Asian Geographic - 09.2018

asian people

business magnates | leadership icons | sporting heroes | science pioneers | cultural figures | philanthropic champions

10

China

Robin Li ( b. 1 968)

Co-founder, Baidu

he man known to have beaten

Google runs the irst Chinese

company to be listed in the

NASDAQ-100 Index in 2007. he

Internet entrepreneur started Baidu,

which is now one of the largest

Internet and AI companies in the

world. Li has received many notable

honours awards, including “IT Ten

Famous Persons” (2002 & 2003).

“I don’t care about failing because I do not want to sit down in my older years and say,

‘How come I didn’t try?’” – Tony Fernandes

07

Malaysia

Robert Kuok (b.1923)

Business magnate & investor

he richest man in Malaysia (Forbes

2018) has diverse business interests,

from sugarcane plantations and

palm oil to hotels and newspapers.

He’s sometimes called the “world’s

shrewdest businessman”. His book,

Robert Kuok: A Memoir, turned out

to be a runaway success.

08

Malaysia

Tony Fernandes(b.1964)

Founder, Tune Air (AirAsia)

Fernandes spearheaded budget air

travel in Asia when he bought a

debt-ridden airline for RM$1 and

turned it into one of the world’s

best low-cost carriers. He has won

several awards, including no. 52 on

“Top 100 Most Creative People in

Business” byFastCompany(2011).

11

Malaysia

Anthony Tan (b.1982)

Co-founder, Grab

Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-

hailing business, now based

in Singapore, hit US$6 billion

valuation in January 2018. It has

over 100 million app downloads

and operates in 168 cities in eight

countries, handling more than 7

million drivers and merchants.

Grab has branched out into other

services, including goods delivery.

09

India

Mukesh Ambani(b.1957)

Chairman, Reliance Industries

he richest man in India –

surpassing Jack Ma’s wealth –

runs India’s “most valuable

company” (by market value),

aFortune Global 500company.

He is the only Indian businessman

on theForbeslist of the world’s

most powerful people.

12

Vietnam

Nguyen hi Phuong

hao (b.1970)

CEO, Vietjet Air

Vietnam’s irst self-made billionaire

and SEA’s only woman billionaire is

sometimes called the VietJet Queen,

ater her budget airline, VietJet Air, which

has 300 lights a day, operating 40% of

Vietnam’s lights. he businesswoman

irst launched the airline in 2011, using

sensational ads that feature bikini-clad

light atendants to promote its services.

SOURCE © SHUTTERSTOCK

SOURCE © HANDELSBLATT

SOURCE © ALCHETRON PHOTO © WWW.FILMITADKA.IN/EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

PHOTO ©KEVIN KREJCI/EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG SOURCE © HTTP://CAFEF.VN

Vietnam’s first

self-made

billionaire

Cofound

first Chinese

company to make

it into the

NASDAQ-100

Index