theceomagazine.com | 15Sabrina Chao is the Chairman of one of the biggest shipping
companies in Asia, Wah Kwong Maritime. She initially joined
the family business in 2002 and was appointed to her current
role in 2013. “As a younger leader, I found that gaining
respect took time in my early years with the company. So
I purposely spent a lot of time getting to know the people,”
she says.
Sabrina is now focused on enhancing Hong Kong’s
position as an international maritime centre. “That’s a
cause very close to my heart,” she comments.
From 2015 to 2017, Sabrina made history when she
became the first woman to be elected Chairman of the
Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA). “Not only
was chairing the HKSOA a tremendous honour, it also
provided an incredible platform for me locally, nationally
and internationally,” she says.
Sabrina’s leadership was also recognised this year with
a prestigious Commodore’s Award from the Connecticut
Maritime Association. This accolade is given annually to
someone who has made a significant contribution to the
maritime industry’s growth and development. Sabrina is
only the second woman to receive the honour, and the third
recipient from Asia.
One of the world’s largest makers of glass screens for mobile
phones and tablets, Lens Technology went public three years
ago making Zhou Qunfei the richest self-made woman in
tech, with an estimated wealth of US$9.3 billion (as of March
2018). Her success is said to be built on her attention to
detail. “She’ll sometimes sit down and work as an operator to
see if there’s anything wrong with the process,” says James
Zhao, a general manager at Lens Technology. “That will put
me in a very awkward position. If there’s a problem, she’d say,
‘Why didn’t you see that?’”
But for Zhou, her success is more black and white. “In the
village where I grew up, a lot of girls didn’t have a choice of
whether to go to middle school. They would get engaged or
married and spend their entire life in that village,” she says.
“I chose to be in business, and I don’t regret it.”
A woman who remains largely under the radar, Zhou is
rarely seen in public nor does she grant interviews, but she
has in the past recalled her early career working in making
watch lenses. “I worked from 8am to 12am, and sometimes
until 2am,” Zhou recalled. “There were no shifts, just a few
dozen people, and we all polished glass. I didn’t enjoy it.”^
“ I chose to be in business,
and I don’t regret it.”
- Zhou Qunfei, Founder, Chairman and General Manager
of Lens Technology, China
“ Gaining respect took
time in my early years
with the company.”
- Sabrina Chao, Chairman of Wah Kwong Maritime,
Hong Kong