinventing Sushi Entrepreneur Fumihiko Konishi is capping his career with perhaps his greatest achievement: serving up halal sushi for the masses.

BY CHEN MAY YEE

t’s 7:22 sharp one recent evening in the holy month of with McDonald’s and Kentucky Ramadan, and the Muslim call to prayer drifts through Fried Chicken is largely due to one a mall in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Wangsa Maju. man—a Japanese pharmacist and Another day of fasting is over. serial entrepreneur named Fumi- At the Sushi King fast-food outlet, 13 of 15 close- hiko Konishi, who came to Malay- Ily packed diner-style tables are already filled with patrons, sia more than four decades ago and chopsticks poised. Right on cue, the chopsticks dive down on stayed. Funnily enough, he never little plates of salmon sushi, edamame and—in a local twist– planned to open a sushi restaurant. spicy chicken cheese rolls, all picked off a conveyor belt snak- Konishi is an energetic 73-year-old with a full head of ing through the restaurant. The kitchen staff works quickly to black hair who power walks 6 to 7 kilometers each morn- replenish the belt with fresh plates. ing in Penang’s Botanic Gardens to stay fit. In 2007, he was Fadzilah Norizan, a 29-year-old wearing a pink headscarf, bestowed the title Tan Sri by the Malaysian king, the rough has come straight from her job as an account executive for an equivalent of a knighthood. He controls 61% of listed Tex- oil-and-gas-services company. She first tried sushi as a college chem Resources, which owns Sushi King; the stake is worth student and is wild about wasabi and “every kind of salmon $25 million. Last year, he gave up the role of chief executive dish.” She eats at Sushi King two or three times a month. of Texchem but remains executive chairman and still directly The all-you-can-eat Ramadan spread was introduced this oversees its restaurants and new ventures. year after Sushi King, a 22-year-old homegrown chain with He expects the number of Sushi King outlets to grow to 113 outlets across Malaysia, got certified as halal. Adults 122 by the end of the year. Texchem’s restaurant business eat for around $8 and children for half-price. That Malay- brought in $55 million last year, or 22% of the group’s total sians now regard sushi as just another fast-food option along revenue. It’s now the fastest-growing part of the diversified

20 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

haram FORBES ASIA | 21 FORBES at a Sushi King Founder Konishi Konishi Founder restaurant in Penang. restaurant AUGUST 2017 halal-certified, more and more more and halal-certified, more While some Muslim diners are still willing to eat at pork- at eat to willing still are diners Muslim some While Malaysians have also embraced Japanese cultural imports, imports, cultural Japanese also embraced have Malaysians Muslim religious life and is known to have stricter criteria for stricter for criteria have to is known and life religious Muslim Indonesian or Singaporean its either than halal certification counterparts. not are that restaurants free restaurants. at seal approval of Jakim the framed look for now reck- to be force a and big market is a market “TheMalay Tropical Tanamera of founder Fadzil, Faisal says with,” oned Being halal-industry events. at who has spoken Products, Spa other and alcohol eschewinghalal goes pork, beyond (forbidden) ingredients, and includes standards on cleanli- on standards includes and ingredients, (forbidden) ness, he says. Not long ago, Japanese restaurants in Malaysia were a a were in Malaysia restaurants Japanese ago, long Not niche market, tucked in five-star hotels and patronized by by patronized and hotels in five-star tucked market, niche the country’s locals. rich Over the years, and expats Japanese the popula- 60% of up make and Muslim are Malays—who as con- cosmopolitan become more 30 million—have of tion observant. religiously the time more same whilesumers at Department, Development Islamic Malaysian The powerful aspects of many governs Jakim, acronym, Malay its by known group, says Konishi, and includes two dozen other outlets, outlets, other dozen two includes and Konishi, says group, cof- Japanese rice or bowls udon, specializingeach in ramen, op- now restaurants four with regionally, is expanding It fee. this year, in Jakarta open to King a Sushi in Vietnam, erating Brunei. for planned Kings Sushi three and CHARLES PERTWEE FOR FORBES FORBES ASIA SUSHI KING

starting with the Japanese TV ka, chief operating officer serial Oshin—about a peasant of Texchem’s restaurant di- girl who rises above life’s chal- vision. “He is not afraid of lenges—in the 1980s. Around failure. From failure, [you] the same time, former prime can learn.” minister Mahathir Moham- In 1995, the Malaysian ad launched his “Look East” chief of the now-defunct policy, and some local schools Japanese department store began offering Japanese lan- Yaohan asked Konishi to guage classes, along with Ara- open a fast-food sushi outlet bic and French. “We are an as- in the Kuala Lumpur store. pirational class. We want to At the time, most Malay- have better things,” says Dina sians had never tasted sushi. Zaman, founder of Iman, a He remembers asking, “Why Malaysian think tank that me?” and being told, “Be- studies society and religion. cause you never say no.” Konishi landed in Malay- Konishi promised his sia off a boat in 1968 as part board at Texchem that he of a group of young Japanese would close within nine on an Asian goodwill mission Sushi in Malaysia was an instant hit: “I was shocked,” says Konishi. months if things didn’t work commemorating 100 years out. The first Sushi King of Japan’s Meiji Revolution. The trip changed his life in two outlet was just 1,100 square feet and introduced the conveyor ways—he met his wife-to-be Atsuko on the mission, and he belt to Malaysia—patrons could pick dishes for a few ringgit resolved to return to Malaysia. each as they glided past. It was an instant hit. On the first day, He already had a pharmacy degree but enrolled as an ex- he says, there was a queue of people 50 meters long. “I was change student at University of Malaya, then got a sales job shocked. Everybody was shocked.” in Singapore with an importer of Japanese dyes and soaps for Initially, Sushi King’s customers were almost exclusive- textile production. In 1973, he moved to Penang, rented a ly non-Muslims, such as ethnic Chinese. Malays just weren’t desk at a friend’s shoe-trading company and began trading in used to eating raw fish. And while the restaurants didn’t serve textile chemicals himself. “I received calls, I typed invoices, I pork, they did use mirin—sweet sake—in dishes such as unagi, made deliveries, I collected money,” he says. or eel. Indeed, staples such as soy sauce, vinegar and miso, be- At the time, a Japanese salesman driving around the coun- cause they were fermented, all included low levels of alcohol. tryside solo was unusual. Chinese Malaysians, especially, still Starting around 2000, Konishi became convinced that remembered atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during Sushi King would need to win over the Muslim market to World War II. On sales calls, Konishi found himself apologiz- grow. Malaysia’s non-Muslim population was shrinking, ing for his countrymen. “Sorry, sorry,” he would say, bowing thanks to emigration and a low birth rate. Muslims tended his head. to have more children. Sushi King’s executive chef balked at Since then, Konishi has started more than 70 business- the idea of halal sushi, fearing a dilution in taste. But Koni- es, including shoe stores and the Malaysia unit of Fumakil- shi prevailed. la mosquito coils. He started a packaging company for high- The mirin disappeared, and over the years Texchem’s in- tech industries and a plastics outfit. He also went into seafood house scientists experimented with reducing the alcohol con- production, including cultivating soft-shell crabs in the man- tent of other ingredients and worked hard to persuade sup- groves of Myanmar, which today helps keep prices at Sushi pliers from around the world to do the same. Sushi King King competitive. screened 150 ingredients, making sure each adhered to halal Not all his ventures succeeded. He opened and closed standards at every step of the way. It helped that as the chain a printed-circuit-board manufacturer in Penang, which expanded over the years, so did its leverage as a bulk purchas- couldn’t compete with rivals in Singapore. A venture man- er. At the same time, global food producers were discovering ufacturing surimi, or crab sticks, was hugely successful for the halal market, in Malaysia and beyond. many years until it was done in by a European Union ban Last year, Jakim granted Sushi King halal certification. The on marine products from Malaysia. Just last month, Tex- move has already paid off. Before, 22% of customers were chem shut its two money-losing Tim Ho Wan dim sum res- Muslim, says Hijioka. After certification, Muslim patrons taurants in Kuala Lumpur. Over the years, Konishi has closed grew to just under 40%. Meanwhile, the number of non-Mus- and or sold for a profit multiple businesses, leaving 41 under lim customers has stayed steady. After a long career of startups the Texchem umbrella today. Japanese businessmen tend to and detours, reinventing sushi may turn out to be Konishi’s play it safe, but Konishi is a risk-taker, says Akihiko Hijio- best move. F

22 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA 10 QUESTIONS

BY THE Flight’s Next Ace NUMBERS Cirrus CEO Dale Klapmeier on creating a one-engine jet, drone taxis and brotherly rivalry at 20,000 feet.

During all that, you’re trying to complete the Vision Jet, the world’s first single- engine personal jet. We knew the Vision Jet was the future of Cirrus. We could not let that die, but we were forced to slow the project down to what I call “the FLY THE speed of cash.” Development got pretty slow. SKINNY SKIES And then you ended up selling Cirrus to China’s CAIGA in 2011. What’s that For all the attention Boeing’s Dreamliner and been like? Airbus’ A380 get, smaller It’s been both frustrating and planes are increasingly exciting. A business issue that the big boppers of the seems very simple can come off airline business. The share the rails quickly. Then again, it’s of “wide-bodies”—planes been fantastic for the company with two aisles and seven and the customer to have that or more seats across— influx of cash. It let us finish the among the global fleet has Vision Jet. fallen from 32% in 1996 to just 11% today. Further The Vision Jet sure is strange- loss of altitude is ahead: looking. Boeing projects that 72% It looks different because we of new aircraft delivered designed from the inside out, not over the next 20 years for the professional pilot but for the will be single-aisle jets—a amateur owner flying the airplane trend fueled by growth in with his or her family. It’s simple to low-cost, frills-free airlines, fly. Every seat is comfortable and particularly in Asia. has a spectacular view. PROJECTED Your cofounder brother Alan left DELIVERIES, Cirrus in 2009. Now he runs One 2017–36 Aviation. Are you two competitors? NUMBER Oh, sure we are. But at the same VALUE Cirrus airplanes come with a Early on, Cirrus had to fight the time, One Aviation’s six-seat REGIONAL JETS parachute built into the craft’s body, image that only wimps would pull Eclipse 550 costs $3.5 million, and 2,370 which makes flying considerably the parachute handle if they got in we cost $2 million. We have a very $110 BILLION safer. How’d you think of that? trouble. big base of customers we’re trying SINGLE-AISLE My brother Alan was in a midair We’re a lifestyle company, not an to move up, and they don’t. 29,530 collision back in 1985. He lost four aviation company. That means we Do you and Alan get along? $3.2 TRILLION feet of the wing but was able to make our planes safe and teach We are competitors. Let’s leave it SMALL WIDE-BODY land the airplane, barely. He got customers how to safely fly them. at that. 5,050 out of the airplane and said, “We Happy customers come back. Uber and others talk about drones as $1.3 TRILLION can do better.” This started the How did Cirrus survive the Great air taxis. Seriously? MEDIUM/LARGE search for the parachute. Recession, when its business fell by Traditional aviation and drones WIDE-BODY How many parachute saves have almost two-thirds? will converge. There 3,160 there been in Cirruses? September 2008 was our best is no question about that. They’ll $1.2 TRILLION Since 1999, 146. That’s a lot delivery month outside of a be expensive at first. Battery FREIGHTERS of lives. I won’t say all of them December. But by October 2008, technology has a long way to go. 920 wouldn’t be here without it, but the we couldn’t give an airplane away. But it will happen. We will see $260 BILLION parachute is a good solution when It stopped that fast. It was several drones flying people across cities. there’s a problem. years of pure hell. SOURCE: BOEING.

CIRRUS CEO DALE KLAPMEIER 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.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 23 FORBES ASIA INTERACTIVE LIT

Serial Pleasure China’s online reading craze is so big it’s challenging Amazon’s Kindle.

BY JINSHAN HONG

o Yuwei Pan, a regular fix of Chinese novels on her the total number of Amazon account holders is just over 300 mil- smartphone makes her daily commute a pleasure. But lion (Amazon does not share figures for the number of Kindle these aren’t just normal stories. Chinese e-books are Store users). China Literature launched its first e-reader in June at often serialized; readers wait for the latest chapters of a price similar to the Kindle Paperwhite. However, less than 500 Ta story, much like viewers catch up with the newest episodes of devices have been sold, according to Tmall.com, China’s B2C on- Game of Thrones. line retail site. Most people use their own smartphone. They also provide an interactive reading experience, where Unlike the Kindle Store, which is essentially a platform sell- readers and writers can discuss and codevelop the plot. “I turn to ing digital versions of mainstream paper books, China Literature Kindle for serious books, but I go to Chinese online literature for has “everything in the virtual sphere,” says Shao Yanjun, an associ- imagination, fun and freedom,” Pan says. ate professor at Peking University’s Chinese department. “It is the The 21-year-old student is one of more than 330 million read- habitat of pure internet culture, where writers create content on- ers of Chinese online literature. Mostly under 30, they favor genres line. Platforms publish novels online—fans gather, read and share like fantasy, wuxia (stories about heroes and martial arts), science stories online.” fiction, mystery and romance. And it’s only going to get bigger— The interactive experience of China Literature is another main the market has grown by more than 20% annually since 2012 to differentiator—most of its content is serialized, which means writ- RMB9 billion ($1.3 billion), according to the publicity department ers will often publish work chapter by chapter, sometimes altering of the Beijing Municipal Committee. plotlines based on suggestions from users. And it’s the discussion China Literature, Tencent’s subsidiary and the country’s larg- forum, which sits alongside the main story, that Pan enjoys most. est online publishing company, recently filed to go public in Hong She remembers a time when many fellow readers wanted two Kong, aiming to raise as much as $800 million for potential acqui- main characters in a novel to become romantically involved. Even- sitions and mobile service expansion, Reuters reported. “If the at- tually the author wrote this into the plot. “Serialized works banish tempt succeeds, it will demonstrate investors’ confidence in the the sense of loneliness,” Pan says. “When reading on Kindle, you online publishing industry,” says Huang Guofeng, a senior interac- are facing a single terminal. When reading Chinese online novels, tive entertainment analyst at Analysys, an internet big-data service you are engaging with a community.” provider. “It will turn around the bad impression—people used to For many, Chinese online literature facilitates freedom of writ- believe that online literature was full of piracy and couldn’t gener- ing and reading. “It is the simplified version of grassroots democ- ate any profit.” racy,” says Shao. “Its legitimacy originates from the realization of In their application for an IPO, China Literature disclosed rev- people’s desire.” Bearing this in mind, it won’t be surprising to dis- enue of $384 million, up 59.1% from 2015—a rate of growth more cover that a typical story line on China Literature would be similar than double that of Amazon, which has its own e-book platform, to the Twilight tale—an apparent nobody, like Bella Swan, achieves the Kindle Store. an enviable life at the end. The two giants of the online publishing business both have ad- But China’s rigorous censorship of the media means this free- vantages in certain areas. According to its company reports, China dom only goes so far—a fact that is not lost on publishers. “China Literature has more books than the Kindle Store (8.4 million ver- Literature has a developed content control system,” says Analysys’ sus 6.9 million) but fewer writers (5.3 million versus 14 million). Huang. “In order to get works promoted and contracted, writers The Chinese company enjoys a readership of 175.3 million, while will self-censor.”

24 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 “I go to Chinese online literature for imagination, fun and freedom.”

The industry is nevertheless vibrant and promising because Literature distributes considerable contribution fees to its writ- its nature lies within the “safe zone,” according to Huang. Not ers, amounting to $147 million in 2016, as stated in the IPO docu- only is the text easier to review compared with, for example, ment. This no doubt improves the quality of writing, says Shao. live-streaming services—which have been heavily blasted by the Chinese online fantasies are also going global. The over-

ZHANG PENG/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES government this year—but also online literature tends to stay seas market has mushroomed since 2015, led primarily by two away from controversial subjects. translated sites, Wuxia World and Gravity Tales. The number Chinese online literature has been popular for a while, but of monthly active users on these sites has climbed to 4 million. only recently has it become profitable. In the IPO filing, China Readers are from more than 100 countries, with North Amer- Literature posted its first net profit of $4.49 million in 2016. It all icans accounting for one third of that number, Shao wrote in a began in 2003 when Qidian.com, a brand under China Litera- recent paper. ture’s wing today, rolled out the country’s first online-reading pay- Says Shao: “America has Hollywood. Japan has animation. ment scheme. Under the system, readers can pay to become VIPs Korea has TV drama. In the future, China will have online and unlock the most up-to-date chapters. With the profit, China literature.” F

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 25 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — SAFBON

Make It Flow Zhang Chunlin gave up a prized state engineering job to hustle for part of China’s burgeoning water industry.

BY JANE HO

t a sewage treatment from “safe” and “bon”—“Two of the plant on the outskirts of best words from human languages,” as Shanghai, trucks unload the fluent English speaker puts it. The 200 tons of pretreated do- company’s revenue surged 52% last mestic sludge each day, or year to $151 million, earning a debut A10% of the metropolis’ total. There, it’s on the Best Under A Billion list, with dehydrated and deodorized for disposal, household sewage accounting for 22% with the water captured for reuse. The of the total. Water-supply services plant came onstream last year as China’s make up most of the rest. The 54-year- first domestic challenger to foreign old holds 42% of SafBon’s $900 million competitors that might charge 50% market capitalization. more. An expansion under construction China didn’t pursue urban water should add 300 tons to daily capacity. supply on a massive scale until around The plant’s director, Shen Gengen, 1990. The late start in facilities and doesn’t hide his pride: “Our technology technology has led to a clear disparity is unrivaled in the country. You can take with Western countries in water quality, a shower with water coming out of our says Zhang, while water availability is plant.” You can’t even if you wanted to, an issue in most of the nation’s parched tion needs being another expanding though, as the water is sold for indus- north. Tightening environmental regu- part of its business (20% at present), trial use to generate more income. lation is spurring domestic companies to SafBon this February took a chunk of “China’s [environmental] regulatory bridge the tech gap, and Zhang is doing seawater specialist AquaSwiss. These standards are rising,” says Zhang Chun- it with selective foreign acquisitions. moves have helped to make Zhang’s lin, founder and chairman of the plant’s Last year SafBon spent $38 million outfit China’s corporate leader in desali- owner and designer SafBon Water Ser- to buy Austria’s 67-year-old KWI, a nation technology, says Guo Shaojun of vice, headquartered nearby. “It’s fueling global leader in liquid-solid separat- GEP Research, a Beijing environmental the sector’s growth and has brought us ing technology, and this year grabbed a consulting firm. myriad opportunities,” treatment arm of Korean infrastructure China’s water treatment market saw Zhang coined the name SafBon group Doosan. With Chinese desalina- a 13% rise to $31 billion last year and

26 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 The sweet smell of sludge: SafBon treatment plant outside of Shanghai.

should keep that pace through 2020. But China. An even bigger segment is the far—and is in talks for more. The one the overall sector is highly fragmented, so-called Sponge City, an infrastructure in Liupanshui, Guizhou, into which with the biggest private player, Beijing initiative to better utilize precipita- SafBon has pumped $235 million under OriginWater Technology, having only a tion and counter the risk of flooding public-private partnership, or PPP, will 4% share last year. SafBon ranked 12th or drought. China aims to implement be fully onstream by year-end. Already in the sector. it in 20% of urban areas by the end of last year, Sponge City work accounted Xiong Zhiqiang of market researcher its latest five-year plan in 2020—with for half of SafBon’s overall revenue. Forward Industries Institute in Shen- nearly $150 billion in contracts during Cautious about the PPP model, zhen says growth of conventional the period—and 80% by 2030. Zhang has kept it to 57% of SafBon’s wastewater treatment is plateauing and SafBon has 2 Sponge City proj- total contracts. “Many companies are

THIERRY COULON FOR FORBES FOR COULON THIERRY desalination will continue to expand in ects—out of the country’s 30 pilots so keen on PPP because of its big size.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 27 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — SAFBON

few hundred dollars. people on my flight there, and also only However, seeking two or three people around when I was more freedom and dining in my hotel.” heartened by China’s “He’s always been a bold character,” then-leader Deng says the sewage-treatment director, Xiaoping’s advocacy of Shen, who grew up with Zhang in the economic reform and village outside urban Shanghai. “Even opening, Zhang quit when we were kids, he dared to swim in the much coveted job waters no one else did.” and set up SafBon as Such boldness put SafBon on track a competitor in 1995, for more business in those inland areas, rounding up $70,000 which today still brings two thirds of the in seed money from company’s sales. In 2004, it stumbled friends. into municipal water treatment by sup- A wave of state plying reclaimed domestic water to the sector veterans, new inland thermal plants. especially technicians, More doors have been opened since left to start their own then, and Zhang took SafBon public on businesses within a the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2011. few years of Deng’s Last year, SafBon opened an office 1992 speeches. “Some closer to Shanghai’s downtown area for economists call us ‘the corporate finance and strategic deci- ’92ers,’ ” says Zhang. sions, and Zhang has been splitting “We had been well his 15-hour workdays between there trained inside the and headquarters in the outskirts. “Of system, learning the course, we are an engineering company, practices and building but any company in its later stages of our network, and this development would rely more heavily made it easier for us to on finance,” he says. succeed outside.” The separation also is intended to SafBon didn’t land give more leeway to other executives its first big deal for at the headquarters. Zhang resigned as eight years—a $1.5 in 2015, leaving day- million contract with a to-day operations to staff. (Afterward, SafBon founder Zhang Chunlin, known as a “bold character.” thermal plant in Taiyu- he took a month off to attend a rowing It shows up good on paper and sug- an, in northern China’s program at the University of Cambridge gests fast growth to investors, but [if Shanxi Province. Unlike most of China’s for Chinese entrepreneurs, organized by over 70%] it could easily cause cash thermal plants in the eastern or south- real estate boss and rowing enthusiast flow problems due to a longer payment ern areas at the time, new ones inland Wang Shi. Zhang continues to make cycle,” he avers. required a filtering technology for dry time for outdoor sports.) Born to farmer parents on Shang- conditions, which had been developed With succession in mind, the hai’s fringe, Zhang took his high school with the help of retired engineers from founder aims at recruiting 100 manag- teacher’s suggestion to attend central Zhang’s former employer. ers over the next ten years in a company China’s University to study the “It was those old comrades that laid with 400 employees today. chemistry of thermal power plants. The the tech foundation for our company,” He says: “Grooming the second gen major guaranteed a decent job in the he says, but it fell to Zhang to build trust is an idea worth exploring”—his two days when China assigned each college in SafBon’s capability. Then SARS hit daughters both work in the chemi- graduate a tenured position. China in 2003. cal sector—“but it all comes down to Sure enough, Zhang returned to “Most companies wouldn’t go on whether they are the most capable for Shanghai in 1984 to join a state-owned business meetings, and Taiyuan was a the job.” water and power institute as an engi- severely affected area. We talked to each An entrepreneurial spirit and en- neer. The job earned him $7,500 a year, other wearing masks,” Zhang remem- gineering mind-set would seem to be when the national average was merely a bers. “There were only two or three prime qualifications. F

28 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — EDUCOMP SOLUTIONS

Lessons Learned Asset-heavy Indian schooling firms sink after good early marks.

BY ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN

hantanu Prakash was flying hardware up front by taking on debt and these companies debuted on the stock mar- high in 2009. The founder and planned to collect the money over five years. ket, there were no listed education players. chairman of education tech firm But from 2010 to 2014 it was slammed with The scarcity made the demand, valuation Educomp Solutions debuted on large-scale delinquencies, mostly in tier 2 and market cap unrealistic. Both the eupho- the India rich list that year with a and tier 3 cities. ria that caused them to rise to stratospheric Snet worth of $920 million. “The education business is cyclical— levels and the subsequent gloom and doom Eight years later, he’s barely worth but a publicly traded company is typically are not justified.” $10 million and the company is in a expected to grow its top line quarter after For instance, Everonn’s 2007 IPO was shambles. Prakash, 52, is looking to revive quarter,” says Aurobindo Saxena, vice oversubscribed 145 times. It focused on of- Educomp, which is saddled with $320 mil- president heading the education practice at fering satellite-based education. But in 2011, lion in debt. The company says it is seeking Gurgaon consultancy Technopak Advisors. its founder, Kishore Padmanabhan, was to restructure under the country’s Insol- (He’s a former Educomp employee and arrested in an alleged-bribery case. (Padma- vency & Bankruptcy Code. has also offered consulting services to the nabhan says he has pleaded not guilty to the The Gurgaon company, founded in 1994 company.) “This led to aggressive sales, and charge. The case is still in court.) Subse- by the Indian Institute of Management grad, in certain cases the creditworthiness of the quently, Dubai-based entrepreneur Sunny made it to Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion buyers may have been overlooked.” Varkey stepped in and invested in Everonn, list in 2008 and 2011, buoyed by its flagship Prakash was not available for comment. but the company is now under liquidation. product SmartClass. It rolled out digital Other education companies that made While these BUB companies failed to tap multimedia lessons to thousands of schools it to BUB in the 2008–12 time frame—like the potential of the growing education mar- across the country. Educomp says it still reaches Chennai’s Everonn and Edserv Softsystems ket, a new wave of digital-education com- 4 million students and 75,000 classrooms. and Mumbai’s Core panies are now leading A 2008 Forbes Asia story on the Education & Tech- the charge. Bangalore’s then $1.4 billion (market cap) company nologies—also tanked Byju’s, which has mentioned the enormous “execution risk” due to unsustainable an investment from that Educomp faced because of the high business models and Mark Zuckerberg valuations. (The share price was 48 times mounting debts. Trad- and Priscilla Chan, expected earnings for that year.) The com- ing has been suspend- serves thousands of pany got into trouble when it ventured into ed on all these stocks. students with its apps asset-heavy segments like providing com- “Education as a Debt-heavy business models slammed and online courses. puters to government schools and setting up sector was and is very at- a variety of education companies. Simplilearn—out of brick-and-mortar K–12 schools. tractive,” explains K. Ganesh, a serial entre- Bangalore and San Francisco—offers certi- Educomp began procuring computers preneur who cofounded online education fication for professionals. The key difference for schools under a build-own-operate-and- company TutorVista, which he then sold is that these privately held companies have F RAVI S SAHANI/THE INDIA TODAY GROUP/GETTY IMAGES GROUP/GETTY INDIA TODAY S SAHANI/THE RAVI transfer model. The company paid for the to global education major Pearson. “When no costly assets dragging then down.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 29 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — AIER EYE HOSPITAL

Eyeing New Markets Why China’s largest ophthalmological hospital chain is focusing on the U.S.

BY ELLEN SHENG

ounded in 2001 by billionaire the U.S. real estate and hospitality sector, in had very restricted access to government Chen Bang, Aier Eye Hospital is which Chinese have invested $37.5 billion. insurance patients. Private health care hoping it can replicate overseas Heading up Aier’s U.S. expansion is groups such as Aier had to develop elective some of the success it’s had in Ming Wang, an American eye doctor who surgeries to survive. Now the Chinese China. The Shenzhen-listed immigrated from China in 1982. I recent- government has opened up access to Fcompany is known for its network of eye ly spoke with Dr. Wang by phone about government insurance patients, but 50% of hospitals in secondary cities and rural Aier’s expansion plans, the differences revenue still comes from elective surgery, areas, establishing facilities in areas with between the Chinese and U.S. health care whereas in the U.S. 90% of revenue comes scanty or inadequate health care. Today the markets, and the benefits of international from insurance, which is subject to many company employs 25,000 and has more investment. changes. We’ve had a successful experience than 170 locations in China, plus 76 loca- building medicine in that direction. The tions in four European countries—Spain, FORBES ASIA: Why does Aier want to Aier eye clinics that we build in the U.S. France, Italy and Austria. expand in the U.S.? will have significant elective out-of-pocket The chain put $50 million toward a U.S. MING WANG: Aier built a conglomer- paying procedures. More and more physi- subsidiary late last year, establishing a fully ate in China based in part on recognizing cians recognize that we don’t want to be owned subsidiary, Aier (U.S.A.) Interna- and addressing the need for health care subjected to insurance rules and want to tional Holdings. In addition, the company in rural areas. Even though the U.S. is maintain autonomy. Doctors want to keep acquired its first facility in the U.S. for $17 wealthier than China, there are many parts care between doctor and patient. Right million in April—Wang Eye Institute in of the country where health care access is now there is a third party—insurance— Nashville, Tennessee. Now it’s looking for lacking. Aier believes it can use its experi- intervening and dictating care. That’s sig- more locations, following the philosophy ence addressing areas of need and make a nificantly affected the quality of care in the that set it apart in China—favoring rural difference. U.S. and reduced doctors’ income. There markets and small cities over saturated is a health care trend in the U.S. shifting to metropolitan areas such as New York or What is the company’s strategy for tack- patients paying more in private care. Aier’s Los Angeles. ling this new market? strategy fits with this general trend toward Chinese companies invested a record- In a typical U.S. eye care facility, maybe more cash payment. breaking $53.9 billion in U.S. companies 90% of patients are dependent on insur- last year, but most of that capital has been ance reimbursement, whereas in China, U.S. health care costs are significantly invested in real estate. According to the about 50% pay cash. That is a critical higher than elsewhere in the world for a Rhodium Group, Chinese companies reason why Aier has been able to grow variety of reasons. Will U.S. consumers invested $3.9 billion in U.S. health and in China. In the beginning, the Chinese be able to pay out of pocket? biotech companies between 2000 and the government didn’t like private health Hospitals are closing or consolidating in first quarter of 2017. Compare that with care groups, so for the past 15 years Aier rural areas for economic reasons. Many

30 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 “I’m an immigrant who wants to help and contribute to America. I came with only $50, and today I employ 26 people”: Dr. Ming Wang.

close because they didn’t make enough unmet needs. In the second stage, we’ll be companies and transactions that you money or there’s a reduction in reimburse- looking at the rest of the country and tak- wouldn’t think would bring up any secu- ments. The result is less care in those areas ing a similar approach. We won’t go after rity concerns have been shown other- now. Aier plans to address this issue with New York or Los Angeles, we’ll look at wise. Has this been on Aier’s radar at all? economies of scale. In many rural U.S. smaller towns. At the end of the day, it’ll be In health care—and in eye care espe- areas, community hospitals depend on the successful because of patients, so there has cially—there is no sensitive information. economic survival of their one business. to be a need. In China, Aier builds about There is lots of sharing internationally. Meanwhile, Aier has been able to take full two thirds of its facilities, while the rest Doctors use the same technology in the advantage of many economies of scale are acquisitions. We expect it will be more U.S. as they do in China. The scale of with electronic medical records, resource the reverse in the U.S. It’ll be largely M&A operations may be different, but the type sharing and centralized equipment because with build-out, renovation and improve- of technology used is the same. There of its large network. Chinese per capita ments. A typical scenario might be: We is no secrecy. On a different note, there is only a quarter of that of the U.S.—the acquire a community hospital where they has been a lot of negative sentiment average income is maybe $3,000 to $4,000 have not been providing eye care, add in toward illegal immigrants and devalu- a year—yet Aier has been able to build an modern technology and management ing of immigrant contributions. I believe eye group. Though U.S. communities have and then serve that area using our unified immigrants have a lot to contribute. I’m faced reduced health care reimbursements, system. We might just work on creating an an immigrant who wants to help and we believe that with economies of scale we eye department or convert the facility to contribute to America. I came with only can be successful. more of an eye care focus. It will vary, but $50, and today I employ 26 people; I will Aier’s focus remains on eye care. create more jobs with Aier USA. For me, Aier now has one U.S. location, formerly doing this project to give back and benefit Wang Eye Institute. What’s next? As there’s been an increase in Chinese America while at the same time helping We are first looking at rural areas in Ten- investments in the U.S., there’s also been Chinese build a brand here is the best F ALAN POIZNER nessee. We are looking for rural areas with an uptick in security concerns. Even thing I could be involved in.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 31 200

Our annual list highlights 200 top-performing Asia- Pacific public companies with less than $1 billion in sales. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan account for half, but Japan nearly tripled its presence with 38 entries. Sales for the companies grew an average 55% last year. Only 70 generate revenue solely within the region. Debuting are 119, from a pool of 18,000 firms.

BY CHRISTINA SETTIMI

BLACKMORES AUSTRALIA U.S. $MIL LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE AUSTRALIA BLACKMORES health products $522 $73 $1,273 CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT corporate, event & leisure travel services 190 31 1,895 EUREKA GROUP Founded in 1930 by Maurice real estate development 14 8 64 Blackmore, supplies vitamins MOBILE EMBRACE to 15 countries. mobile marketing & content 44 4 27 PENGANA CAPITAL investment management 29 8 234 BAMBOOS HEALTH CARE CHINA SIRTEX MEDICAL research & development for liver cancer 169 39 726 CHINA AIER EYE HOSPITAL ophthalmic medical centers (see p. 30) 601 84 4,949 ANXIN TRUST financial trusts 754 457 9,644 ASIA TELE-NET & TECHNOLOGY investment holding company 78 98 59 BAMBOOS HEALTH CARE medical-staffing services 7 3 86 BEIJING FOREVER TECHNOLOGY software products 90 19 876 BEIJING JETSEN TECHNOLOGY audio & video equipment 490 145 3,560 BEIJING ORIENT NATIONAL COMMUNICATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY business-intelligence systems 191 49 2,034 BEIJING PHILISENSE TECHNOLOGY human resources information-management systems 304 51 1,841 BEIJING SINNET TECHNOLOGY internet services 347 50 2,728 Hong Kong health care placement BEIJING TRUSTFAR TECHNOLOGY firm serves individuals and information-technology support 158 17 647 hospitals with a talent pool of over 17,000 nurses. ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES REED; REUTERS/JASON TOP:

32 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 U.S. $MIL KORADIOR CHINA LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE BEIJING WATERTEK INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY embedded-system services $327 $57 $2,662 BEST PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL lingerie materials 318 59 892 BLOOMAGE BIOTECHNOLOGY hyaluronic acid products 127 34 689 CHINA BAOFENG lighting & home-furnishing products 79 18 284 CHINA BIOLOGIC PRODUCTS plasma-based pharmaceuticals 341 102 2,795 CHINA MEDICAL SYSTEM prescription drugs & pharmaceuticals 738 207 4,166 CHINA UNION apparel; real estate development 255 203 1,545 CONSUN PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP traditional Chinese medicine 184 46 666 ZEUS ENTERTAINMENT engineered wood flooring 251 82 2,683 DIFFER GROUP integrated financial services 42 20 342 EUROPOL INTELLIGENT NETWORK steel warehousing & cargo services 462 33 1,829 GERON textile-carding equipment 260 19 757 GUANGDONG EASTONE CENTURY TECHNOLOGY network systems 272 26 1,588 GUANGZHOU TINCI MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY personal health care product materials 274 60 2,358 GUOXUAN HIGH-TECH high- & low-voltage switches & automation equipment 712 155 4,165 ROBAM APPLIANCES kitchen appliances 862 182 6,015 Supermodel Miranda Kerr fronts HANGZHOU SHUNWANG TECHNOLOGY the fashion brand’s advertising internet cafe solutions 243 78 2,032 campaigns. HENAN LINGRUI PHARMACEUTICAL traditional Chinese medicines 213 52 978 LEYARD OPTOELECTRONIC CHINA HENGKANG MEDICAL GROUP traditional Chinese medicines & other pharmaceuticals 326 61 3,262 HITHINK ROYALFLUSH INFORMATION NETWORK online financial-information services 257 182 4,693 HUBEI FEILIHUA QUARTZ GLASS quartz material & fiber 65 16 686 HUBEI JUMPCAN PHARMACEUTICAL traditional Chinese medicines & other pharmaceuticals 691 141 4,366 JIANGXI BOYA BIO-PHARMACEUTICAL human-plasma-related medical products 141 41 2,324 JIANGXI GANFENG LITHIUM deep-processing lithium products 425 70 5,502 JINYU BIO-TECHNOLOGY biopharmaceutical products 227 97 3,289 KORADIOR high-fashion women’s apparel 241 35 455 KUNWU JIUDING INVESTMENT paper, pulp & paper-production machinery 240 95 2,101 LEYARD OPTOELECTRONIC

TOP: IMAGINECHINA light-emitting-diode video displays 656 101 4,352 Holds over 300 patents related to its LINGNAN LANDSCAPE video display screens, including an landscape services 381 39 1,735 interactive LED touch-enabled video ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. wall, used globally in broadcasting, GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES airports, billboards and retailers.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 33 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — THE LIST

NANJING KANGNI MECHANICAL & U.S. $MIL ELECTRICAL CHINA LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE LUENMEI QUANTUM infrastructure construction & real estate development $305 $105 $2,651 MEISHENG CULTURAL & CREATIVE animation & festival apparel business 95 29 1,907 NANFANG ZHONGJIN ENVIRONMENT pumps & pumping equipment 415 77 2,999 NANJING KANGNI MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL rail door systems 300 36 1,315 OURGAME INTERNATIONAL internet & mobile games 131 22 229 PERFECT WORLD interactive gaming software 919 176 6,182 SHANDONG MEICHEN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY rubber auto parts 443 67 1,963 SHANDONG SINOBIOWAY BIOMEDICINE Automatic rail doors are in mass pesticides & other pharmaceutical products 189 63 1,972 transit systems from China to Paris SHANGHAI LANSHENG to San Francisco. import & export commodity trading 390 127 1,200 SHANGHAI LIANMING MACHINERY SONGCHENG PERFORMANCE automotive components and parts 138 19 615 DEVELOPMENT CHINA SHANGHAI RAAS BLOOD PRODUCTS biological products; operates blood banks 348 243 14,635 SHANGHAI SAFBON WATER SERVICE water-treatment business (see p. 26) 154 21 1,006 SHANGHAI YONGLI BELTING conveyor belts 274 23 1,076 SHENWU ENERGY SAVING paper & adhesive products 130 50 3,024 SHENZHEN EVERWIN PRECISION TECHNOLOGY mobile phone components 916 103 4,240 SHENZHEN WORLDUNION PROPERTIES CONSULTANCY real estate agency 927 112 2,325 SHENZHEN YSSTECH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY financial-industry software 52 18 1,221 SONGCHENG PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT theme parks 393 136 4,228 SUOFEIYA HOME COLLECTION office furniture 675 100 5,185 3SBIO biopharmaceutical products 421 107 3,224 TIANGUANG ZHONGMAO Operates 40 theme parks in China, firefighting products 362 63 3,381 expanding to Australia in 2019. TOYOU FEIJI ELECTRONICS data storage 70 19 1,085 WANGSU SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY online business solutions & content delivery network platform 668 188 4,099 WINNING HEALTH TECHNOLOGY GROUP medical & health care information solutions 142 78 1,773 KINGDOMWAY GROUP vitamins 248 45 1,245 XIAMEN SAVINGS ENVIRONMENTAL filtration material & filter bags 156 33 736 YANGZHOU YANGJIE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY semiconductors 178 30 1,405 YIFAN PHARMACEUTICAL pharmaceuticals & biochemical products 520 106 2,652 ZHEJIANG DILONG CULTURE DEVELOPMENT decorative construction materials 246 57 1,567

ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES.

GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES PRESS/NEWSCOM JINGUO/ZUMA HUANG BOTTOM:

34 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 U.S. $MIL MANPASAND BEVERAGES INDIA LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE ZHEJIANG SHAPUAISI PHARMACEUTICAL ophthalmological drugs $145 $42 $847 ZHEJIANG TALENT TELEVISION & FILM domestic & imported film production, distribution 118 27 1,367 INDIA 8K MILES SOFTWARE SERVICES cloud computing solutions 80 16 257 KELLTON TECH SOLUTIONS information-technology consulting & software services 92 8 77 MANPASAND BEVERAGES Mango Sip drink maker founded in fruit-pulp juice 105 11 675 1997 and funded solely by Dhirendra Singh. JAPAN AKATSUKI online mobile games 107 30 1,058 COLOPL JAPAN AREA QUEST real estate services 16 3 32 CERES media & advertising services 34 3 145 COLOPL smartphone applications 759 185 1,289 COMTURE information-technology business solutions 128 10 216 DESIGNONE JAPAN internet media business 13 3 180 DIP online employment search 306 57 1,183 FIRSTLOGIC real estate website 11 3 135 FIXSTARS multicore processors 36 5 258 FREAKOUT digital marketing technology services 52 4 478 FULLCAST employment services 233 23 452 GIGA PRIZE hotels & condominium website, system development 35 3 55 Popular games include White Cat Project and Quiz RPG: The World of GMO PAYMENT GATEWAY Mystic Wiz. credit card payment-processing services 108 26 2,037 HAMEE online mobile phone accessories 78 6 237 FIXSTARS JAPAN HARMONIC DRIVE SYSTEMS Harmonic Drive gears & related motion-control products 278 182 3,312 IBJ online wedding-planning services 48 7 257 INVESTORS CLOUD real estate trading sites 349 22 775 ISTYLE cosmetics-focused Web portals 122 11 445 ITOKURO media & consulting services 43 8 445 JAPAN MATERIAL specialized gases & graphics products 206 28 598 Sells processors to customers JIG-SAW

MIDDLE: AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, internet of things big data control service 10 2 364 the U.S. military, Sony, Panasonic. KAYAC gaming websites 51 4 193 LINICAL contract-research services to pharmaceutical companies 77 13 361

ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 35 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — THE LIST

MARKLINES JAPAN U.S. $MIL LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE LINKBAL e-commerce site-management services $19 $2 $62 M&A CAPITAL PARTNERS advisory, management consulting, equity-financing advisory services 34 10 665 MARKLINES online automotive-information platform 13 3 106 MOBILE FACTORY social & mobile game applications 19 4 141 Provides monthly forecast reports NIHON M&A CENTER of automotive production around merger & acquisition brokerage services 176 57 2,941 the world. PAPYLESS electronic books 131 10 252 START TODAY JAPAN PR TIMES public relations planning & media promotional services 13 1 125 RAKUS cloud-based software solutions for small & medium enterprises 46 7 485 RORZE machinery & robots used in liquid crystal displays & semiconductor production 228 28 384 SHINHOKOKU STEEL forms & fabricates metals 49 6 34 SMS internet operation of nursing care, health care & active senior communities 213 26 1,274 START TODAY operates retail websites 705 157 7,194 TOKYO BASE clothing & general merchandise retail stores 86 8 553 VECTOR public relations & advertising management services 123 12 704 YOSSIX izakaya (Japanese-style restaurant & bar) chains 117 8 149 Fashion e-tailer Zozotown helped MALAYSIA billionaire founder Yusaku Maezawa pay a record $111 million for a ELSOFT RESEARCH Basquiat painting in May. test & burn-in systems for semiconductor, optoelectronic & automation 15 8 165 KERJAYA PROSPEK lighting fixtures 193 24 408 VITROX MALAYSIA MY E.G. SERVICES online e-government services 68 35 1,806 PENTAMASTER automated & semiautomated machines & equipment 37 7 127 VITROX 3-D & line-scan automated inspection systems for semiconductors 56 16 424 NEW ZEALAND SUMMERSET retirement villages & senior care facilities 60 101 774 TRILOGY INTERNATIONAL natural skin care & home fragrance products 73 9 130 VISTA GROUP INTERNATIONAL movie theater software solutions 62 34 355 Exported 75% of its vision inspection PAKISTAN systems to more than 20 countries AGRIAUTO INDUSTRIES including China, the U.S., Mexico, U.K. components for cars, motorcycles & agricultural tractors 68 7 105 and Brazil last year. CHERAT PACKAGING paper sacks 66 9 64 FEROZSONS LABORATORIES branded generics & in-licensed pharmaceuticals 109 21 102 GHANDHARA INDUSTRIES motor vehicles & related products 56 7 113

ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES

36 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 U.S. $MIL Q&M DENTAL SINGAPORE LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE SEARLE COMPANY pharmaceuticals & low-calorie sweeteners $108 $19 $696 SINGAPORE BEST WORLD INTERNATIONAL health & lifestyle products 145 25 546 IGG online games 322 73 2,244 K1 VENTURES investment services 118 101 200 MM2 ASIA motion pictures, video & television programs & production 69 14 441 Q&M DENTAL GROUP dental care services 112 20 379 SINGAPORE O&G obstetrical & gynecological medical services 21 6 190 SOUTH KOREA Singapore’s largest dental care group CAREGEN has expanded to China and Malaysia. cosmetic products 40 20 588 COM2US COM2US SOUTH KOREA online game development & publishing 442 131 1,288 DANAWA online price-comparison services 56 8 124 DONG A ELTEK testing devices for liquid crystal display & communication equipment 186 21 217 DOUBLEUGAMES mobile & computer game software 134 43 848 INTEROJO contact lens 64 17 300 KMH broadcasting services 137 21 107 KOREA ASSET IN TRUST real estate trust services 117 63 770 KOREA KOLMAR cosmetics & pharmaceuticals 575 46 1,291 MEDY-TOX botulinum toxin-based injections 115 51 2,622 MINWISE Summoners War is the top gross- information-security services 35 10 208 ing mobile role-playing game in NEXTURN Germany, France, Netherlands and computer numerical-control lathes 64 15 157 Singapore, second in Canada and fifth in the U.S. NUTRIBIOTECH nutritional supplements 104 15 359 INTEROJO SOUTH KOREA SEOHAN civil engineering & construction services 431 56 231 ST PHARM active pharmaceutical ingredients & intermediates 173 53 651 SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY semiconductor manufacturing machinery 155 14 186 TES semiconductor & solar-cell equipment 154 27 544 TEXCELL-NETCOM network solutions & electric parts 245 59 361 VIATRON TECHNOLOGIES semiconductors, display & solar energy components 66 11 249 VIEWORKS digital medical-imaging processing 101 23 458 Manufactures corrective and cosmetic contact lenses including color, 3-tone and “crazy” lenses. ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 37 FORBES ASIA BEST UNDER A BILLION — THE LIST

PEGAVISION TAIWAN U.S. $MIL LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE SRI LANKA SWISSTEK (CEYLON) tile grout & mortar $23 $3 $14 TAIWAN ASMEDIA TECHNOLOGY integrated circuits 64 11 627 ASPEED TECHNOLOGY chip-system & remote-server-management integrated circuits 42 14 775 AURAS TECHNOLOGY computer cooling modules 203 19 218 CASTLES TECHNOLOGY smart card readers, EFT-POS terminals & peripherals 98 9 95 CHUNGHWA PRECISION TEST printed circuit board (PCB) for automatic semiconductor testers 80 19 1,390 CYPRESS TECHNOLOGY audio visual & multimedia products 57 8 233 DA LUE INTERNATIONAL wedding services 39 5 64 Ran an interactive digital ad EAST TENDER OPTOELECTRONICS campaign “Let the eyes speak” to film filters 11 3 177 combat female gender stereotypes. FOXSEMICON INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY semiconductor equipment, LED lighting products 243 20 435 POYA INTERNATIONAL TAIWAN GONGIN PRECISION INDUSTRIAL molds, special machinery, electronic components 38 6 89 HIM INTERNATIONAL MUSIC music records 51 9 175 INTERNATIONAL GAMES SYSTEM arcade games machine software, hardware planning & online games services 103 28 369 JUIC INTERNATIONAL printed circuit boards 71 9 96 KMC (KUEI MENG) INTERNATIONAL bicycle & motorcycle chains & sprockets 124 27 567 LI-CHENG ENTERPRISE spacer fabrics 77 22 321 NIEN MADE ENTERPRISE window-treatment services 585 114 3,635 ONYX HEALTHCARE medical PC solutions 35 5 145 Stocks 40,000 household items PARADE TECHNOLOGIES in its 157 stores. fabless semiconductors 282 42 1,139 PEGAVISION soft contact lens & medical products 51 6 213 POWER WIND HEALTH INDUSTRY sports & fitness center chain 53 5 139 POYA INTERNATIONAL household & personal care retail stores 385 36 1,183 RAFAEL MICROELECTRONICS broadband-radio-frequency integrated circuits 35 7 139 SILERGY analog integrated circuits 221 46 1,640 SILICON MOTION TECHNOLOGY semiconductors for multimedia consumer-electronics market 557 111 1,496 SUN MAX TECH cooling fans 36 5 56 SYNGEN BIOTECH microbial pharmaceutical products 24 3 70 TCI pharmaceuticals, cosmetics 96 16 493

ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES.

GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES LEE PEIMING/SHUTTERSTOCK BOTTOM:

38 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 U.S. $MIL BEAUTY COMMUNITY THAILAND LATEST FISCAL YEAR NET MARKET SALES INCOME VALUE TEKOM TECHNOLOGIES digital & mobile phone cameras $24 $7 $80 TUNG THIH ELECTRONIC electronic automobile parts & accessories 306 37 480 WISECHIP SEMICONDUCTOR organic light-emitting-diode products 52 8 171 THAILAND BEAUTY COMMUNITY cosmetics & skin care products 72 19 963 M.C.S. STEEL fabricated steel 160 35 193 MASTERKOOL INTERNATIONAL cooling machines & outdoor cooling systems 25 2 45 SAHAMITR PRESSURE CONTAINER liquefied petroleum gas cylinders 98 15 219 VIETNAM BINH DUONG MINERAL & CONSTRUCTION mining & construction 38 8 120 Offers cosmetics under the Beauty Buffet, Beauty Cottage and Made in DANANG AIRPORT SERVICE Nature brands. air catering, transport 13 2 18 INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT information-technology business solutions 41 3 18 SUPERDONG FAST FERRY KIEN GIANG VIETNAM LONG HAU real estate business 22 7 24 NUI NHO STONE stone & building materials 26 8 58 PHU TAI granite quarrying, furniture manufacturing & automobile repair 164 10 136 SUPERDONG FAST FERRY KIEN GIANG transportation services 16 10 99 TIEN GIANG INVESTMENT & CONSTRUCTION construction of irrigation, pumping stations, dams, dykes & sea embankments 37 4 28 VINH PHUC INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT real estate business 5 3 23 Newest vessel accommodates 306 ALL FIGURES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. DATA AS OF JULY 17, 2017. SOURCES: FACTSET; FORBES. passengers and travels to vacation GREEN = REPEATS; RED = RETURNEES spot Con Dao. TOP: RAKRATCHADA/GETTY IMAGES; HOANG: TIM PANNELL; YUSAKU: IRWIN WONG; KONG: IMAGINECHINA

NAMES BEHIND THE COMPANIES THE BIGGEST SHARE POSITIONS AMONG THE BEST UNDER A BILLION.

HOLDINGS RANK SHAREHOLDER NAME COMPANY/COUNTRY ($BIL)

1 ZHENG N & YUEWEFAMILY SHANGHAI RAAS BLOOD PRODUCTS / CHINA / HONG KONG $4.9 2 KIEU HOANG SHANGHAI RAAS BLOOD PRODUCTS / CHINA / HONG KONG 4.7 Kieu Hoang 3 REN JIANHUA HANGZHOU ROBAM APPLIANCES / CHINA / HONG KONG 3.0 Maezawa 4 CAO LONGXIANG HUBEI JUMPCAN PHARMACEUTICAL / CHINA / HONG KONG 3.0 Yusaku 5 MAEZAWA YUSAKU Y START TODA / JAPAN 2.9 6 CHEN QIXING SHENZHEN Y / EVERWINCHINA / HONG KONGPRECISION 2.0 TECHNOLOG 7 LAM KONG CHINA MEDICAL SYSTEM / CHINA / HONG KONG 1.9 8 GAO TIANGUO ANXIN TRUST / CHINA / HONG KONG 1.7 9 HUANG QIAOLING SONGCHEN PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT / CHINA / HONG KONG 1.6 10 QUE WENBIN HENGKANG MEDICAL GROUP / CHINA / HONG KONG 1.2 Lam Kong HOLDINGS MAY EXCEED FORBES WEALTH ESTIMATIONS BECAUSE OF BORROWING AGAINST SHARES. SOURCE: FACTSET.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 39 THE NEXT CENTURY SEPTEMBER 26 – 27, 2017 • HONG KONG

This year marks a major milestone for Forbes – the 100th anniversary of its inaugural September 1917 issue. For 100 years, Forbes has been synonymous with success, good business, innovation, and integrity. In conjunction with Forbes’ centennial anniversary celebration, the 17th annual Forbes Global CEO Conference will take place in Hong Kong this September 26 to 27, under the theme ‘The Next Century’. The event will gather some of the world's top visionaries, CEOs, tycoons and investors to discuss and evaluate how far the global community has come, what needs to be done, and where it is going next.

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Steve Forbes Joseph C. Tsai Neil Shen Kathy Ireland George Yeo Enrique K. Razon Jr. Fan Gang Dikembe Mutombo Chairman & Executive Vice Managing Partner, CEO & Chief Designer, Chairman, Kerry Chairman & President, Director, National Chairman & President, Editor-in-Chief, Chairman, Alibaba Sequoia Capital, China Kathy Ireland Logistics Network, International Container Economic Research Dikembe Mutombo Forbes Media, USA Group, China Worldwide, USA Hong Kong Terminal Services, Inc, Institute, Chairman, Foundation, USA Philippines China Reform Foundation, China

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Mayo for the Mainland Loo Choon Yong is taking his Raffles hospital brand to China, and the firm’s expansion mode makes investors anxious.

BY JANE A. PETERSON

t’s 3 p.m. on a sultry Friday outside Raffles earnings. It will take a while to ramp up, and fixed Hospital in Singapore’s busy Bugis district, a costs will be ahead of that.” (It’s a similar story for stone’s throw from the Arab quarter. Work- Raffles’ Malaysian competitor, IHH Healthcare, men in hard hats move swiftly about, striving which has three China projects under way.) to complete a long-awaited 20-story exten- Loo acknowledges Raffles Medical has a “very Ision to this flagship of Singapore’s second-biggest difficult” road. “But we are serious people,” he private hospital group. adds. “We do our sums.” After studying Chinese Inside, on level 11, Loo Choon Yong, executive health care for 32 years and walking through some chairman and cofounder of Raffles Medical Group, 100 Chinese hospitals, Loo believes China finally steps into the C-suite hallway for a photo shoot. has enough well-heeled people—140 million per It’s lined with framed illustrations of corporate his estimate—who can afford Raffles’ international milestones; among them, the planned $250 million standard of care. expansion of the company’s presence in China Chinese regulations have also eased, allowing with two new hospitals. Dapper, trim and relaxed, the company to own its hospitals with joint ven- Loo could pass for younger than 68. He is finally ture partners—in Chongqing with the Liangjiang game for an interview after a two-year pursuit. municipal government and in a subsequent Shang- Taking a long-term view, Raffles Medical’s rise hai structure with a developer there. Loo main- is impressive. Starting with two clinics in 1976, the tains that standards in the Chinese hospitals will company listed in 1997 and opened its Bugis hos- be equivalent to those in the building he occupies. pital in 2001. With a market capitalization of $1.7 For example, doctors—now being recruited locally billion, and revenues last year of $345 million, the and internationally—will first undergo training in company operates 100 clinics across the region. Singapore. Some of the Raffles doctors in Singa- Raffles Medical’s network of 380 doctors serves pore have volunteered to join the Chinese staffs, 2.2 million patients in 13 Asian cities, including where up to 300 M.D.s will be needed. “There 6 in China. With an estimated net worth of $890 are plenty of doctors, if you know how to look for million, Loo’s 51% stake, which he shares with his them,” says Loo. wife, Jacqueline Leong, puts him at No. 34 on this Beijing and Shenzhen, where Raffles already year’s top 50 list. operates clinics, want hospitals, too. Loo says he’ll But therein lies a tension point. Loo’s count is expand at a measured pace. “We want to make down 18% this year, as the company’s stock price sure we will manage them well. We are not in any reflects investor worry over its buildup, including hurry.” the 700-bed hospital in Chongqing in southwest It’s not just expansion that could weigh on him. China due to open next year. After two decades of nearly double-digit growth, Says Andrew Chow, head of research for the company’s revenues dampened slightly in the Singapore at UOB Kay Hian, “In the next 12 to 18 first quarter. The local economy was sluggish, and

months, the China investment will be a drag on lower-priced regional rivals kept Singapore’s medi- FORBES MUNSHI AHMED FOR

42 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 Occupational therapy: “I’m doing what I love,” says Loo, cofounder of Raffles Medical Group.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 43 Singapore’s 50 Richest LOO CHOON YONG cal tourism numbers as flat as they’ve a good shot to my backhand corner,” been since 2009. How will Raffles fill Loo chuckles, noting he plays singles that $220 million addition in Bugis games on his home court several times when it opens later this year? a week—his primary exercise. He finds Loo acknowledges the hurdle but time to manage two civic assignments: insists his plans are justified. The Loo is chairman of JTC, Singapore’s hospital currently runs at 80% oc- state-owned industrial property com- cupancy—rates range from $132 per pany, and its nonresident ambassador night in a six-bed room to more than to Poland. $2,200 for the top-priced suites—with While Loo seems at home among a majority of the floors dedicated to the elite—he displays photographs of specialty clinics and centers, among handshakes with prime ministers Lee them neuroscience, oncology, cardiol- Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, and ogy, Chinese medicine, pain manage- U.S. president George W. Bush, whom ment, dermatology and plastic surgery. he hosted for golf—he is quick to recall “We have used the current building for humble beginnings in a im- 15 years, and we are squeezed. We will migrant family. His first love was not use some of the new space immedi- medicine but math and physics, which ately and bank some space for future he studied at Raffles Institution. At his expansion. In the meantime, we will Flagship Raffles hospital in the Bugis district father’s urging, he trained in medicine and its long-awaited 20-story extension. rent the unused space out.” at the National University of Singapore Loo likens Raffles Medical to an ink painting by Chinese artist Fan to help support six siblings. America’s Mayo Clinic, which invited Zeng portrays Hua Tuo, the ancient Loo spent formative time in Lon- Raffles Medical to be the first Asian Chinese father of medicine, tenderly don studying cardiology and going member of its clinical network. “No examining a young patient. Strapped to to law school at night—the latter he single doctor can look after all critical his waistband is a Chinese gourd with finished by correspondence during needs. Our specialists practice team- medicine and a jade amulet—to bring his national service years in Singapore based care,” which means doctors col- good fortune and ward off evil. but never put to use. After a stint at laborate on patients’ cases. To rein in Loo says he spends time thinking Singapore General Hospital, he started physician charges, Raffles has internal during major decision points in life, Raffles Medical with schoolmate fee schedules, peer reviews and regu- talking to friends and “communing Alfred Loh (who remains a minority lar audits. “We know the dangers of with the Almighty.” Reflecting back, shareholder and practices actively at private practice so we put in checks.” he says the biggest hurdle of his career the hospital). A general practitioner himself who was the Asian financial crisis in 1997 Loo gives no hint of a retirement gave up the last of his patients three when a series of problems put plans date or successor but says it is unlikely years ago, Loo is Raffles’ managerial for the flagship hospital on a razor’s to be either of his children, who are backstop. “I am the odd-job man,” edge. At the time, Raffles Medical had doctors in government hospitals. He he says from a boardroom seat. “All teamed up with Pidemco Land (the could still be a nonexecutive chair- the things that others don’t like to predecessor to government-owned man and perhaps teach health care do—they arrow to me.” He prefers CapitaLand) to buy a former office- management. to handle as much as possible before and-shopping block for the hospital “I am doing what I love, with lunch. “I am at my best in the morning. site—but Pidemco was balking about people I like to be with,” Loo says, with That’s when I do a lot of mental work.” going ahead in a weak market. Also, a twinkle in his eye. “It’s not too bad. Propped up in the boardroom is the there were hiccups in the buyout of Why should I retire?” group’s 30th anniversary book, Journey a hawker center at the site and in the Meanwhile, the setting sun outside of Faith. While Loo identifies as a prac- construction work. has given way to a breeze. Workers are ticing Christian, he says the title refers “We knew the crisis would pass in hoisting cement slabs by crane up the more to faith in the team. “We’re a mul- due course,” Loo says. bones of the new building. Each floor tireligious group,” he says as the call to Likewise, he still thinks full-year still looks like a shell from the outside. prayer bellows from the Sultan Mosque growth at Raffles Medical will ap- Three years after breaking ground, just outside. The twin theme also proach 4% for 2017. “The only stress there’s plenty more work ahead for

echoes in his adjacent office, where I feel is when my tennis partner hits Raffles Medical’s odd-job man. F FORBES MUNSHI AHMED FOR

44 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

Singapore’s 50 Richest CHOO CHONG NGEN

When the ‘Love’ Goes Choo Chong Ngen expands beyond the familiar Hotel 81 to woo a different budget customer to his brand of inns.

BY JESSICA TAN

long a 2-mile stretch in Singapore’s red-light dis- belt of Orchard Road, along Bencoolen Street. Choo’s portfolio trict of Geylang, one budget hotel chain stands will exceed 6,500 rooms across the island, with less than half out. Hotel 81, with its signature blue exterior, has belonging to Hotel 81. nearly a dozen inns dotting the side alleys of this Govinda Singh, a director and hotel specialist at real estate seedy enclave known for, among other things, services firm Colliers International, confirms that Choo’s hotel Alate-night supper options like frog’s porridge and turtle soup. empire is repositioning: “Because of its heritage, it probably “We only sell rooms; we don’t sell anything else,” says the didn’t have the best image,” he says, adding that it now wants to chain’s billionaire boss, Choo Chong Ngen, firmly, albeit in become a well-recognized budget brand such as Ibis, owned by halting English, at his office in a suburban mall-and-office French firm AccorHotels. tower. “Red-light district—the whole world has a red-light It’s a calculated decision for Choo. “People think Hotel 81 district. You go any country, also have one.” means Geylang,” he says. “Different names can catch different Choo, who ranks as Singapore’s No. 14 with his privately types of fish. No need to catch one type of fish. Can catch five held fortune of $2.05 billion, established his first Hotel 81 in types of fish, ten types of fish.” Geylang more than two decades ago, ahead of smaller rivals, In recent years, smaller economy hotels have mushroomed including the Fragrance Hotel chain owned by hotel and prop- across the island city, which saw visitor arrivals increase by erty tycoon Koh Wee Meng (No. 30). Over the years, cheap 7.7% to 16.4 million last year. Even so, “Singapore is very rates have kept business brisk at these so-called love hotels; small,” Choo laments. “If there are three more Hotel Bosses, we today rooms go for as little as $15 for a two-hour stay, extend- won’t be able to find any more customers—I must go outside.” ing to $47 a night. He recently made his first foray abroad, in Thailand, when But lately, Choo, 64, has been evolving from his Geylang he signed his initial affiliation with an international brand to roots. In late 2015, he opened Hotel Boss, a 19-story, 1,500- open a 164-room Travelodge in Pattaya, where he bought and room hotel nestled between Arab Street and Little India not far renamed an existing inn. Travelodge will also operate a hotel from downtown Singapore. On a recent weekday afternoon, its owned by Choo in Bangkok, slated to open by year-end. Choo hotel lobby was bustling with visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, declines to disclose financial details. China and India. Offering its own small, no-frills rooms at $94 The Travelodge linkage is a good move, notes Colliers’ a night, the “3.5-star” hotel, with an average occupancy of 80%, Singh. “When you go into a highly competitive environment appears to be a hit with a different budget set. such as Bangkok, you need all the advantages you can get, and Hotel Boss followed a few other midtier moves by Choo what Travelodge brings as well is their international expertise since 2009. And his makeover mission continues. This sum- in managing properties.” mer, he is opening the 343-room, 4-star Hotel Mi, his fifth Choo says he has the wherewithal to make acquisitions

hotel brand in just eight years, just outside the main shopping of up to $300 million and is scouting for expansion in Japan, FORBES MUNSHI AHMED FOR

46 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 “I’m 100% hands on”: Choo with daughter and CFO Carolyn at the soon-to-be- opened Hotel Mi. Singapore’s 50 Richest CHOO CHONG NGEN Malaysia, Australia forcing him to slash rates. (where his rival Koh is “SARS was the worst. already) and the U.K. My business dropped by Or he could extend the 80%,” he recalls. The 2008 Hotel Boss overseas financial crisis dealt an- with suitable sites. He other whammy. No bank won’t share operational was willing to lend him numbers except to let money to pay for a site he on that at overall annual had won in a government revenues of around $145 tender as the sole bidder. million, business has “I used some of my been profitable. cash, I used some of my Consumers have properties and all the OD ever increasing choices, (overdraft) money, all and competitors are still take out,” recalls Choo. migrating to Singapore, He paid $37 million for but Choo expresses the site, located along confidence that, at his what was a nondescript rates, guests will keep suburban street. “In my coming—especially as mind, I think, hey, [it’s low-cost airlines bring near the] MRT [mass multitudes from China transit], I can make a and India. “The market row of shops and build a likes this kind of price hotel.” Two years later, he and this kind of hotel,” opened his first V Hotel he says. on the plot. Choo honed his Today his daughter, business acumen from “We only sell rooms; we don’t sell anything else”: Hotel 81 in Geylang. Carolyn, 40, the chief a young age. He grew financial officer, says up with six siblings in a kampong (vil- Three months after his return, he had her father’s self-made saga has been a lage) home in northeast Singapore. His enlisted an architect and selected Gey- source of inspiration for her and her father was a carpenter and his mother a lang, where he owned properties, as his three brothers. “We know how difficult homemaker. To help make ends meet he launchpad. it was for him to build his business. He sold ice cream in his neighborhood when In 1995, he opened his first Hotel 81, didn’t strike TOTO [the lottery], you he was 10. By 14, he had dropped out of using the unit number of his home at the know.” Despite his success, she adds, her school and become a fishmonger. Every time. “Because I no study, I cannot put father lives a simple life, preferring to morning, he would head off to Kang- Shangri-La. I don’t know how to spell,” eat at hawker centers. kar fishery port, then situated near the he laughs with self-deprecation. “Hotel Choo is restructuring to put his vari- mouth of Singapore’s Serangoon River, 81? I know how to write.” ous units under a holding company that and sell baskets of catch at a nearby As it turned out, Choo’s business will be run by Carolyn as group manag- market. literacy was stellar. Within five years, he ing director, starting in January. “One It was when he started selling textiles had ten hotels, mostly in Geylang and important mission is to preserve the at 17 that Choo got his first break. From the adjacent Joo Chiat neighborhood. legacy,” she says. It will continue to be a a small market stall, his trade grew, “I’m 100% hands on, not 99%,” he quips. family-run business—two of her broth- and by age 32, he owned several stores. He does daily spot checks and fixates on ers and a cousin are part of the team. Eventually he exited to focus on property details such as the design of the laundry Meanwhile, Choo will remain involved investments. baskets and the baggage trolleys used by in strategy. After a stay in a Tokyo salaryman the bellboys. In the past, he would even While there has been some talk of hotel in 1991, he had an inkling: “The help out with housekeeping during staff taking the company public, Choo says room was very small, and it was a very shortages. that is not imminent. “After 70, I will fair price. I thought this one bring to Challenges have tested his resolve. think about it. Now I can still control. Singapore, can make money,” he recalls. The 2003 SARS outbreak was a big blow, Now I can still work.” F

48 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

Singapore’s 50 Richest BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI

Winds of Change Fortunes rise amid a bitter battle in its first family.

ingaporeans got a jolt in June when a quietly raging dispute between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his two siblings exploded on social media. Such unprec- edented public venting, by the late ’s heirs no less, exposed a rare vulnerability in the tightly gov- Serned nation, which has also faced the threat of regional isolation lately. Witness its strained relations with China and the exclusion of Prime Minister Lee from Beijing’s Belt and Road summit in May. (He got face time with Xi later at the G20 summit.) Despite these headwinds and a sluggish economy, which grew 2% in 2016, the total net worth of Singapore’s 50 Richest, at $104.6 billion, is up 11% from a year ago, bolstered by a similar rise in the main stock index. Close to two thirds of the tycoons on the list saw their fortunes increase, even as the price of entry rose to $540 million from $455 million last year. While property siblings Robert & Philip Ng retain their No. 1 spot for the eighth year in a row, with a fortune of $9.4 Calm before the storm. billion, Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin is closing in. A Oxley Holdings popped on brisk overseas sales. Singapore resident for the past five years, Saverin, who now backs More than a fifth of those returning to the list were poorer, startups, jumps one spot, to No. 2, with $9.3 billion. including Loo Choon Yong of Raffles Medical Group, whose Another big gainer is reclusive paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang, expansion in China has analysts worried (see story, p. 42). Five ty- whose holding in Japan’s Nippon Paint Holdings got a boost from coons in this group have their wealth linked to real estate, a sector strong sales in Asia as well as an expansion in the U.S. with the that has yet to see an uptick, though some of the biggest property acquisition of Dunn-Edwards Paints. Budget hotels pioneer Choo names have cornered prized enclaves in the land-scarce nation (see Chong Ngen is benefiting from his entry into the midtier hotel story, p. 54). segment (see story, p. 46). Among the three members of last year’s list who dropped off is Two newcomers enter the ranks: hedge fund star Danny Yong, John Chuang, whose chocolate maker, Delfi, saw a fall in sales in cofounder of Dymon Asia Capital, and Saurabh Mittal, cofound- Indonesia, its biggest market. These rankings are based on stock er of Indian real estate and financial-services group Indiabulls, prices and exchange rates as of July 14. who relocated to Singapore three years ago after selling a chunk Additional reporting by Michael Chu, Russell Flannery, Sean of his stake. Last year’s dropout Ching Chiat Kwong, known for Kilachand, Jane A. Peterson, Anuradha Raghunathan, Jessica Tan

building shoebox apartments, stages a comeback as shares of his and Kate Vinton. IMAGES SUHAIMI ABDULLAH/GETTY 88 76 58 68 72, 69 69 72, AGE: : 90 35 AGE: T AGE: S S S S 67 AGE: 72, 70, 65, 59 70, 72, AGES: AGE RETURNEE AGE: AGE: 3 AGE: DOWN MORE THAN 10%DOWN 65, 58 63, 34 34 63, 1 3 2 5 8 9 6 4 7. 11 12 T 10 AGES: BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION SAM GOI SAM $7.1 $2.1 $2.1 AGES: AGES: $2.7 $5.3 $6.3 $2.6 $9.4 KHOO FAMILY KHOO FAMILY WEE CHO YAW WEE CHO YAW $2.2 $5.8 $9.3 $7.8 WILMAR $2.08 KWEE BROTHERS BROTHERS KWEE THE LIST NEW TO LIST KWEK LENG BENG KWEK GOH CHENG LIANG FACEBOOK FACEBOOK EDUARDO SAVERIN SAVERIN EDUARDO KUOK KHOON HONG KUOK ROBERT & PHILIP NG ROBERT & PHILIP RICHARD CHANDLER Ì NIPPON PAINT NIPPON PAINT RAJ KUMAR & KISHIN RK RAJ KUMAR FAR EAST ORGANIZATION ORGANIZATION EAST FAR TEE YIH JIA FOOD TEE YIH JIA FOOD CLERMONT GROUP CITY DEVELOPMENTS CITY DEVELOPMENTS RB CAPITAL/ROYAL HOLDINGS RB CAPITAL/ROYAL HOTEL PROPERTIES PROPERTIES HOTEL GOODWOOD GROUP OF HOTELS GOODWOOD UP MORE THAN 10% UNITED OVERSEAS PONTIAC LAND PONTIAC ONG BENG SENG & CHRISTINA ONG ONG BENG SENG & CHRISTINA S venture capital firms, Velos Partners and B Capital Group. and B Capital Group. Partners capital firms, Velos venture startup retail $22.5 million in U.S. B-Cap invested In June, of $25 million each in Inturn. It also led funding rounds a and Icertis, Group firm CXA online health insurance Asia’s Other bets: management software. of contract provider U.S. Orami, as Indonesia’s as well Ninja Van Singapore’s women. for an online shopping site

Facebook BIG BOOST Brazilian-born angel investor, who cofounded who cofounded angel investor, Brazilian-born EDUARDO SAVERIN: and moved to Singapore five years ago after renouncing his renouncing ago after years five Singapore to and moved second-richest the island-nation’s is now citizenship, U.S. of the social media giant, in which he holds Shares resident. year, in the past a third close to up by were a minority stake, backing is busy Saverin his wealth. billion to adding $2.1 his two and Asia through in the U.S. entrepreneurs tech

BRYAN VAN DER BEEK/BLOOMBERG Singapore’s 50 Richest

DANNY YONG: FUND STAR Homegrown banker started his career with J.P. Morgan in Singapore two hedge-fund titan Paul Tudor Jones and put in $13 million of his own decades ago and went on to work with Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong money. Jones’ investment put the fledgling Dymon—now with $5.7 billion and Tokyo as head of trading for Southeast Asian derivatives. Moved under management—on the hedge-fund map of the world and attracted from there to Citadel as managing director. He returned to Singapore in investors such as Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek. 2008, teaming up with his college buddy to start Dymon Asia Capital, The flagship Dymon Asia Macro Fund has been a top performer and an acronym for Danny Yong Macro Opportunities Navigator. Just before earned Yong a spot in Forbes’ 25 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers the global financial meltdown, he received $100 million from billionaire in 2015 and 2017. JUSTIN CHIN/BLOOMBERG JUSTIN THE LIST

13 PETER LIM $2.07 BILLION T ROWSLEY AGE: 64

14 CHOO CHONG NGEN $2.05 BILLION S HOTEL 81 AGE: 64

15 CHANG YUN CHUNG $2.01 BILLION S PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL LINES AGE: 98

16 ARVIND TIKU $2 BILLION S AT HOLDINGS AGE: 47

17 ZHONG SHENG JIAN $1.85 BILLION S YANLORD LAND AGE: 59

SAURABH MITTAL: MISSION READY 18 An engineer from the elite Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a Harvard B-school grad, Mittal worked in the LIM OON KUIN hedge-fund business as a senior partner at Noonday, an affiliate of Farallon Capital Management, and cofounded $1.7 BILLION HIN LEONG TRADING 73 Indian real estate and financial-services group Indiabulls in 1999. In 2014, he sold a chunk of his shares in the company AGE: and moved to Singapore. Through his private investment firm, Mission Holdings, he holds stakes in several ventures, 19 such as One Championship, a mixed martial arts company started by Thai-American entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong. LEE FAMILY Mittal (no relation to the London-based steel billionaire) also owns 80% of California analytics firm Incedo. Other $1.6 BILLION S holdings include financial technology firm BSI Financial. OCBC BANK 20 HO FAMILY $1.5 BILLION S TAI TAK ESTATES

21 CHUA THIAN POH $1.45 BILLION S RON SIM: HO BEE LAND AGE: 69

HONG KONG-BOUND 22 Founder of OSIM International, maker of ASOK KUMAR HIRANANDANI home-massage chairs, took the company $1.42 BILLION private last year when its shares had fallen ROYAL GROUP AGE: 62 steeply from their 2014 high. Sim has since 23 created a new avatar for his businesses, CHEW GEK KHIM V3 Group, with plans to list in Hong Kong, $1.4 BILLION S which he says is ideal given his increasing STRAITS TRADING AGE: 55 focus on the Chinese market. V3 houses the Osim business, TWG Tea, a franchise for 24 GNC supplements and Futuristic, a company TANG WEE KIT $1.38 BILLION that specializes in store fixtures, which Sim TANG HOLDINGS AGE: 62 acquired recently. His property portfolio includes a stake in listed Perennial Real Estate Holdings, involved in an acrimonious feud with the Kwee family to liquidate its joint venture for the iconic Capitol Singapore SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% project. ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE Singapore’s 50 Richest

Prized Turfs

BY JANE A. PETERSON

n June, Kishin RK and his father, Raj Kumar, put the fi nishing touches on their $1 billion Singapore River “precinct,” which promises to ignite Rob- Iertson Quay’s quiet bend with a new 225-room luxury Hotel InterCon- tinental and as many as 30 restaurants, including an outlet of the acclaimed New York City-based Wolfgang’s Steakhouse and 1880, a members-only club, both still to open. But on a recent evening, this quayside, once an eclectic mix of midmarket bars and restaurants, was abuzz with expats crowding the 20 eateries already in business. Th e father-son pair began amassing the prized real estate parcel in 2010 when they snatched a $73 million plot at the adjoining Clarke Quay in a government auction and went on to build a 442-room Holiday Inn Express. Th ey acquired the Robertson Quay retail strip and the former 4-star Gal- lery Hotel in quick succession in 2012 and 2013 from private owners for a combined $215 million. “Th e Gallery Hotel was the last piece of the puzzle for the precinct we were trying to create,” says Kishin. Singapore’s top property tycoons seem to fancy carving out distinct turfs in their land-scarce nation. Examples abound: Ong Beng Seng’s chic Four Seasons Hotel on leafy Orchard Boulevard links to his Hilton Hotel on Orchard Road. Close by is his Forum Shopping Mall. Th e Ng brothers’ prized patch is Marina Bay, which includes the neoclassical Fullerton Hotel, the Fullerton Bay Hotel and One Fullerton, a smart dining-shopping-offi ce complex. Strategically linked by walkways and bridges are fi ve properties in downtown’s Millenia area owned by the Kwee brothers’ Pontiac Land. Millenia Walk, fi lled with shops and restaurants, serves their Ritz-Carlton Millenia Hotel and Conrad Centennial Hotel as well as the Millenia and Centennial offi ce towers. Kwek Leng Beng has planted his group’s fl ag fi rmly in the Cuscaden/ Tanglin stretch, where it owns the tony St. Regis Hotel as well as the 190- room Singapore Edition hotel, which is due to open in 2019. At Sentosa Cove, Kwek assembled the W Singapore hotel, the retail/restaurant Quayside Isle and the Residences at W, against which he raised $1.1 billion in a deal with private equity giant Blackstone and CIMB Bank. But prices at the ultra- luxury enclave aimed at rich expats have long been in the dumps. THE LIST

25 OEI HONG LEONG $1.33 BILLION S HONG KONG EXPO HOLDING AGE: 69

26 ROBERT FRIEDLAND $1.3 BILLION S IVANHOE MINES AGE: 66

27 LIEN FAMILY $1.25 BILLION UNITED OVERSEAS BANK

28 RON SIM $1.2 BILLION V3 GROUP AGE: 58

29 TAY FAMILY $1.15 BILLION MEMOCORP

30 KOH WEE MENG $1.1 BILLION FRAGRANCE GROUP AGE: 54

31 PETER FU CHONG CHENG $920 MILLION KUO INTERNATIONAL

32 MICHAEL KUM $905 MILLION M&L HOSPITALITY AGE: 72

33 LIM CHAP HUAT $900 MILLION S SOILBUILD GROUP AGE: 63

34 LOO CHOON YONG $890 MILLION T RAFFLES MEDICAL GROUP AGE: 68

35 SERGE PUN $800 MILLION YOMA STRATEGIC HOLDINGS AGE: 64

36 LIM HOCK CHEE $760 MILLION SHENG SIONG GROUP AGE: 55

37 PRIMUS CHENG $740 MILLION S PRIMA FOOD AGE: 67

SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE Singapore’s 50 Richest

CHING CHIAT KWONG: MR. SHOEBOX RETURNS Property magnate reenters the list after falling off last year thanks to a 43% rise in flagship Oxley Holdings’ shares on brisk sales overseas, primarily in Ireland, Cambodia and Malaysia. Oxley continues to spread its wings, acquiring stakes in a Chinese Special Economic Zone and an Australian developer. It also owns hotels in the region: and Mercure in Singapore, both due to open in late 2017; Shangri La in Phnom Penh; and Jumeirah and Sofitel in Kuala Lumpur. Kwong, who studied sociology at the National University of Singapore, started his career as a cop. He left the force in 1993 and tried his hand at several trades—property broker, travel agent, beverage marketer—before finding his niche building shoebox apartments across Singapore.

WEE CHO YAW: CONDO COUP The chairman emeritus of United Overseas Bank, Singapore’s third- largest lender, which his father cofounded in 1935, made headlines in January when he bought 45 units in the Nassim, a luxury condominium, through his family’s private real estate arm for $290 million. The bulk purchase, at an 18% discount to the prevailing market price, got developer CapitaLand off the hook for heavy penalties that apply to unsold properties after a certain period. Wee exploited a tax loophole by buying a stake in the company that owned the units rather than buying them outright, avoiding a 15% stamp tax. Singapore has since closed that loophole. MUNSHI AHMED (LEFT); THE LIST

38 SUNNY VERGHESE KUIK AH HAN $730 MILLION S SIM LIAN GROUP AGE: 71

39 Mixed Harvest CHENG WAI KEUNG $720 MILLION S ntil 2011, Indian-born Sunny Verghese, WING TAI HOLDINGS AGE: 66 57, cofounder and CEO of Singapore- 40 based commodities giant Olam Inter- TAN BOY TEE U $715 MILLION national, had regularly featured on the roster of BESTFORD GROUP AGE: 68

Singapore’s richest. But in 2012, Verghese, who 41 holds a 4.1% stake in the firm, lost his place in the MIN-LIANG TAN $700 MILLION S rankings on a fall in Olam’s shares. Later that year, RAZER AGE: 39 U.S. short seller Muddy Waters called into question 42 the company’s accounting practices and viability, DANNY YONG causing its shares to further tumble. $670 MILLION Ì DYMON ASIA CAPITAL AGE: 45 Verghese, who set up the company in 1989 as an exporter of raw cashews from Africa as an offshoot 43 BHUPENDRA KUMAR MODI of the Kewalram Chanrai Group, has made key $665 MILLION moves in the past five years to put Olam on a SMART GROUP AGE: 68 firmer footing. However, with a net worth under lion, helped by higher sales of confectionery and 44 SAURABH MITTAL $200 million, he has yet to regain his spot on Singa- beverage ingredients. $650 MILLION Ì pore’s 50 Richest list. In 2014, Singapore state-owned Verghese, who has said that he sees opportuni- MISSION HOLDINGS AGE: 43 investment firm Temasek boosted its shareholding ties in crises, is facing another headwind. Last De- 45 in Olam and now holds 52%. A year later, Japan’s cember, U.S.-based environmental group Mighty CHING CHIAT KWONG $615 MILLION 3 Mitsubishi picked up a 20% stake for $1.1 billion. Earth accused Olam of large-scale deforestation OXLEY HOLDINGS AGE: 51 With cash in Olam’s kitty, Verghese went on an in the West African nation of Gabon—where it 46 expansion drive at a time when commodity prices has 100,000 hectares of land for palm oil cultiva- SHAW VEE MENG were low. Among other things, he bought the cocoa tion—as well as for failing to disclose the identities $580 MILLION SHAW ORGANIZATION AGE: 84 business of Archer Daniels Midland for $1.2 billion of third-party suppliers of palm oil. The company 47 in 2015, which, according to DBS Group Research, agreed in February to suspend forest clearing for a JOHN LIM has made Olam one of the top three global cocoa year and disclosed its suppliers’ names. $575 MILLION S ARA 61 processors. Last year, Olam paid $275 million for At the time, Verghese noted that in 2016 Olam AGE: the wheat-milling and pasta-manufacturing assets sourced and traded less than 1% of the global 48 HO KIAN GUAN of Nigeria’s BUA Group. It also picked up U.S.-based output of more than 60 million tons of palm oil in $565 MILLION Brooks Peanut for $85 million. a market dominated by Indonesia and Malaysia. KECK SENG GROUP AGE: 71 Today the $3.8 billion (market cap) company But, he said, “that does not excuse us from being 49 has 70,000 employees across 70 countries and sup- responsible in the way we source.” During the HENRY NG $545 MILLION plies everything from coffee to cashews to cocoa one-year moratorium, Olam and Mighty Earth PAN-UNITED AGE: 59

to food giants Nestlé and Cadbury. In 2016, Olam are expected to discuss guidelines for agricultural 50 reported a net profit of $255 million on revenues of development in heavily forested regions. KOH WEE SENG MUNSHI AHMED $540 MILLION $15 billion, reversing a year-earlier loss of $84 mil- —Jessica Tan ASPIAL AGE: 48

SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% FOR METHODOLOGY AND ALL BIOS, GO TO FORBES.COM/SINGAPORE. ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE

FORBES ASIA LICENSEE COVERS

Around Asia In FORBES:

Forbes India July 7 Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, taking on responsibilities at his Forbes Thailand July billionaire father’s Motherson Sumi autoparts maker Isara Vongkusolkit is chairman of Mitr Phol Sugar, the country’s largest producer of sugar (a Fab 50 company), figures in a section on succession and fifth-ranked in the world. No. 22 in the latest Thai Rich List with a recent $1.4 billion at notable family businesses. (forbesindia.com) worth, he touts the company’s “zero-waste plants” in Asia-Pacific. (forbesthailand.com)

Forbes China July-August The annual list of achievers below age 30 includes categories akin to those in Forbes Asia, yielding a range of entrepreneurs, technologists and performing artists. (forbeschina.com)

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 59 Technology

Build, Race, Fight . . . and Chat Discord’s communications service for gamers has already outgrown messaging giant Slack. As it nears unicorn status, the two-year-old startup aims to cash in on its success.

BY KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI

ix days a week, a 26-year-old videogaming ce- comparison, the corporate messaging phenom Slack lebrity who goes by the name “Lirik” regales his had just 2.3 million daily users two years after its launch 1.7 million followers on the streaming service and has since grown to 5 million. Discord, which has Twitch as he broadcasts himself playing Destiny been called “the Slack for gamers,” is adding 1.1 million S(a shoot-’em-up contest), Colony Survival (a city-build- new users every week. “I haven’t seen a product that has ing simulation) and other popular online titles. As he grown this quickly, with this daily usage, in a long time,” plays—from an undisclosed location in Massachusetts, says Josh Elman of Greylock Partners, an investor in lest he be mobbed by fans—another app called Discord Discord. “If you’re a gamer, Discord speaks to you.” Co- floats on his screen. Lirik uses it to chat in real time via founder and CEO Jason Citron says, “Discord was just voice or text with teammates and to message with thou- something that was missing from the world. It needed sands of fans in channels dedicated to popular games to exist.” like League of Legends and Mario Kart. Lirik, who re- Discord has quickly overtaken incumbents like fuses to publicly reveal his real name, became an avid TeamSpeak, Mumble, Ventrilo and, in some cases, user of Discord two years ago. He has since been chosen Skype with a simple formula: an all-in-one service that by the San Francisco-based startup as one of about 200 combines text and voice communications—and, soon, influencers it pays to promote the service. He says Dis- video chat and screen sharing—and integrates easily cord fosters a sense of community among his fans, who with online games during playtime. The bulk of Discord chat, mingle and form friendships with each other. “I users are 18-to-34-year-old gamers who connect with a have Discord open 24-7,” Lirik says. core group of friends for hours on end to discuss strate- Discord’s embrace by famous Twitch and YouTube gies for slaying a dragon or chat about work or their ro- gamers like Lirik helped turn the free desktop and mo- mantic lives. Discord’s mobile app shows users when bile chat service into one of the biggest app breakout friends are playing and makes it easy to set up future hits in recent memory. Growing virally since its May play sessions. Richard Hor dijk, an analyst at the gam- 2015 launch, it has more than 45 million registered ing-focused research firm Newzoo, says features like users, who send some 200 million messages daily. Every these “set Discord apart from long-running applica- day 9 million people across the globe use Discord. By tions” and have turned it into the market leader. TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD FOR FORBES ARCHIBALD FOR TIMOTHY

60 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 DISCORD

Stanislav Vishnevskiy (left) and Jason Citron turned a passion for gaming into a blockbuster communications app.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 61 Technology DISCORD

The tantalizing prospect of becoming a leading pick-and- vate or adapt to rapidly changing gaming behavior, leaving shovel vendor to the gaming gold rush has helped Citron, 32, them vulnerable to an upstart with a better mousetrap, says and cofounder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy, 28, raise near- Lauren Foye, an analyst at Juniper Research. Discord seized ly $100 million from a list of marquee venture investors that the opportunity with a more seamless experience. While most also includes Spark Capital and Index Ventures. The compa- rival apps have to be installed, Discord can run inside a Web ny won’t disclose revenue, which comes mostly from $4.99 browser, meaning users need only click an invite link and cre- monthly subscriptions for extra features like animated avatars, ate a user name to get started. (Players who stick with Dis- custom emojis and larger file-upload limits. But a $50 million cord typically install the desktop version later for better per- cash infusion in June valued Discord, which has just 65 em- formance.) Discord also caused fewer game-play delays than ployees, at about $770 million. Investors know gaming fans are competitors, eliminated the typical monthly usage fee and re- a lucrative audience. Industry revenue, which includes PC and moved the need for gamers to toggle between programs. “The mobile games, will top $94 billion this year, according to New- social group moves from a fragmented messaging experience zoo. The firm estimates that growth will continue as PC gam- with TeamSpeak and maybe WhatsApp or Messenger, and ers, already at 1.2 billion globally, reach 1.4 billion in 2020. then they just all use Discord,” Citron says. “There’s no waiting Citron and Vishnevskiy began their gaming careers as to call into chats. It’s like an always-on conference call.” Gam- 5-year-olds playing Nintendo on Long Island and in Los An- ers also appreciate its security, which protects their IP address- geles, respectively. They were programming for money by their es and prevents them from getting kicked offline. Meanwhile, teenage years and further honed their computer skills in col- Millennials are drawn to Discord’s visual messaging, which lege—Citron at Full Sail University in Florida and Vishnevs- supports GIFs and graphics tied to internet memes. kiy at Cal State Northridge. After graduating, Citron worked Discord’s first spurt of users followed a fan’s rave review on for gaming studios for a few years before launching his own Reddit. Citron and Vishnevskiy shared links to invite users to Tetris-like game on the day Apple’s App Store opened. When the ensuing discussion thread, and usage took off. The found- he couldn’t monetize the game, he took the social features he ers still message with users every day, and Citron, who is had built and turned them into a service for game developers. more extroverted than Vishnevskiy, is known to spend hours at gaming events like TwitchCon handing out swag. “That’s why Stan and I do this. Bringing Meanwhile, a customer-care team of 15 employees people together around games is really and 20 contractors works to prevent abuse and as- sist—and banter with—users. “It’s a lot of little subtle the lightning rod we connect to.” things that make a big difference,” Citron says. For now, Discord’s moneymaking potential is He expanded the company, OpenFeint, to 100 employees and hemmed in by the founders’ promises to users: The core ser- sold it to the Japanese media company GREE for $104 million vice will remain free, and they won’t run ads or sell user data. in 2011. Citron left a few months later and, after unwinding And as the company grows, the monthly subscriptions for through three straight weeks of playing Final Fantasy IV, de- extra services aren’t likely to pay the bills. But Nabeel , a cided his work wasn’t done. “I had this itch, and still have the partner at Spark Capital, says Discord’s user base should lend itch, to build something enduring and important,” Citron says. itself to plenty of monetization opportunities over time. Sell- At the time, iPads were booming in popularity, and Cit- ing games and merchandise could be an option, analysts say. ron thought Apple’s tablet could become the next blockbuster The company may also sell tools and services to developers device for gamers. He founded his next company, Hammer & who create games with Discord’s chat features and come up Chisel, in 2012 to develop a multiplayer iPad game, recruiting with bots for the service. Vishnevskiy, who had worked at GREE. The game won acco- Discord is already being used by nongamers inside some lades for its design, but when it struggled to gain an audience, businesses, and some analysts see another potential oppor- Vishnevskiy pushed Citron to consider an idea he had shelved: tunity there. “Discord very much has its roots in gaming, but a text and voice chat service for gamers. Citron was intrigued you could see it branch out more broadly,” Juniper’s Foye says. and assigned half his 18-person staff to work on what would Citron and Vishnevskiy say they prefer to remain firm- become Discord. Eventually, Citron made the wrenching deci- ly grounded in the fantasy world of games. They’ve built Dis- sion to stop development of his iPad game—and lay off about cord’s headquarters into a child’s idea of what a workplace half the workers—to focus on Discord. “It wasn’t even clear should be. There’s a handful of arcade games lining the en- Discord was going to work, but I knew we couldn’t do two trance, and meeting rooms equipped with comfy recliners, things at once,” he says. antiquated televisions and gaming consoles could easily dou- (Interestingly, Slack, which is worth an estimated $9 bil- ble as playrooms. Groups of couches offer seating for monthly lion, also emerged from a failed gaming experiment: It was game nights. Plushies, particularly Pokémon, decorate desks. developed as an incidental internal tool for a team of coders “That’s why Stan and I wake up every day and do this,” Citron building a computer game that was later scrapped.) says. “Bringing people together around games is really the Discord launched two years ago into a market dominat- lightning rod we connect to.” And who’s to say fun and games ed by a handful of rival services. But most had failed to inno- can’t turn into real profits? F

62 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 PROMOTION 1

FORBES ASIA FORUM: THE NEXT TYCOONS

July 11, 2017 • Singapore

The fourth edition of the Forbes Asia Forum: The Next Tycoons took place on July 11, 2017 in Singapore. Attended by some 170 guests, including next generation leaders from family businesses, the forum delved into issues that mattered to these next tycoons. Panelists provided their outlook on the current business climate, and discussed how family businesses adapt amidst heightened economic and political uncertainty. Some of the next generation leaders spoke on how they capitalize on emerging trends in technology and investment to help their family businesses. Panel discussions also examined challenges faced by emerging leaders who are charting their own paths, and off ered insights into the pros and cons of being a next tycoon.

First Row (L-R) Rose Damen, Commercial Director, Amels, SeaXplorer and Yacht Support, Non-Executive Board Member, Damen Shipyards Group; Eric Fok, VP, Fok Ying Tung Group; Robin Tan, Chairman/CEO, Berjaya Corporation; Jennifer Liu, Chairman & CEO, The Coff ee Academics; Moira Forbes, Executive , Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman; Chan Chun Sing, Minister, Prime Minister’s Offi ce, Republic of Singapore; Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board; Hui Lim, Executive Director, Chief Information Offi cer, Genting; Sabrina Ho Chiu Yeng, Director & CEO, Poly Auction Macau; Rachel Lau, Partner, RHL Ventures Second Row (L-R) Goh Miah Kiat, CEO, Karex; Schwin Chiaravanont, MD, 2W Group, Executive Director, Aura Group; Maverick Shih, President, BYOC Smart Products, Acer; Sid Wahi, MD, CMA Investment Holdings; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Kishin RK, CEO, RB Capital Group; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia; Ho Ren Hua, CEO, Thai Wah Group; Divesh Makan, CEO, ICONIQ Capital; Shruti Shibulal, Director, Strategy & Development, The Tamara PROMOTION 2

• A WHOLE NEW WORLD •

(L-R) Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board; Rose Damen, Commercial Director, Amels, SeaXplorer and Yacht Support, Non-Executive Board Member, Damen Shipyards Group; Ho Ren Hua, CEO, Thai Wah Group; Jeongdo Hong, President & CEO, JoongAng Ilbo and JMnet, President & CEO, JTBC; Robin Tan, Chairman/CEO, Berjaya Corporation; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia

• EMBRACING THE DIGITAL ECONOMY •

(L-R) Schwin Chiaravanont, MD, 2W Group, Executive Director, Aura Group; Rachel Lau, Partner, RHL Ventures; Divesh Makan, CEO, ICONIQ Capital; Maverick Shih, President, BYOC Smart Products, Acer; Sid Wahi, MD, CMA Investment Holdings; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman

• LIVING THE DREAM •

(L-R) Ananya Birla, Musician, Entrepreneur, Mental Health Campaigner, & Director, Svatantra Microfinance; Jennifer Liu, Chairman & CEO, The Coffee Academics; Shruti Shibulal, Director, Strategy & Development, The Tamara; Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman & CEO, ONE Championship; Anthony Tan, Group CEO, Grab; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia PROMOTION 3

• IN THE SPOTLIGHT •

(L-R) Eric Fok, VP, Fok Ying Tung Group; Goh Miah Kiat, CEO, Karex; Sabrina Ho Chiu Yeng, Director & CEO, Poly Auction Macau; Hui Lim, Executive Director, Chief Information Officer, Genting; Kishin RK, CEO, RB Capital Group; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman

IN CONVERSATION: Chan Chun Sing, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Republic of Singapore and Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia

At the close of the forum, Minister Chan Chun Sing engaged in a one-on- one dialogue with Tim Ferguson. The Minister spoke of Singapore’s enduring institutions and some of the challenges confronting the city-state today. He commented that the current leadership will continue to strengthen Singapore, in order to leave behind an even better place for the next generation.

(L-R) Sabrina Ho Chiu Yeng, Director & CEO, Poly Auction Macau; Roongchat Boonyarat, (L-R) Eric Fok, VP, Fok Ying Tung Group; Robin Tan, Chairman/CEO, Berjaya Corporation; Director & COO, Malee Group; Minister Chan Chun Sing William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Minister Chan Chun Sing PROMOTION 4

(L-R) Anthony Tan, Group CEO, Grab; Chu Swee Yeok, CEO & President, EDB Investments; (L-R) Divesh Makan, CEO, ICONIQ Capital; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board President & Publisher, ForbesWoman

(L-R) Rose Damen, Commercial Director, Amels, SeaXplorer and Yacht Support, Non-Executive (L-R) Kiat Lim, Partner, VISUALMASS.CO; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Board Member, Damen Shipyards Group; Jan Smits, CEO, IHG; Pasu Liptapanlop, Executive Loh Boon Chye, CEO, Singapore Exchange Director, Proud Real Estate

(L-R) Kishin RK, CEO, RB Capital Group; Hann Yeoh, Executive Director, YTL Power Generation; Teh Hua Fung, (L-R) Brian Riady, CEO, Cinemaxx, Director, Lippo Group; Jeongdo Hong, Principal, TPG Capital (S); Kuok Meng Xiong, Director, Kuok Investments Singapore; Darwin Indigo, Deputy President & CEO, JoongAng Ilbo and JMnet, President & CEO, JTBC Country Head – Indonesia, Wilmar Trading

(L-R) Yeoh Pei Teeng, Executive Director, YTL Land; Jo Jo Kong, PA to Group MD, Nirvana Asia; Hui Lim, Executive Director, Chief Information Officer, Genting; Michaela Tan, Private Wealth Management, (L-R) Rachel Lau, Partner, RHL Ventures; Maverick Shih, President, BYOC Smart Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Products, Acer PROMOTION 5

(L-R) Robin Tan, Chairman/CEO, Berjaya Corporation; Desmond Poon, Executive (L-R) Ho Ren Hua, CEO, Thai Wah Group; Dennis Mak, Founder & CEO, Paraclete; Laurence Lien, Director, Team Leader Singapore & Malaysia, DBS Private Bank Chairman, Lien Foundation, Co-Founder & CEO, Asia Philanthropy Circle

(L-R) Sid Wahi, MD, CMA Investment Holdings; Karan Chaudhary, Executive Director, Chaudhary (L-R) Schwin Chiaravanont, MD, 2W Group, Executive Director, Aura Group; Jonathan Ng, Group; Rabindra Shrestha, Managing Partner, Prestellar Ventures; Rahul Chaudhary, Executive Director (Special Projects), CEO’s Office, Far East Organization Director, CG Corp Global, Director, Prestellar Ventures

(L-R) Jennifer Liu, Chairman & CEO, The Coffee Academics; Ananya Birla, Musician, (L-R) Chia Song Hwee, President, Temasek; Joshua Yeoh, Director, YTL Cement Enterprise; Entrepreneur, Mental Health Campaigner, Chairperson & Director, Svatantra Microfinance Arif Patrick Rachmat, Co-Founder & Group CEO, Triputra Agro Persada

(L-R) Valencia Herliani Tanoesoedibjo, Special Assistant to Group CEO, MNC Group; Michelle Regina Katuari, Manager, (L-R) Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman & CEO, ONE Championship; Sayap Mas Utama; Elizabeth Li, Founder, Greenberry; Jade Li, Co-Founder, Greenberry; Cristine Li, Junior Specialist, Shruti Shibulal, Director, Strategy & Development, The Tamara Chinese Works of Art, Sothebys; Stefanie Sariaatmadja, Emtek PROMOTION 6

(L-R) Cyrus Pun, Executive Director, Yoma Strategic; Amy Naing Pun, Director, ORGANICO; Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Manager, Ayala Land Malls, Ayala Corporation; Danel C Aboitiz, President & COO, Oil Business Unit, AboitizPower

(L-R) Zhong Ming, Executive Director, Yanlord Land Shanghai; Lim Han Feng, Director, Soilbuild Group Holdings; Jube Zhong, Executive Director, Yanlord Some 40 delegates attended a private session at the headquarters of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Land; Lim Chern Yuan, Executive Director & Group CEO, Yinson Holdings with Lim Chow Kiat, CEO of GIC.

Forbes would like to thank the speakers, delegates and sponsors of the Forbes Asia Forum: The Next Tycoons.

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As Forbes’ September 2017 centennial approaches, we’re unearthing our favorite covers. July 15, 1931: Driving Force BY ABRAM BROWN

WALTER P. CHRYSLER faced a crisis: Nineteen thirty-one was the worst year for business since the invention of the automobile. Chrysler responded by doubling down on a burgeoning area of his empire: the lower-priced Plymouth line he had introduced three years earlier. Chrysler advertisements of the time heralded the new 1931 Plymouth as “floating power” with “the smoothness of an eight [cylinder] . . . the economy of a four.” A four- door, three-window sedan started at $635, or roughly $10,300 in today’s dollars. Chrysler instructed his company to embark on a new training program for dealers to ensure they understood the vehicle—and could sell it well. The regimen included an educational film that showed the Plymouth traversing the “worst roads in the United States,” in Death Valley, where the temperature regularly tops 130 degrees.

NUMBERS GAME To Catch a Thief “There seems to be a blind spot in the intelligence of every embezzler, no matter how expert he may be,” AMAZING AD accountant George H. Kingsley Cola Power told Forbes. He recounted stories Advances in refrigeration had enabled of apprehended embezzlers, such Coca-Cola to increase distribution. as the $30-a-week clerk for an The company had introduced its iconic automobile company who had six-pack of bottles eight years earlier. tried to buy a $3,500 roadster. (That’s akin to earning $490 a week SIGN OF THE TIMES Tuned Into the Future today while eyeing a $57,000 car.) Kingsley advised businesses to Television might still have been in a “crude, modernize their accounting systems, elementary stage,” but Forbes’ crystal ball implement surprise audits—and sagely predicted business videoconferencing, carefully examine the motives of televised sermons, QVC-like shopping channels any employees who seem overly MOVIESTORE COLLECTION/ALAMY; EVERETT COLLECTION/NEWSCOM EVERETT COLLECTION/NEWSCOM COLLECTION/ALAMY; MOVIESTORE and the continued success of CBS and NBC. EVERETT COLLECTION/NEWSCOM; COLLECTION/ALAMY; MOVIESTORE BANNOR/ALAMY; TODD eager to “help” the auditors.

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 69 Austin Powered Young Texas real estate mogul Nate Paul has quickly amassed a billion-dollar portfolio and an $800 million net worth. Imagine what he’ll do when he turns 31.

BY NATHAN VARDI FORBES FOR TIM PANNELL

70 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA NATE PAUL

nlike other suc- inside and outside the company, Forbes cessful Millennial estimates that Paul’s net worth is $800 entrepreneurs, Nate million. If commercial real estate prices Paul is not a T-shirt stay strong, he could be a billionaire soon. or hoodie kind of It’s a particularly impressive trajec- Uguy—his uniform is a suit. He has tory when you consider that real estate worn one to work, usually with a is famously a dynastic business and Paul vest, every day since he dropped is the son of an ob-gyn. Complicating out of college nearly ten years ago. things further, he is the son of Indian im- “I always wanted people to take migrants from New Delhi in overwhelm- me seriously,” the Texas real estate ingly white Austin. prodigy says. “Part of it is you have From the beginning, Paul set out to to look older.” build his portfolio as an operator and an At 5’11”, with a stocky build investor. In order to buy, he hit up his and a two o’clock shadow, Paul obstetrician father’s buddies, charmed certainly looks as though his high-net-worth individuals, and then odometer has long since passed landed pension and insurance money. He 30 years old. But that’s not why raised funds in dozens of partnerships to the real estate brokers who clamor do deals and kept upwards of 50% of the to meet him take him seriously. profits. With the $25 million he started They try to get in the elevator that raising from the Austin Police Retirement rises to the top floor of Austin’s System in 2009, he produced an annual tallest commercial skyscraper, up (and now fully realized) internal rate of past the offices of billionaire-run return of 24.8%, net of fees. private equity firms, because Paul Now Paul is getting ready to double is the biggest buyer and owner of down on his early success. He has spent land for development in the city. much of the past year recapitalizing his And Texas isn’t big enough for his business, cashing out limited partners ambition. (such as the Austin Police Retirement Sys- Paul’s World Class Holdings, tem) and taking full ownership of many which he started building in 2007, of World Class’ partnerships, often using has $1.2 billion in assets, accord- debt and his own accumulated capital. He ing to a document obtained by then rolled up all the properties he could Forbes. That portfolio includes into his new holding company, which is 120 properties in 17 states from attempting to raise $1 billion of preferred California to New York, but most equity in the coming year. Paul thought are in economically vibrant Texas. about trying to raise a private equity fund, World Class Holdings owns 10 but what he really wants is permanent million square feet of commercial capital, which would allow him to get off real estate that ranges from office the treadmill that requires him to sell as- space to retail to self-storage. And sets to achieve exits for his investors every although he once bid $800 million few years. “I am thinking with a 30-year for Manhattan’s Plaza and Dream time horizon,” Paul says. “I actually have a hotels, Paul is no Texas Trump— 30-year amortization and will be around.” he doesn’t own a single trophy “From an investment perspective his building and his name is not on returns have been spectacular, and he Youthful Longhorn: “My assets any of his properties. “My assets are not does a good job returning capital early,” are not sexy. I mean, I own lots of sexy,” the 30-year-old says proudly. “I says Robert Smith, an Austin private storage. But I love my assets.” mean, I own lots of storage. But I love my equity billionaire who has invested tens assets.” of millions in five of Paul’s deals. “I look For good reason. Paul, who retains at what Nate has accomplished; he has 100% of the company, is not overlever- thought very strategically about areas like aged according to financial documents, storage and the Austin marketplace.” and none of his debt is at the holding- Joseph Liemandt, founder and CEO company level. Based on his holdings of Austin’s Trilogy Software, adds, “His

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 71 FORBES ASIA NATE PAUL general business acumen is unbelievable, and he is always talk- tually became a plastic surgeon, his sister an attorney—so Paul ing about the long term.” Liemandt, a close friend of Paul’s who, decided to take a year off with a promise that he would go back at 27, appeared on a 1996 Forbes cover highlighting the wave of to school one day. Renting a basement office, he called his firm young tech entrepreneurs, says, “He is dramatically more mature World Class Capital, a name for which he has sometimes gotten than I ever was—nobody thought he was 23 when he was 23.” grief but reflects the idealism of a 20-year-old trying to make it. “I just wanted it to be great,” he says. DRIVING AROUND HIS hometown in a Bentley, Paul proudly While Paul may have good timing with the booming points out key development properties he owns in the heart of economy of Austin—the nation’s fastest-growing big city since Austin. There is the parking lot and two-story building being 2000, with a mounting number of high-tech companies and leased by Google Fiber sitting on 1.3 acres adjacent to the city’s jobs—some initially discouraged Paul from getting into the real tallest building. The family who owned it for 70 years knew Paul estate business. And after he started doing deals in his early 20s, and called him with four days left in 2012, saying they would one prominent local real estate owner told Paul straight up that sell it to him for a good price if he could close by the end of the he would not do business with him given his ethnicity. And one year. A block away he owns another low-rise building, which he banker refused to lend to him because of a bad experience she bought for $5 million in 2011, luring a Capital Grille restaurant claimed to have once had with an Indian. to the site. Paul drives toward another two properties near the “The adversity I faced in building my business pales in com- Austin Convention Center. Overall, he has accumulated entitle- parison to the challenges that my father faced as an Indian im- ments to build 6 million square feet in downtown Austin. migrant in the ’70s and ’80s living in Victoria, Texas,” he says. Making his way southeast to the popular Rainey Street dis- The first property Paul acquired, in 2007, was a 13-unit apart- trict, where historic bungalows have been converted into funky ment building in south Austin that he bought for $1.1 million bars, Paul points out a property zoned for 730,000 square feet from a couple getting divorced. Backed by a local family that that he bought for $10 million two years ago and will soon be owned a mortgage company, Paul planned to sell the units indi- vacant. He purchased another property down the road last year vidually, but he found a buyer who was ready to pay $1.6 million that has only a small building with an IHOP as a tenant. “Imag- for the whole building 90 days later. With the profits from that ine if you are a tech company that wants to be in downtown Aus- sale, he bought five student housing apartment buildings in the tin—this is a supercool area to be in,” says Paul, vowing to start West Campus neighborhood around UT together with money building an office within a year. put up by the motivational speaker and marketer Paul J. Meyer. Victoria, Texas, where Paul was born, is about a two-hour Paul returned to school in his sophomore year, trying to bal- drive from most of these properties. As the youngest child of ance classes with World Class, but by the summer of 2008 he immigrants, Paul was raised to believe that school was a prior- knew he was done. He told Mom he was dropping out. “At that ity for him and his two older siblings. Born Natin, he shortened point, I went in with a mind-set that I had to make it work,” he his name to Nate, but that didn’t exactly help with assimilation. says. He had sold his refurbished student-housing assets in the People in small-town Texas often thought he was Hispanic, and first half of 2008, not because he saw the real estate crisis coming young Nate would not correct them. “People look at you and you but in order to build a track record. To attract new investors, he are not white, you are not black, you are something in between,” wanted to show that he could perform. he recalls. As a kid he was “always selling something, trying When Lehman Brothers collapsed later that year, Paul had to do some sort of business”—working as a DJ, selling rubber cash on hand and no debt, so he went to work building a portfo- bracelets, hawking personalized water bottles. lio. He started buying storage assets, land in Austin, a marina on Paul left home in 2002 at the age of 15 to attend a Catholic nearby Lake Travis and a building being used by a call center in prep school in Austin. He played basketball, was good at math south Austin that he turned into a retail space for Dollar General and started a business out of a local Barnes & Noble tutoring and two other tenants. “I was buying at the pit of the crisis,” he kids from the suburbs. At that point, everything was going ac- says. “In many of those deals, there was no other bidder.” As a cording to his parents’ plan, and Paul eventually attended the result, Paul has operated almost exclusively in a low-interest-rate University of Texas at Austin, where he studied business. With environment with steadily rising prices. his sister, Sheena, he even won a business case-study competi- In early 2009, Paul was ready to pitch the Austin Police Re- tion in Thailand. But Paul was restless and had already started tirement System in an effort to land his first institutional inves- channeling his energy toward real estate. He would spend hours tor. He was so nervous that he threw up before his first meeting studying foreclosed properties, building data sets that included with the board, regaining his composure to argue forcefully that appraised values and loan balances, then head down to the coun- the pension should invest in an area it knew. “I studied your ty courthouse on the first Tuesday of each month to see how the portfolio—how do you not own any assets in Austin?” Paul auctions turned out. asked them. “It’s the fastest-growing city in America.” He pointed After his freshman year, Paul was ready to drop out but knew out that the pension had invested in New England office build- his mom would take it badly. “My mother would say, ‘Doctor or ings and JPMorgan’s India Property fund, so why not its own lawyer,’ ” he recalls in his slight Texas twang. His older siblings backyard? “My biggest concern with him was the kid was 22 were firmly on the track their parents desired—his brother even- years old,” says Art Alfaro, Austin’s city treasurer, who has been

72 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 73 FORBES AUGUST 2017 AUGUST Dressing the part: The Dressing started Paul 30-year-old so suits as a teen wearing him take people would even His sister seriously. bought him a pair of suit onlypajamas—and she was half-kidding.

TIM PANNELL FOR FORBES FORBES ASIA NATE PAUL a trustee of the police pension since 2000. “He had excellent with the Great Value Storage name, boosting sales with an presentation skills. We got comfortable. It was a plus that he online reservation system and installing revenue management was a local investor.” that would adjust prices based on demand. Eventually, Paul The pension fund agreed to go in with Paul on a deal-by- held 35,000 storage units at 69 sites across the nation. “It’s a deal basis starting with a $2 million equity check he used to lot like multifamily housing,” he explains. “Yet because a lot of buy a distribution center in north Austin for $4.5 million. In people don’t have the expertise in running it there is a disparity a move that showed he was thinking bigger than Austin, Paul in value. We know how to run them better.” used some of the pension money to invest outside the state, starting with the distressed debt of an office property in Orlan- WHEN YOU ARE a twentysomething Indian-American man do, Florida, which he bought for $2.7 million and sold in 2012 buying everything in sight in the capital of Texas, people start for $6.4 million. Those kind of returns meant the pension plan talking. The rumors in Austin would trickle back to Paul—that kept investing more capital. Paul also raised money from the he was backed by Chinese money, an Indian conglomerate or Texas Medical Liability Trust and a group led by Harvey Book- a billionaire in Dubai. In a town that is home to Michael Dell stein, a prominent Los Angeles accountant who suggests real and his company, billionaire John Paul DeJoria, Whole Foods estate investments to his high-net-worth clients. Bookstein says and the South by Southwest festival, “Nate Paul” was by far the his group has invested $100 million in six deals with World most-searched phrase on the Austin Business Journal’s website Class that were structured in a way that let Paul keep 50% of in 2014. “Is this guy for real?” the publication asked the next the profits on development deals and 25% on existing buildings year in a headline. after Bookstein’s group made an 8% to 10% return. Paul’s growing pains generated more gossip. In 2013, there Paul specifically searched for distressed opportunities and was a New York Post item about Paul buying expensive bottles of champagne at Leonardo DiCaprio’s 39th birthday party. Then former employees of the Austin rooftop bar and pool lounge THE RUMORS IN AUSTIN WOULD that Paul owns sued him, claiming the bar TRICKLE BACK TO PAUL—THAT HE cheated them out of tips. Paul says he did nothing wrong, and the case was privately WAS BACKED BY CHINESE MONEY, AN settled in 2014. One of Paul’s investors, INDIAN CONGLOMERATE OR Texas oilman Michael Macs, sued World Class after crude crashed in an effort to A BILLIONAIRE IN DUBAI. quickly retrieve some $15 million he had invested with the firm. A judge tossed the lawsuit to arbitration, and the duo settled. rolled more of his own accumulated capital as the deals kept There has also been some noisy employee turnover at World coming. In 2011, he bought a $19 million defaulted mortgage Class. In his highest-profile hiring, Paul lured five former Cred- on a 180,000-square-foot shopping center outside of Minne- it Suisse bankers to build a debt platform, but two left within apolis for $3 million. He foreclosed on it, took over operations months. “World Class is not for everyone,” Paul says. “I reward and proceeded to lease the vacant retail space. “I ended up with those who do well. And the people who don’t live up to what I the property since I was the only bidder willing to go tour a expect, there is no place for them at my company.” shopping center in Minneapolis in freezing temperatures in And of course he has plenty of admirers. “The only reason November and could close in ten days,” he says. I moved to Austin is to be closer to Nate,” says Avery Bradley, Around the same time, Paul started putting a lot of the a guard for the Boston Celtics who got to know Paul while at money he raised into self-storage. A deeply fragmented indus- the University of Texas. “When I get ready for a game, I think try, storage has become popular with institutional investors of how hard Nate works—he works all the time—and it pushes that see it as recession-resistant and a cash-flow machine. me. I want to be around that.” As in all his other deals, Paul became an owner-operator. What Paul is working on will keep shocking people in Austin. He started in Austin, but one of his first storage deals was a In June, he struck deals to buy 3M’s 158-acre Austin campus, $2.9 million investment in a defaulted mortgage on a facility in which has been appraised by the county at $80 million, and a Chicago suburb that Paul grabbed, leased up and later sold to another 6 acres of land just south of downtown Austin. Last publicly traded Sovran Self Storage for $7.2 million. He would year, for $85 million he scooped up 13 office buildings in north buy from mom-and-pop owners in Colorado or Ohio who Austin that house outposts of Allergan and Integra LifeSciences. didn’t even have a website, or build new storage sites in areas of In all these deals, Paul asserts, long-standing relationships and Los Angeles where it was hard to get permits, making it tough his ability to move fast secured him excellent prices. He says his for competitors to emerge. negotiations are short and he doesn’t bargain over price. Those Paul’s storage playbook included slapping a fresh coat of 6 acres in downtown Austin come with a land lease that doesn’t green paint on a building and clearly branding each facility expire for more than two years, and Paul was willing to pay now

74 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 The world of World Class Holdings: Paul’s properties include the 3M complex in Austin, the former KPMG Centre in Dallas and Great Value Storage facilities in ten states. and wait—but he made a take-it-or-leave-it offer. another $35 million renovating the 1980s building so it would Indeed, Paul has puzzled many in Austin for securing look like a place a tech company might want to call home. The choice pieces of land and not developing them during a go-go lobby was remodeled with an open layout, and a community real estate market. He announced plans for a $100 million, workspace was built on the second floor featuring Wi-Fi, mod- 39-story apartment tower on a prime lot he owns next to the ern boardrooms and private meeting areas. Paul then got three Four Seasons Hotel but abandoned the project as other apart- out-of-town software companies to move their headquarters ment condos went up around town. Paul has covered the plot’s there and recruited two other tenants, helping push occupancy expenses by renting it during South by Southwest to Sony and to 70%. Vice Media, which used it to put on concerts featuring Snoop At the ancient age of 30, Paul is ready to go even wider. He Dogg and Lady Gaga. For now, Paul says he wants to focus on recently opened an office in Manhattan’s GM Building, run by office space. his sister, Sheena, who left her law career in 2013 to join her If Donald Trump can pass tax reform eliminating state tax brother at World Class, where she is chief operating officer. Sit- deductions, Paul’s long-term bet on Austin, where there is no ting in its boardroom, Paul talks about his decision to consoli- state income tax, might look even better. “While everyone else date his real estate holdings in a holding-company structure. was going vertical I went horizontal,” he says. “We feel we kind He says one of his inspirations for the move works just 31 of cornered the market on potential office space in downtown floors above. Many years ago, Carl Icahn organized his diverse Austin.” holdings in a single investment vehicle that he completely Paul’s highest-profile acquisition came outside of Austin in controls and raised permanent capital around it. A board- 2014, when he bought the downtown Dallas skyscraper known room deal toy from September 2016 showing $260 million of as the KPMG Centre. Lenders had taken control of the build- loans from Ares Capital points to how Paul has put this plan ing through foreclosure, and KPMG was moving out. Paul together. Paul says the debt was partly used for his recapitaliza- bought it for $43 million, mostly with debt, knowing tenancy tion but doesn’t want to go into too many details. His company would go down to 14% once KPMG left in 2015. Paul spent is private, and Nate Paul intends to keep it that way. F

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 75 FORBES ASIA DEAL TOY

1. CHILD OF THE DEPRESSION Built on derelict midtown Manhattan land leased in late A Piece of the Rock 1929 from Columbia University, Rockefeller Center was l planned as the home of the Metropolitan Opera. As the BY ANTOINE GARA Depression began to bite, though, John D. Rockefel ler Jr. (son of the original oil titan) boldly shifted focus. WHEN THE CONGLOMERATE Selling Standard Oil shares at heavy losses, Rockefeller Mitsubishi Estate struck a deal to personally covered three quarters of the $125 million con- take control of Manhattan’s Rocke- struction cost ($2.1 billion today) to erect a 12-building feller Center in late 1989, it capped Art Deco masterpiece that employed 40,000 construc- tion workers through the tumult of the early 1930s. a decade of go-go acquisition of U.S. trophy assets—Firestone Tire & Rub- ber, Columbia Pictures and plum real estate—by Japanese corporations. This deal, struck just weeks before Japan’s stock market cratered, would prove hubristic, landing the iconic building complex in bankruptcy.

2. CASHING OUT, CASHING IN Owned by the Rockefeller family for decades, the build- ings became a liquidity spigot in 1985, when dozens of heirs extracted $1.3 billion from them via a mortgage held in a publicly traded real estate investment trust. In 1989, the family opted to cede control, selling an 80% share of holding company Rockefeller Group to Mitsubishi for $1.4 billion.

3. BUYER’S REMORSE Bullish on America, Mitsubi- shi envisioned eventual Rock Center rents of $100 per square foot (they were about 4. SECOND TIME AS FARCE? $33 when the deal closed), Today foreign buyers are once again looking to park but a sharp early-’90s U.S. their cash in prestige Manhattan properties. Three years real estate recession dictated ago, the unheralded Chinese conglomerate Anbang In- otherwise. In 1995, Mitsubishi surance Group inked a startling $1.95 billion deal for the defaulted on the complex’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel. The deal is part of a new wave of mortgage, sparking a bidding Asian money. Since 2014, according to Dealogic, compa- war for control among billion- nies from China have plowed $100 billion into U.S. assets. aires David Rockefeller (John Jr.’s son), Jerry Speyer and Sam Zell (as well as 28-year- old agitator Bill Ackman). A year later, the victor was a consortium led by Rocke fel- ler, commercial-property giant Tishman Speyer and Goldman Sachs. In 2000, Tishman Spey- er and Chicago’s Crown family bought Rockefeller Center outright for $1.85 billion. DAVID ARKY FOR FORBES FORBES FOR ARKY DAVID

76 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA LUXURY GOODS

Bordeaux to Yiwu How European wine is now going to China on Silk Road trains.

BY WADE SHEPARD

he first direct-rail shipment of solid, depending on the season. So this ini- quality. They found that the maximum European wine has success- tial test shipment had its temperature moni- force exerted on the containers was in the fully crossed the expanse of tored throughout the journey, to ensure that ballpark of 2Gs—about the same as a roll- Eurasia and arrived in China, the wine was becoming neither too hot nor er coaster. This was attributed to poorly opening up a new way for the too cold. constructed rail lines in Kazakhstan and Twine producers of Europe to get their bot- Researchers had found that in the mid- China, but it ultimately had no adverse tles onto the tables of the world’s fastest- dle of May, the temperature outside a typi- impact on the shipment, as the bottles growing market for wine consumption. cal container throughout the journey var- were packed with adequate protection. This first shipment of European wine ied from 6°C to 35°C, while on the inside it Initially received with much skepticism, by rail to China was ultimately a test con- ranged from –2°C to 58°C. Wine cannot be the first trans-Eurasian rail routes went into ducted by JF Hillebrand, a freight forward- successfully shipped at these temperatures. regular service in 2012, primarily serving as er that focuses on alcoholic beverages, and However, the containers that JF Hillebrand a way for Western electronics manufactur- and Groupe In- ers to get their Asian-made products to Eu- terRail used were rope. Since then, with the political and eco- equipped with a nomic support of Beijing, a full-fledged, special foil liner, 40-lines-plus network has emerged, which called VinLiner, links more than 15 cities in Europe with 20 which regulates cities in China, with cargo volumes dou- the temperature bling each year. and humidity of The advantages of shipping by rail be- the contents in- tween China and Europe are straightfor- side. It worked, ward: It’s a way of getting products across keeping the tem- Eurasia that can be twice as fast as ship- perature inside the ping by sea and at a mere fraction the cost of liner between 9°C shipping by air. The return trip from Europe and 32°C and the to China is also heavily subsidized, mak- Customs officers in Yiwu, China, check shipment of European wine. temperature of the ing the cost of shipping a container over this liquid in the bot- route by rail roughly the same as the cost to Groupe InterRail, an operator of contain- tles at a comfortable 25°C to 29°C. have sent it by sea five or six years ago. er block trains between Europe and Asia, The result: no damage to either the wine Wine is optimally suited to be shipped to determine if the wine could be securely or the packaging. Success. on these trans-Eurasian trains. It’s a high- transported without damaging the product However, the foil liner that was used for value product that the Chinese are now or its packaging. The train departed on May this shipment can only be reasonably uti- consuming in ever growing amounts that 5 from Duisburg, Germany, and arrived in lized for wine shipments in the spring and could benefit from a more direct and the Chinese city of Yiwu 28 days later, tra- the autumn. For year-round service, Euro- speedier journey to market but is too heavy versing six countries and 11,400 kilometers pean wine producers would need to rely on and bulky to be viably ship by air. in 8 fewer days than it takes to get between temperature-controlled reefer containers — “This solution complements sea freight these two points by sea. such as those made by Unit 45. and air freight; it is by no means a replace- One of the main challenges for ship- Another thing that JF Hillebrand and ment to these solutions,” explained Jannson

XINHUA/SIPA USA/NEWSCOM ping a sensitive product like wine by rail Groupe InterRail were monitoring in Chan, JF Hillebrand’s director for China. across Eurasia has to do with climate. Cen- this test shipment was how much force “However, given the current difficult con- tral Asia is prone to extreme weather fluctu- the bottles of wine would be subjected to text for shipping lines—instability, unavail- ations, and containers moving across such along the 11,000-plus kilometers to Chi- ability, increasing prices—it not only means open expanses are prone to heating up like a na—a trip that would require two rail- more options for big European winemakers closed car on a hot summer day or freezing gauge transfers and use tracks of varying but also for Chinese importers.” F

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 77 Forbes Life

The Long Game An exclusive first look at Congaree, a new South Carolina golf club built by billionaires on a model of philanthropy.

BY ERIK MATUSZEWSKI

Serious green: In addition to a golf club, Congaree asper County, South Carolina, is only a was founded on a former 18th-century rice features 26 guest rooms 45-minute drive from the low-country plantation by 2 of the 200 richest men in Amer- and a schoolhouse for the children its charity benefits. resort town of Hilton Head, but it’s a world ica—Texas billionaires Dan Friedkin and Rob- J removed. Aging churches and family home- ert McNair—and named after a Native Amer- steads whose better days have long passed are ican tribe that once called the area home. The interspersed with dilapidated trailer homes and club’s calling is to use golf to bring together an overgrown yards strewn with junk and broken- international network of influential people pas- down cars. It’s not where one would expect to sionate about changing lives, both locally and find the most exclusive and inspirational new globally. golf club in America, one where philanthropy “We wanted to create a club that at the core drives a visionary membership model. of its mission makes meaningful differences Congaree, which quietly opened this spring, in the lives of young people and attracts golf-

78 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 GIVING BACK

ers who not only want to play a wonderful golf ing to make a contribution to the Congaree Foundation and course but who also want to be actively involved enjoy great golf. They’re committed to helping the Congaree in our philanthropic goals,” says the 52-year-old kids in any way they can.” Friedkin, who carries a tidy 6.9 handicap and is Congaree’s Global Golf Initiative started this June with chairman of the Friedkin Group, a privately held teenagers from the United States and overseas. To identi- consortium of businesses in the automotive, luxu- fy prospective participants, the club turned to PGA pros ry hospitality, golf and entertainment industries. around the world and invited them to be club ambassadors, Despite Congaree’s forward-thinking mission, with World Golf Hall of Famer Mark O’Meara, a two-time its membership process is old-fashioned: by in- major champion, and other touring pros among them. vitation and referral only. There are technical- As for the club itself: The course at Congaree was built ly only two members of the club: Friedkin and by the renowned architect Tom Fazio, who has 24 lay- McNair, owner of the NFL’s Houston Texans. Ev- outs ranked among Golfweek’s 100 best modern courses in eryone else affiliated with Congaree—from an the United States. Designed in the spirit of the Heathland NFL Hall of Famer to a Grammy Award-winning courses found in Britain and the sandbelt courses of Austra- country singer—is invited to become an “ambas- lia, Congaree has a natural look, lends itself to the ground sador” on an annual basis. All share a love for game and plays firm and fast, unlike many of the overly lush golf and a passion for helping others. designs favored throughout the country today. Ambassadors are encouraged to make a sig- Friedkin’s edict to Bruce Davidson and John McNeely, nificant financial contribution to the charitable the codirectors of golf at Congaree, was to find a terrif- Congaree Foundation and also take an active role ic piece of land accessible from the Eastern seaboard. After in interacting with youth at the club and shar- scouting a number of possible locations, they selected the ing life experiences—good and bad. Congaree’s inland property in Jasper County, with its sandy soil, per- aim is to offer educational, vocational and golf fect for a golf course, and its peaceful hunting grounds and instruction to underprivileged youth, whether historic feel. The lay and look of the land evokes the feel of that’s by helping area schools or through its Glob- some of the country’s best courses, particularly Pine Val- ley in New Jersey and Pinehurst in North Carolina. When Fazio first visited the 3,200-acre property, dotted with long- leaf pine, native wetlands and bottomland hardwood forests, he was blown away. “You guys hit the mother lode here,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited about the golf course Tom Fazio designed. However, we also recognize it is a process that is never finished, and it requires constant improve- ment,” says Friedkin, who also owns the pristine Diamond Creek Golf Club in the mountains of North Carolina. “The opening has been a tremendous accomplishment, but it is a dynamic thing, and that is part of the fun of it.” There are no cart paths on the course, as Congaree is a walking property. It’s a theme that extends beyond the fair- ways, with ambassadors and guests encouraged to walk the grounds, perhaps in step with the ghosts also said to call the Playing through: Tom Fazio (with cofounder Dan Friedkin, right) historic land home. The club’s main house sits at the end designed the course among 300-year-old oak trees with no cart paths and no tee markers. of a mile-long gravel driveway that goes through a gaunt- let of ancient live oaks with Spanish moss waving gently in al Golf Initiative, which brings in high-school-age kids from gnarled branches. around the world who aspire to play golf in college but don’t The house was rebuilt after the original burned down have the support, financial or otherwise. during Union General William T. Sherman’s Civil War The person who would prefer to cut a check for several march across the South. There’s also an inn and a newly million dollars? That’s not what Congaree is about. If you’re constructed whitewashed lodge that has a restaurant, a bar hoping to join the club for yourself alone, you’re probably and an inviting covered back porch that looks out on the re- not the right fit. markable new golf course behind it. Other historic build- “It is very satisfying to hear our ambassadors express ings have been preserved and updated, from cozy guest cot- how proud they are to be a part of something like this that tages to a two-room schoolhouse complete with a working transcends a mere golf experience,” says Friedkin, a trust- bell in the steeple. ee of the Wildlife Conservation Society and chairman of the And every time a “Congaree kid” is at the school, the am- Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission. “They aren’t just look- bassadors on the property will know. That bell will ring. F

AUGUST 2017 FORBES ASIA | 79 THOUGHTS ON Bubbles

“It amazes me “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will how people are often more be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only willing to act recover their senses slowly, one by one.” based on little —CHARLES MACKAY or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” —ROBERT J. SHILLER

“Crowds exhibit a docile respect for force, and are but slightly impressed “Speculation buys up, by kindness—which for them is scarcely in a very practical way, other than a form of weakness.” the intelligence of those involved.” —JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH —GUSTAVE LE BON “You can get in way more trouble “I CAN CALCULATE THE with a good idea MOVEMENT OF STARS, BUT than a bad idea, because you forget NOT THE MADNESS OF MEN.” that the good idea —ISAAC NEWTON has limits.” —BENJAMIN GRAHAM

“THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE MAGES STOCK MARKET IS TO MAKE FOOLS /BLOOMBERG; OF AS MANY MEN AS POSSIBLE.” —BERNARD BARUCH “Over the short run, the “BULL MARKETS ARE fundamentals BORN ON PESSIMISM, are often overwhelmed by GROW ON SKEPTICISM, the deafening MATURE ON OPTIMISM noise of AND DIE ON EUPHORIA.” speculation.” —DAVID SKARICA —JOHN C. BOGLE FINAL “IT’S A BASIC FACT OF THOUGHT LIFE THAT MANY THINGS “Refuse to be ‘EVERYBODY KNOWS’ stampeded. Do TURN OUT TO BE WRONG.” your own thinking.” —JIM ROGERS —B.C. FORBES “THE FOUR MOST EXPENSIVE WORDS “THE DAYS OF PUNISHMENT ARE COMING; THE DAYS OF RECKONING ARE AT IN THE ENGLISH HAND. BECAUSE YOUR SINS ARE SO MANY AND YOUR HOSTILITY SO GREAT, THE PROPHET IS CONSIDERED A FOOL, THE INSPIRED PERSON A MANIAC.” LANGUAGE ARE ‘THIS TIME IT’S —HOSEA 9:7 DIFFERENT.’ ” SOURCES: A SHORT HISTORY OF FINANCIAL EUPHORIA, BY JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH; EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS AND THE MADNESS OF CROWDS, BY CHARLES MACKAY; THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR, BY BENJAMIN GRAHAM; —JOHN TEMPLETON THE CROWD: A STUDY OF THE POPULAR MIND, BY GUSTAVE LE BON; THE CLASH OF THE CULTURES: INVESTMENT VS. SPECULATION, BY JOHN C. BOGLE; IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE, BY ROBERT J. SHILLER; COLLAPSE!, BY DAVID SKARICA. JONATHAN DRAKE/BLOOMBERG; ANNE MUNRO/TORONTO STAR/GETTY IMAGES; PACH BROTHERS/CORBIS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY I BILD/GETTY ULLSTEIN IMAGES; BROTHERS/CORBIS/CORBIS/GETTY PACH IMAGES; STAR/GETTY ANNE MUNRO/TORONTO DRAKE/BLOOMBERG; JONATHAN CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: YALE UNIVERSITY/BLOOMBERG; MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMY; MICKEY ADAIR/GETTY IMAGES; AP; KEN CEDENO IMAGES; MICKEY ADAIR/GETTY PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMY; EVANS MARY UNIVERSITY/BLOOMBERG; YALE LEFT: FROM TOP CLOCKWISE

80 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017 HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRUST THE NEWS?

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