50 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2018
FORBES ASIA
Cindy Mi 35
FOUNDER AND CEO
VIPKID
CHINA
Working as an English-language teacher in Beijing in 2013, Cindy Mi realized there was untapped
demand from students desperate to learn the language. “The classroom as we know it had not really
changed in over 200 years,” she says. “I knew there had to be a more eicient way to match this huge
demand from China with a supply of the best English teachers.”
Her answer was Vipkid, an online platform that pairs students with tutors in North America. Today
it is the world’s largest K–12 English-language online educator, with 30,000 native English speakers
providing lessons to 200,000 students across 35 countries. Operating in a rapidly growing space,
Vipkid estimates 2017 revenue at $800 million, up from $300 million in 2016. The company raised
$200 million in its most recent funding round in August, led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm
Sequoia with Chinese internet giant Tencent as strategic investor, bringing total funding to more than
$325 million.
Mi started teaching English at 15 at an extracurricular school set up by her uncle in Heilongjiang
Province in northeastern China. Never much of a rule follower and singled out by her teacher for
reading science fiction in class, she quit high school at 17. She followed her uncle to Beijing where they
cofounded a brick-and-mortar school called ABC English before she left to form Vipkid. Mi went on to
graduate high school through equivalency exams and also earned a degree in English literature; she
has an M.B.A. from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.Kuok Hui Kwong 40
CHAIRMAN AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SHANGRILA ASIA
HONG KONG
The daughter of Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest
man, she rose to the top of her father’s luxury
crown jewel—Shangri-La Asia—at the beginning of
last year, taking over from her elder brother after
first serving as deputy chairman for six months.
The Kuok Group empire has interests in hotels, real
estate and commodities. As chairman of the Hong
Kong-listed Shangri-La, Kuok oversees total assets
of $13.2 billion, including stakes in 77 of more
than 100 hotels the Kuok family manages around
the world under four brands—Shangri-La, Kerry,
Hotel Jen and Traders—as well as side businesses
in wine and golf courses. Under her watch the
company’s expansion continues. The sixth of
Robert Kuok’s eight children, she refuses to grant
media interviews.
Nisa Leung 46
MANAGING PARTNER
QIMING VENTURE PARTNERS
CHINA
When Shanghai drug developer Zai Lab went
public on the Nasdaq in September and jumped
70% on its first day, it was another coup for
Leung and the venture firm she joined in 2006.
Today Qiming still holds 21% of Zai Lab’s $1.1 bil-
lion market capitalization, down from the 25%
Leung acquired for $33 million in 2014.
Leung started at Qiming as venture partner
and rose to managing partner in 2013, heading
the firm’s healthcare investments. The segment
now accounts for 40% of Qiming’s more than $3
billion in investments. Leung sits on the board of
about a dozen of the companies she has invested
in, including Zai Lab and Gan & Lee, China’s
largest biotech company. She is also a visiting
lecturer on health law at Harvard University.
Ting Li 45
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
YUNFENG FINANCIAL GROUP
HONG KONG
Li joined the firm, formerly known as Reorient,
as co-chief executive in 2015, right after it was
taken over by Yunfeng Financial Holdings, a fund
backed by Alibaba’s Jack Ma. Since taking on the
position of sole CEO in 2016, the financial veteran
has revamped the brokerage into a fintech
innovator with a $1.3 billion market cap, building
most of its new businesses from scratch. She has
rolled out a series of apps under the name Youyu,
designed to give mass-market investors the tools
to trade securities and perform other investment
functions. Li also led Yunfeng Financial’s
acquisition of U.S. insurer MassMutual in August,
partnering with other investors in a cash-and-
share deal valued at $1.7 billion. The complex
transaction is not expected to be completed until
the third quarter of this year.
She is also an avid painter, specializing in oils.
THE EMERGENT 25