48 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2018
FORBES ASIA
Kim So-Hee 34
CEO
NANDA
SOUTH KOREA
Kim created Nanda in 2004 in her early 20s with
the help of her mother and aunt as an online
secondhand market for women’s apparel. Today
the company has an online and an oine global
presence with three brands: Stylenanda and
KKXX (both clothing lines), and 3CE (cosmetics).
Unlisted Nanda posted 2016 net profit of $20.4
million on sales of $101 million, riding the Korean
pop-culture wave. Nanda says several companies
are eyeing a major stake—including global
cosmetics giant L’Oréal—after it announced last
year that it was looking for a buyer to help boost
its international expansion.
Nanda’s growth accelerated after the launch
of 3CE cosmetics in 2009, which became popular
with Chinese consumers. Now 3CE generates
69% of revenue, with half of total company sales
coming from abroad. Nanda has 14 brick-and-
mortar outlets in South Korea and 59 in the rest
of Asia and Australia. Says Kim: “Our greatest
achievement is still under way. Style is never
boring.”Joanne Kua 33
GROUP CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/
MANAGING DIRECTOR
KSK GROUP/KSK LAND
MALAYSIA
Since joining her father’s insurance and
finance business seven years ago—following
several years abroad in banking and
insurance—she has transformed KSK Group
into a diversified conglomerate, adding
property development and tech investments
while boosting staf 28% to 700. Kua revels in
the corporate metamorphosis, saying every
day is “like a roller-coaster ride.” Total group
assets now hover around $410 million.
Her tycoon father, Kua Sian Kooi, who took
the company private in 2013, is the executive
chairman and handles its strategic direction.
Her sister Cindy, one of three siblings, heads
up KSK Insurance. The family is close-knit,
Joanne says; she is single and lives with
her parents. Forbes estimates the family’s
net worth at $300 million. Kua considers
her 66-year-old father a mentor, leader and
visionary, and meets him for breakfast daily
and sometimes for dinner too. “My father
taught me to dream.”
Kua cites her debut project for KSK
Land, KSK Group’s foray into property, as
her foremost achievement. Called 8 Conlay
and due to open in 2020, the triple-tower
Kempinski hotel and branded residences,
valued at $1.4 billion, is dramatically
altering the capital’s skyline, with two of
its skyscrapers curving to form the Chinese
character for 8. An avid traveler, Kua keeps
in close touch with friends and family. “They
keep me happy and going every day. They are
my backbone.”Hu Weiwei 36
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
MOBIKE
CHINA
Hu pedaled her way to a windfall last month when she sold her bike-sharing app, the world’s
largest, to Meituan Dianping in a cash-and-stock deal widely reported to total $2.7 billion. What’s
more, she gets to continue running the company she founded three years ago and built into
a juggernaut, with 9 million bikes handling 30 million rides daily in more than 200 cities in 15
countries. Today, Mobike’s registered users number 200 million, up from 11 million in 2016.
Mobike has received more than $1 billion in funding since its inception, including $600 million
in June from investors led by Chinese internet giant Tencent, which also backs Meituan Dianping,
China’s largest local services e-commerce platform. The deal fuels the rivalry between Tencent
and another of China’s tech giants, Alibaba, which has invested in bike-sharing app Ofo. Mobike
cited intense competition as one reason for the deal. Under the agreement the two companies will
share technology as well as customer service and marketing support.
In her spare time, Hu plays basketball, runs and—no surprise—cycles.
THE EMERGENT 25