The Kuok Group has received a few mentions in the Australian press in recent weeks because of its potential involvement with Nathan Tinkler’s bid for Whitehaven Coal; Kuok Group is a backer of Tinkler and may have a role in the deal. Robert Kuok’s large empire is organised around subsidiaries in Malaysia and Singapore, and a well-known company called Kerry Holdings in Hong Kong. The largest source of his wealth is palm oil giant Wilmar.
Henry Sy started out running a shoe store in Manilla. Today his retail real estate empire SM Prime is the biggest owner of shopping centres in the Philippines, as well as 176 department stores, supermarkets, grocers and hypermarkets. He also owns the country’s largest bank (as ranked by assets) and recently raised $1 billion to support its expansion. It was a record share issue for the country.
You’ve probably never heard of Wee Cho Yaw, but you may well now the iconic Chinese ointment Tiger Balm that is made by Singaporean company Haw Par; Wee’s family owns 25%. The main source of his wealth is Singapore’s largest bank, United Overseas Bank, which Wee chairs and ran until 2007. The bank was founded by his father in 1935.
Tsai Wan-Tsai is another Asian billionaire with an empire covering several sectors. His company Fubon Financial Holding, which recently raised $1.3 billion, has interests in insurance and banking, but the family has also expanded its reach to telecommunications and media. However, global jitters haven’t been kind to Fubon, with its shares down almost 30% in the last 12 months.
The sheer numbers around Dhanin Chearavanont’s agribusiness conglomerate Charoen Pokphand are staggering. It is the world’s largest animal-feed manufacturer, it operates in 17 counties, exports to 40 and has revenue of $33 billion. Half of this comes from China, where Dhanin has extensive interests. He was named as Forbes Asia’s entrepreneur of the year in 2011, and in an extensive profile Dhanin explained how his “farm to fork” philosophy will help the company push towards becoming one of the biggest food groups in the world by modernising farming in Asia.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
