Thailand’s 50 Richest
BRENT LEWIN/BLOOMBERG (2)74 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2018
Cofounder and chairman of WHA, Thailand’s leading warehousing and logistics firm, Jareeporn returns to the ranks after a two-year gap. In 2015 she was listed at
No. 32 with a net worth of $765 million, along with her then-husband Somyos Anantaprayoon. After their divorce, when she reverted to her maiden name, they
dropped out as their fortune was divided. Somyos died in January, passing on his shares to their only daughter, whose inheritance is grouped with Jareeporn’s
assets for the purpose of this listing. Under Jareeporn, who has been running the company since 2015, WHA reported record net profit of $100 million in 2017. Last
year she listed WHA’s renewable energy arm, WHA Utilities & Power. Hemaraj Land & Development, a company WHA acquired in 2015, is investing
$1 billion in Vietnam, with a local partner, to build industrial parks and estates on a 7,400-acre site.
JAREEPORN JARUKORNSAKUL: WAREHOUSING WINNERAmong the power fortunes rising noticeably this year,
is that of Link, third-generation head of the storied B.
Grimm Group. He got a boost from taking renewable
energy unit B. Grimm Power public last year. It raised
$300 million, securing investors such as the Asian
Development Bank, as well as Singapore’s sovereign
wealth fund GIC and state-owned holding company
Temasek. The company operates 30 power plants in
Thailand and the region, and plans to double that by
- The IPO was the first ever for the conglomerate,
which was founded as a pharmacy in 1878. Link says
most of the company’s 700 employees bought shares.
The day after the IPO, his daughter Caroline, whom he
is grooming to succeed him, gave birth to twin sons,
“making it an extraordinarily happy two days.”
HARALD LINK:
POWER PLAY