FORBES 400 / AUSTRALIA’S 50 ƫĂĀāĈƫđƫ ċ ċ
XIAOMI REDIALS
CHINESE SMARTPHONE SCRUM WIDENS INTO INDIA Global VP Manu Kumar Jain has the brand gaining share
AUSTRALIA...............A $12.00 CHINA....................RMB 85.00 HONG KONG................HK $80
INDIA............................RS 375 INDONESIA............RP 77,000 JAPAN.................¥1238 + TAX
KOREA........................W 9,500 MALAYSIA...............RM 24.00 NEW ZEALAND.......NZ $13.00
PAKISTAN....................RS 600 PHILIPPINES..................P 260 SINGAPORE..............S $12.50
TAIWAN......................NT $275 THAILAND......................B 260 UNITED STATES........US $10.00
CONTENTS — NOVEMBER 2017
VOLUME 13 NUMBER 11
S PAGE 16
“IT TOOK ME TWO YEARS TO BRING IT TO LIFE, AND I CONSIDER IT MY CHILD.” —LE HONG DIEP THAO, CEO of King Coffee
10 | FACT & COMMENT // STEVE FORBES Plea to the U.S. higher court: Know your limits.
COVER STORY 22 | IN-STORE AND IN INDIA Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone comet online, had to broaden its retail base. Manu Jain is helping to pull that off. BY ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN
COMPANIES, PEOPLE 12 | BEIJING AT THE HELM After party congress, Chinese economic reforms are likely to be a secondary objective. BY YUE WANG
14 | GIRDING FOR BATTLE Amazon’s impending arrival in Australia is giving retailers shivers. BY JAMES DUNN
15 | GADGETMAN // BEN SIN Hope for the hoverboard.
16 | COFFEE KING’S QUEEN Estranged from the Trung Nguyen boss, Le Hong Diep Thao brews an export brand. BY LAN ANH NGUYEN
18 | HEADWINDS FOR HOTELIERS A chat with Singapore’s Ho Kwon Ping, founder of Banyan Tree. BY JANE A. PETERSON
20 | THE $150 BILLION MOMENT A 12-figure snapshot. COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY NAMAS BHOJANI FOR FORBES 2 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL TOTALS AND PRICES EXPRESSED IN OUR STORIES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS.
CONTENTS — NOVEMBER 2017
VOLUME 13 NUMBER 11
THE FORBES 400 27 | INTRODUCTION A record $2 billion net worth is now required to be counted among the very richest Americans. That means 176 billionaires were too poor to make the cut. BY LUISA KROLL AND KERRY A. DOLAN
28 | WINNER TAKES ALL Donald Trump brings his “I win, you lose” mentality to governing. BY RANDALL LANE
35 | THE PRICE OF THE GOOD LIFE From Gucci loafers to a kilo of caviar: the Cost of Living Extremely Well. BY ANDREA MURPHY
36 | Q&A WITH REED HOFFMAN The LinkedIn cofounder on rewarding Silicon Valley jerks and “blitz scaling.” BY RICH KARLGAARD
37 | GREATEST GIVERS America’s top 20 philanthropists. BY JENNIFER WANG
38 | DOCTORATE, DEGREE OR DROPOUT Exploring education and success through the lens of The Forbes 400. BY DENIZ CAM, ANGEL AU-YEUNG, JENNIFER WANG AND IGOR BOSILKOVSKI
40 | DECEASED, DECLINED OR LEFT BEHIND Who dropped off the Forbes 400 this year? BY MICHELA TINDERA
54 | THE LIST S PAGE 28
“I AM HAVING FUN. I’M ENJOYING IT.” —DONALD TRUMP
AUSTRALIA’S 50 RICHEST 72 | “ALWAYS SELLING CLOTHES” Nigel Austin built his Cotton On fast-fashion chain at home and in Asia. Now he’s tackling the tough U.S. market. BY GRACE CHUNG
76 | THE LIST Gina Rinehart is No. 1 again, thanks to rising prices of iron ore. BY LUCINDA SCHMIDT
79 | BACK FROM THE ABYSS It’s been a tough year for Crown Resorts’ James Packer. BY MUHAMMAD COHEN
80 | BIG MONEY, BIG PROJECTS A snapshot of the building boom in Australia. BY NICOLE LINDSAY
83 | ALL IN ON DONALD TRUMP Cardboard-box kingpin Anthony Pratt is making friends in high places. BY CHASE PETERSON-WITHORN
S PAGE 72
“EVERYONE IS LOOKING BACKWARDS AS OPPOSED TO LOOKING FORWARD.” —NIGEL AUSTIN, founder of
Cotton On and new member of our Australia 50 List 4 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
FORBES LIFE 86 | ARTSY AUSSIES There’s a multimillion-dollar museum boom Down Under. BY OLIVER GILES
88 | THOUGHTS On education.
FORBES ASIA
SIDELINES Editor Tim W. Ferguson Editorial Director Karl Shmavonian Art Director Charles Brucaliere Senior Editor John Koppisch Wealth Lists Editors Luisa Kroll, Kerry A. Dolan Photo Editor Michele Hadlow Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy Research Director Sue Radlauer Online Editor Jasmine Smith Reporter Grace Chung Interns Yinan Che, Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin Editorial Bureaus Beijing Yue Wang Shanghai Russell Flannery (Senior Ed.); Maggie Chen India Editor Naazneen Karmali
Contributing Editors Bangkok Suzanne Nam Chennai Anuradha Raghunathan Hong Kong Shu-Ching Jean Chen Jakarta Justin Doebele Melbourne Lucinda Schmidt Perth Tim Treadgold Singapore Jane A. Peterson Taipei Joyce Huang Vietnam Lan Anh Nguyen Columnists Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Ben Sin Production Manager Michelle Ciulla
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Steve Forbes CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER Lewis D’Vorkin FORBES MAGAZINE EDITOR Randall Lane EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Noer ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Mansfield FORBES DIGITAL VP, INVESTING EDITOR Matt Schifrin VP, DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY Coates Bateman VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Salah Zalatimo VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK Christina Vuleta ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS Frederick E. Allen – Leadership Loren Feldman – Entrepreneurs Janet Novack WASHINGTON Michael K. Ozanian SPORTSMONEY
Stark Clarity
W
hen the latest Rohingya migration out of what is now Myanmar into what is now Bangladesh mushroomed this summer into the greatest of all refugee crises of 2017, it did two clarifying things: r *U TIPXFE UIBU .ZBONBS T democratic opening has not produced rules or—sadly— moral leadership that can bring the country sufficiently out of its dark half-century of isolation and ostracism. That liberal project is going to need time and work—and more of an assist than its Southeast Asian neighbors seem fit to provide soon. r *U SBJTFE UIF TUBLFT GPS UIF GVUVSF PG #BOHMBEFTI XIJDI SFDFJWFT MFTT HMPCBM BUUFOtion per population (165 million) than anywhere on earth. The nation tentatively has accommodated 600,000 new inhabitants—with perhaps more to stream out of Rakhine State—but what will follow, not only in the camps but in governance of the host, independent only since 1971? Myanmar since 2010 has excited business interest like few other midsize GSPOUJFS FDPOPNJFT ѮF TQFDUSF PG "VOH 4BO 4VV ,ZJ T QBSUZ CFJOH BCMF UP GPSN B government that might rein in longtime military rulers was a door opener to formal commerce. But nonetheless long-held Buddhist animosity toward the Muslim minority boiled over again. Even peaceable and seemingly progressive Burmese, TVDI BT UIF UZDPPO * DIBUUFE XJUI BU B 'PSCFT FWFOU JO UIF QBTU ZFBS TFFN QTZDIPlogically walled off from the inhumanity. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi regime of Sheikh Hasina, no paragon when it comes to human rights, has an opportunity to manifest both compassion and competence. Output is growing nationally, but in the geographic sliver with the EJTQMBDFE 3PIJOHZB DPOEJUJPOT BSF ESFBEGVM *OUFSOBUJPOBMMZ BO POHPJOH XPSSZ XJMM be the potential for terrorist organizing amid persistent squalor. Leaders of the two awkward neighbors are talking, and the nominal wish is for mass repatriation. More likely, an acceptable order is going to require a new and better life for many of these historical orphans.
DEPARTMENT HEADS Mark Decker, John Dobosz, Clay Thurmond
FOUNDED IN 1917 B.C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917-54) Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954-90) James W. Michaels, Editor (1961-99) William Baldwin, Editor (1999-2010)
6 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
Tim Ferguson Editor, forbes asia globaleditor@forbes.com
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FORBES MEDIA
CONVERSATION LOOKS LIKE Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw didn’t spend much time reading our ranking of India’s 100 richest (October, p. 50), even though she came in at No. 72: “A rich list is an annual map of wealth creation largely based on stock value and real estate. I don’t give it much thought other than it reects the state of the economy,â€? she told Press Trust of India. The Daily O of India was downright gloomy: “India’s 100 richest are getting wealthier while economy slows down . . . utterly depressing. Forbes’ list reveals the rich are unaffected by PM Modi’s controversial economic decisions. The increasing wealth of India’s richest throws into sharp relief the widening inequality in Indian society.â€? Added the Hindustan Times: “Rich get richer as economy sputters.â€?
CEO & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN Michael S. Perlis PRESIDENT & COO Michael Federle CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Mark Howard
THE INTEREST GRAPH
EDITOR-AT-LARGE/GLOBAL FUTURIST Rich Karlgaard
Our India coverage predominated the online hit parade:
GENERAL COUNSEL MariaRosa Cartolano
Cognizant’s CEO Francisco D’Souza Sees Bluer Skies Beyond the IT Adversity
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PRESIDENT, FORBESWOMAN Moira Forbes SENIOR VP, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Mia Carbonell
+2!) !.ĆŤÄ‚Ä€Ä ÄˆĆŤÄ‘ĆŤ +(1)!ĆŤÄ ÄƒĆŤÄ‘ĆŤ 1) !.ĆŤÄ Ä
India’s 100 Richest: Billionaire Heiresses Blazing Their Own Trail
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Bitter Pill to Swallow for India’s Pharma Companies
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South Asian Sidelight: Ever-Problematic Pakistan 5,442
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FACT & COMMENT “With all thy getting, get understanding”
PLEA TO U.S. HIGH COURT: KNOW YOUR LIMITS BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
IN AN OBSCENITY case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964, Justice Potter Stewart famously and candidly declared that when it came to defining “hard-core pornography,” he wouldn’t make any more attempts “perhaps [because] I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it. . . . ” The Supreme Court should take Stewart’s words to heart when it hears Gill v. Whitford, a case about gerrymandering in Wisconsin. On the surface, the idea of creating legislative districts that give a particular party an advantage would strike most people as unfair. But the challenge is in determining what is fair. The ready answer is proportional representation—if a party’s legislative candidates together win 40% of the popular vote statewide, shouldn’t that party get 40% of the seats? That is indeed the system in many European countries. But that has never been the case in the U.S., Britain or Canada. Here, if party A’s candidates each poll 49% of the vote in their respective races and each of their opponents gets 51%, party A gets nothing in the legislature. In Wisconsin in 2010, Republicans won both legislative houses and the governorship and, with the recently completed census in hand, went about designing a new map for legislative districts. It’s no surprise that the lines were drawn in a way that would help the GOP. What these Republicans did has been going on since the creation of the republic. (The word “gerrymander” originated in 1812, when the party of Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry created a district that looked like a salamander.) Wisconsin Democrats complain that the percentage of seats the GOP wins in legislative races exceeds the percentage of the total votes their candidates receive statewide. They say this is unconstitutional because it violates Democrats’ First Amendment right of association, as well as the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—that the district lines punish certain voters be-
10 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
cause of their political affiliation. The constitutional arguments are preposterous. Our basic law says absolutely nothing about proportional representation. Congressional and legislative representatives have always been decided by who wins the most votes. The Wisconsin government isn’t harassing Democrats who participate in the political process or forcibly preventing Democrats from voting. The idea that politics won’t play a role in how politics is practiced is also preposterous. Even in states that have “nonpartisan” boards or commissions drawing the maps, the process ends up suffused with politics. Where a town is put can easily change the leanings of a district. Some advocates of the Wisconsin plaintiffs say that, indeed, some partisanship is inevitable but that what’s going on now is too extreme, especially with software that brings hitherto unobtainable precision into the drawing of partisan lines. Which prompts the big question: How much partisanship is too much? Plaintiffs have already started what will be an endless array of “scientific metrics” that measure partisanship but which, in reality, are arbitrary. Their current favorite is the “efficiency gap,” which purports to measure “wasted votes.” If the efficiency gap exceeds 7% of the votes cast, then a red light flashes. But that 7% number was picked out of thin air. The High Court would be foolish in the extreme to rule in favor of the Wisconsin plaintiffs and embroil itself in the messy, detailed business of determining legislative and congressional districts. This isn’t a task for unelected judges. The litigation would be endless, with dissatisfied parties and candidates filing suits. If voters feel that a redistricting has been unfair, they can pressure legislators or, in many states, push for a referendum to create a commission to try to draw relatively neutral boundaries. But a majority of the Supremes may not be able to resist the temptation to play God instead of appreciating
the wisdom of our founders, who concluded that most issues are best left to the normal give-and-take of everyday politics, untidy, unedifying and seem-
ingly inefficient as the process may be. After all, despite more than two centuries of gerrymandering, American politics has been anything but static.
Our high court, imbibing the spirit of Potter Stewart, should practice a rare humility and leave messy enough alone.
Coben Does It Again Harlan Coben is the Babe Ruth—or, since he’s a basketball fan, the Michael Jordan/Stephen Curry/LeBron James— of mystery-thriller writers. His newest grand slam—er, three-pointer—is Don’t Let Go (Dutton). Its protagonist is a suburban New Jersey detective who has been haunted for years by the strange death of his twin brother and the brother’s girlfriend, along with the simultaneous disappearance of his own girlfriend, who had just inexplicably broken up with him when he thought they would eventually get married. Why did she vanish without a trace? As you would expect from a Coben classic, the quest for the truth leads to more—and ever more dangerous— questions that take the plot through mind-bending twists and turns and keep the reader glued to the pages until the end. What sets the detective off on this
menacing odyssey is the news that his once-very-significant-other’s fingerprints have been found in a suspected murderer’s rental car. Violence, murder, an ultrasecret government program and more come together to make for a harrowing journey for our protagonist. Ernest Hemingway could have learned a tip or two from Coben’s direct and punchy writing style. And Coben deftly intersperses his action sequences with observations about human behavior, such as when the detective has to deliver horrible news: “Some claim that the first step in the grieving process is denial. … I have found the opposite to be true: The first step is complete and immediate comprehension.” Adding to my delight in this novel is that a piece of the action takes place right next to my hometown.
Down Under Wonder This February you can visit Australia, one of the most truly awesome places on Earth, aboard the magnificently luxurious Crystal Symphony by signing up now for the 29th Forbes Cruise for Investors. This magical 12-day journey begins in Perth on February 5, 2018, and ends in the vibrant city of Sydney on February 17. Among the dazzling places you’ll get to explore are Bunbury, a jumping commercial hub that’s also home to a wonderful wildlife park; Albany, a colorful place that was the gateway to the country’s legendary gold fields (Australia’s gold rush wasn’t as well known as California’s, but it was no less awesome); Esperance, where you
can see plenty of fur seals, exotic seabirds and penguins, as well as kangaroos, which are often spotted on the area’s brilliant white beaches; and the neighboring isle of Tasmania, with its breathtaking and largely unspoiled natural environment. Between stops you’ll be treated to an impressive array of renowned investing gurus, such as John Buckingham, recognized as the dean of successful value investing; Mark Mills, whose insights on energy and high tech are essential to cutting-edge investment strategies; Marilyn Cohen, one of our country’s top bond managers; James Stack, whose impressive long-term track record makes
his analyses especially pertinent as people wonder how much longer the great bull market can last; and the legendary Mark Mobius, whose knowledge of international markets is unrivaled. I will share thoughts on the U.S. and global political and economic scenes. Hosting this incredible cruise, as well as giving us his perceptive market perspectives, will be Rich Karlgaard, Forbes’ editorat-large. Rich will also share some intriguing findings from his groundbreaking upcoming book on late bloomers. To make your reservation, go online to ForbesCruise.com. F
NOVEMBER 2017
FORBES ASIA | 11
FORBES ASIA
POLITICS
BEIJING AT THE HELM After party congress, Chinese economic reforms are likely to be a secondary objective. BY YUE WANG
A
s China’s key twice-adecade Party Congress concluded, President Xi Jinping emerged more powerful than ever. With his name and teachings now inscribed in party constitution and no clear successor in line, Xi is set to dominate decision making for years to come. But going into his second five-year term, one thing won’t be on Xi’s mind: making good on promises of marketbased reform, a landmark pledge he first delivered after assuming office in 2012. Although Xi referred to reforms when China’s new seven-member leadership was unveiled, analysts and economists said market liberalization is unlikely to pan out. What Xi now means by reform, they said, is improving a state-led development model, meaning adjusting state intervention for more effective outcomes. “Don’t anticipate big reforms,” said Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Bear in mind 12 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
that Xi is a conservative believing in party control.” The advance of the state is already obvious. In Xi’s first five-year term, officials spent hundreds of billions of dollars to adjust prices of raw materials and prop up the stock market as well as buttress the Chinese currency, in part by cracking down on capital outflows. These stem from a deepened mistrust of market forces after brief liberalization experiments in 2015 led traders to pummel the yuan, while an epic stock market selloff in the same year made officials believe markets are too volatile to be reckoned with. The result is that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are now firmly in the driver’s seat in the world’s secondlargest economy, even though they keep posting anemic returns. In the hope of creating local champions that prioritize Beijing’s policy initiatives, officials have channeled capital and policy support to engineer a series of mega-mergers, such as the combination of train makers CNR Corp. and CSR Corp., as well as China Metallurgical Group and China Minmetals,
so these behemoths can be quicker in mobilizing resources to where Beijing needs them: for example, infrastructure projects alongside the One Belt, One Road initiative or in areas still burdened with overcapacity, such as coal and steel production, that are needed to maintain local employment. In the meantime China is tightening the grip on private businesses. To keep closer tabs on boardroom discussions, Beijing has pushed for “special management shares” in its largest and most successful internet companies— including Tencent, Twitter-equivalent Sina Weibo and Alibaba’s online video unit Youku Tudou. It also stressed this year that patriotism is a core element of entrepreneurship, meaning that the likes of Alibaba, Tencent or Wanda may increasingly take on state, but not necessarily business, priorities. As for foreign businesses, the Made in China 2025 policy initiative already laid the groundwork for a further push-out of Western companies, stipulating that it will be Chinese firms that dominate strategic sectors such as renewable cars, robotics and semiconductors.
Rubber-stamp congress: “[Chinese officials] are concerned about debt but prioritize SOE-funded growth over debt.”
REUTERS/THOMAS PETER
“A lot of reforms that are happening are clearly favoring large SOEs over smaller SOEs, and much, much more than private enterprises,” said Christopher Balding, an associate professor of business and economics at Peking University’s HSBC Business School in Shenzhen. “They [Chinese officials] clearly see very serious threats in the marketplace if companies aren’t doing what they want them to do.” But this drive for control entails significant risks. Although the championing of state power has led to some advances in science, it also means credit continues to be funneled into unproductive SOEs to propel growth, with banks signing off on loans because the borrowers are seen as having implicit state guarantees. In today’s China, SOEs receive as much as 30% of total loans but only account for 16% of employment and less than a third of fixedasset investment. Last year its return on assets was a paltry 2.9%—compared
with 10.9% in the private sector. What’s more, the focus on SOEs means China can’t get to the root of its debt problem. SOE debt has long been the biggest driver of the country’s surging debt levels, which increased from 160% of gross domestic product in 2008 to some 260% today. The lending binge, if uncurbed, could lead to financial turmoil, as debt-fueled growth eventually becomes unsustainable, the IMF warned earlier this year. “It [debt] is going to continue to rise,” Peking University’s Balding said. “They [Chinese officials] are concerned about debt but prioritize SOE-funded growth over debt.” The Chinese leadership, realizing the problem, has tried other ways to reform SOEs. It has asked private sector companies, including Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, to buy shares in state-controlled telecommunication firm China Unicom, in the hope of bringing in external management ex-
pertise and market discipline as a socalled mixed-ownership reform. But whether improvement will happen remains to be seen, said China University of Hong Kong’s Lam. Still, there might be a silver lining. Wang Yang, a new member of the ruling Politburo Standing Committee, is perceived to be more liberal-minded. The former party chief of Guangdong Province pushed for opening up China’s richest province and is known among the country’s bland cadres for his straight-talking manner. Meanwhile, Xi also said that he is placing more importance on environmental protection, suggesting he is willing to tolerate slower growth in exchange for cleaner water and air, said Andrew Polk, founder of Beijingbased research firm Trivium China. But the fundamental reform direction won’t change, and that, as Polk said, is really about making “better, bigger, and stronger SOEs.” F NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 13
FORBES ASIA
COMING SOON
Girding for Battle Amazon’s impending arrival in Australia is giving retailers shivers.
S
pare a thought for Australian retailers. Already struggling with weak consumer sentiment, stagnant wage growth and higher energy bills—their own and their customers’—now they must deal with Amazon. The U.S. online retail behemoth announced in April that it was coming to Australia and bringing its full set of offerings: Amazon Prime Now, Amazon MarketPlace and eventually Amazon Pantry and AmazonFresh. In July, it settled on its first distribution center, in Melbourne, and its local website may go live by the end of this month. Amazon’s impending arrival has sent shivers through the Australian marketplace. From their peak share prices last year, major retailers Myer, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi are down 47%, 25% and 22%, respectively. The major shopping center landlords—Scentre Group and Vicinity Centres—are down 24% and 25%. That’s not all Amazon’s doing, but it shows the fear of how the e-commerce giant could change shoppers’ behavior. The Amazon effect has hit the valuations of several Australian fortunes (see p. 76). Gerry Harvey, who owns 32% of Harvey Norman, is down $200 million, or 11.1%, since February, when Forbes Asia figured his net worth for our annual billionaires issue. The wealth of Frank Lowy, who owns 4.5% of Scentre Group, and John Gandel, whose Gandel Group owns half of Australia’s biggest shopping mall, Melbourne’s Chadstone, each crept up only $100 million, and only because of their other investments. For Chadstone, which just underwent a $519 million
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redevelopment, the specter of Amazon is especially scary. Should they be worried? Amazon is likely to capture only 2% of retail sales within five years of entering Australia, according to a UBS report. But rival broker Macquarie says it could snare $11.3 billion, or 25% of online sales, by 2025 by taking business from department stores; home-appliance, sporting-goods and clothing retailers; and even food sellers. Amazon could also induce more Australians to shop online, where retailers’ margins are thinner, force retailers to spend much more on their online presence—which may take years to deliver returns—and drive retail prices down significantly. Retailers don’t intend to let Amazon dictate terms without a fight. Both Vicinity Group and Scentre Group have culled their portfolios, trying to ensure that they own only centers with the best chances of success and that those centers are Amazonproofed by boosting the number of tenants offering lifestyle, entertainment and dining options. The reasoning is that “experiential” retail can’t be bought online. The supermalls, such as Chadstone and Scentre’s Westfield Sydney, are also looking to bring in large international fast-fashion retailers—such as Uniqlo, Zara and H&M—whose business is less likely to go to Amazon. The tweaked offerings, a focus on service and the quaint old notion of the “human touch,” as well as robust options for customers to make purchases online and via their phones, just might help incumbent retailers stave off at least some of the disruption that Amazon will soon bring. F
RICHARD POHLE/RICHARD POHLE/NEWSCOM
BY JAMES DUNN
TECHNOLOGY
BEN SIN // GADGETMAN
THOMAS KUHLENBECK FOR FORBES (TOP)
HOPE FOR THE HOVERBOARD IF THERE’S A SINGLE product that embodies the average Westerner’s feelings about Chinese tech, it’s the hoverboard. When the hoverboard debuted in 2014 in China, the West was intrigued by its slightly dorky but unique take on the personal transportation device. Of course, countless imitations, most of them cheaply made, were pumped out by Chinese companies within months, flooding the global market. By 2015 there were news headlines of hoverboards catching fire and viral videos on social media showing teens spinning out of control on them. Today the consensus is that hoverboards are cheap, gimmicky and unsafe. This doesn’t sit well with Shenzhen’s Chic, the company behind the original hoverboard. (They have the patents to show for it.) “We didn’t even call it that when we patented the thing,” laments Carlos Xie, product manager of Chic. “We called it a self-balancing scooter.” Xie says most of the hoverboards that went up in flames were knockoffs, though he admits that his company’s boards had issues because they were produced by various factories around China. Ever since that realization, Xie says, the company has worked hard to produce a sequel: one that rides better, looks better and, most important, won’t explode. The company spent two years developing the project and building up its own factory. “We will not let third-party factories manufacture our boards again,” Xie says. The finished product is now here. The superior quality of this new hoverboard, officially named the Pi, is apparent from the first look. While the one we’re used to seeing is usually made of cheap plastic and comprises two connecting parts that creak and break easily, the Pi is crafted out of an aluminum unibody and has quite a bit of heft to it—22 pounds, to be exact. So let’s address the most important issue: Why is Pi safer than the previous board? Its lithium battery is, essentially, wrapped twice over in aluminum for protection. Not only is the board’s body, as mentioned, one giant aluminum case, but the battery is inside another aluminum casing that Xie says is flame retardant. The Pi has, according to Xie, passed the UL2272 test, which was created by an independent safety testing company specifically for hoverboards. During our meeting, Xie dismantles the board to show me its battery. It is surprisingly easy to take the Pi apart and put it back together because it’s somewhat modular. Xie says the wheels and battery are replaceable, and the foot pad and other parts can be swapped for ones with other colors to customize. Meanwhile, Xie points out that the Pi is almost wire-free—the only exception is the LED light panel—an impressive feat of hardware
craftsmanship. Fewer wires mean less chance of damage. Aside from the supposedly “supersafe” battery, the Pi has other advantages over its first-gen counterpart: The foot-pedal sensors have been improved to be more sensitive to subtle pressure. The unibody design also makes the board a lot sturdier because there are no moving parts other than the wheels. Xie says all the boards are now made in-house in the company’s Shenzhen factory, and mass production has begun. Chic will bring the Pi to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January, and the boards will be sold globally. On Kickstarter right now the early-bird price is $499. “I know some will say the Pi is overpriced, because they look at hoverboards like a cheap plastic toy,” Xie says. “But the Pi is not meant to be a toy, it’s meant to be a personal transportation vehicle. It’s meant to replace a bicycle or an electric scooter.” I’m not sure if most of the world can use a hoverboard as a transportation tool, as there are laws against riding a hoverboard on the street or sidewalk in many cities, but for people who like to ride for fun, the Pi is a big step up from the hoverboards we’ve been used to. F
“The Pi is meant to be a personal transportation vehicle.”
BEN SIN IS A HONG KONG-BASED CONTRIBUTOR TO FORBES.COM WHO WRITES ABOUT CONSUMER TECH.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 15
FORBES ASIA
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE
Coffee King’s Queen Estranged from the Trung Nguyen boss, Le Hong Diep Thao brews an export brand. BY LAN ANH NGUYEN
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CATHERINE KARNOW
A
s the chairwoman and CEO behind Vietnam’s for a fifth of global supply. In 2012, when Forbes Asia rising King Coffee brand, Le Hong Diep Thao interviewed Vu, he was sitting atop an overall Vietnamese would be notable enough as a business figure. export market that had grown to $3.5 billion. Vietnam Her company’s processed beans are reachhasn’t reached that number again as crops were lost due to ing 60 international markets, with first-year bad weather and bean prices fell. sales pushing $60 million. A second factory opened with a Producers like Vu and Thao wrestled with how to splash in April, 40 miles from Ho Chi Minh City. maximize the value of Vietnamese coffee absent a strong But the backstory is more interesting: She has been processing industry. Statistics through the last five years separated from—and is now seeking to divorce—Dang Le show that 95% of Vietnam’s total coffee output went to Nguyen Vu, the man Forbes Asia dubbed the “coffee king” raw bean export, with only 5% processed. To exemplify of Vietnam. Over their 20 years together—although she why this matters: Starbucks entered Vietnam in 2013 and wasn’t acknowledged in our 2012 story—he built Trung introduced Dalat Blend, a Vietnamese coffee brand, to its Nguyen Group into the nation’s preeminent roaster and cafes worldwide. One 250 gram bag is priced at $12.50, or retailer of quality coffee. Thao’s role included oversight of 20 times the price of comparable domestic beans. foreign operations—she opened cafes in Singapore, where Thao met Vu in 1994, when he was still a student in she incorporated TNI, the parent of King Coffee. When Buon Me Thuot, the capital of Vietnam’s coffee plantathe couple settles their current arbitration and finalizes tions. According to Thao, her family helped with initial a divorce, she’s likely to retain a sizable minority stake in funding to open the first coffee shop named Trung Nguyen. Trung Nguyen, whose 2016 revenues, she says, were The couple married in 1998 and rapidly developed the big$260 million. gest coffee brand in Vietnam. Thao says she was responThat earlier success has provided the wherewithal to sible for day-to-day operations as well as working with her build her own outfit. Although you can read into her indehusband on strategy. pendence at age 44 a divergence in management styles— After their marriage hit the rocks, the export business by various accounts, Vu’s approach to business from his was somewhat neglected. This is the breach into which favored highlands retreat has become Thao has introduced King Coffee products, cerebral and detached—Thao doesn’t launching overseas (starting in the U.S.) treat competition as a zero-sum proposibefore seeking a local market. She now tion. “It took me two years to bring it to controls two factories, she says—the first life, and I consider it my child,” she says in Bac Giang province, in the north of the about King Coffee. “My first son was country, which also produces G7-brand innamed Trung Nguyen. I don’t plan to stant coffee. That one opened in 2012 under compete with Trung Nguyen [Group]! Trung Nguyen Group. The new plant mainly King Coffee is to realize my dream to produces King Coffee. build a strong ‘made in Vietnam’ coffee Amid thousands of domestic players in brand. I want Trung Nguyen to continue Vietnam, only a few big names dominate its success together with King Coffee.” coffee retail: Trung Nguyen (which lately For many years Vietnam has been the has shops under the Legend name); Vinasecond-largest coffee producer in the cafe, now owned by national conglomerStogie time: Dang Le Nguyen Vu. world, after Brazil, and today accounts ate Masan Group; and Nestlé’s Nescafé. In
MAIKA ELAN FOR FORBES VIETNAM
2012, at its height, Trung Nguyen owned five factories and a chain of 40 coffee shops. Savoring it all, “Chairman Vu” talked a blend of philosophy and commerce in his increasingly rare appearances. (He didn’t respond to repeated recent requests from Forbes Asia for comments about his company and his estranged wife’s businesses. The divorce and settlement have not been finalized). As the split was exposed in the domestic press in the past two years, Trung Nguyen was losing its edge in the market, closing cafes (including those in Singapore) while its main competitors sought more market “King Coffee is to realize my dream to build a strong ‘made in Vietnam’ brand,” says CEO Le Hong Diep Thao. share. Thao says this galvanized her to create King Coffee as a premium brand. reach up to 30% of total coffee-cultivation land in Vietnam, “I understand the market so well, and I want to develop about 660,000 hectares. She is now vice chairman of Vietthe local coffee industry,” Thao says. “I want to participate nam’s Coffee Association. As her estranged husband within developing coffee cultivation throughout Vietnam, help- draws, she is building business and political connections. She ing the farmers grow coffee and ensuring the quality of the accompanied Vietnam’s prime minister and president as part beans. That’s a long-term approach to this business.” of recent business delegations to Japan and Russia. Thao says she has been working with the government Thao says the challenges give her energy. “People say to bolster plantations through direct investment—traditionbehind a man’s success is a woman. Now [the question is] ally farmers have been on their own, growing or not based whether a woman can make her own success when she has on fluctuating market and weather conditions. Her goal is to to be in front? I have to try!” F
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 17
FORBES ASIA
UNDERNEATH THE BANYAN TREE
A Chat With Ho Kwon Ping
H
eadwinds facing global hoteliers range from fears about the economy, terrorism and Brexit to the shifting tastes of digitally savvy Millennials. In the race to capture market share, expect hotel consolidations to continue. Below are edited excerpts from an interview with onetime Singapore Rich Lister Ho Kwon Ping, founder and executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, which has resorts, hotels and spas under four brands, including lower-priced Dhawa. Banyan Tree recently inked two deals—a joint venture with Chinese real estate company China Vanke for its China hotel assets as well as a partnership with AccorHotels, Europe’s largest hotel group. Accor is taking a 5% stake in the company for $16.9 million. It follows Accor’s $2.7 billion acquisition of FRHI Holdings, which includes Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brands. —Jane A. Peterson
FORBES ASIA: Why did you decide to partner with Accor? Did you need the cash injection because of changing economic conditions? HO KWON PING: No, it is prompted largely by the recent con-
solidation of the global hotel industry and the need for smaller hotel companies, if they want to remain strong and globally relevant, and still independent, to find strategic partners rather than go it alone in a much more globalized hospitality landscape. That is the push factor. The pull factor was in being approached by global giants such as AccorHotels—opportunities which we did not want to pass up. Do you expect other independent luxury hotels will follow your lead?
This strategic alliance is an innovative structure which may well be followed by other independent, midsize hotel companies. Why did you decide to move beyond your successful Banyan Tree luxury brand?
When we set up the brand we did not intentionally go into luxury—it was simply less occupied than other spaces. Now we’ve added more brands, due to demographic changes with the Millennials—and to cover more of the world. We are morphing from being a very “boutiquey” small brand into a multibranded platform. How is it going?
There are ups and downs. Thailand is quite strong. The Maldives is down due to an oversupply situation. China is chugging
18 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
along, but every place is oversupplied; when you get 55% to 65% occupancy, you are happy. In Western Europe travel is quite soft. We see some properties affected by Brexit, for instance in the Seychelles, which is popular with British tourists. We are still measuring the impact of Zika; it may be affecting travel a few percentage points, but it’s not as big as people thought it would be. We’ve seen the biggest impact from terrorism. French travel has really been affected. We opened Tamouda Bay in Morocco, which was a favorite for the French, but they are not traveling. People afraid of terrorism don’t travel. How about your expansion in the Caribbean and Central America?
It is going ahead as planned. If you want to access the U.S. market, you have to go there. It’s an American playground. Mexico gave us great leverage so that now, as we go into Cuba—the first of four projects recently opened—it’s a very logical step. We’ve also signed projects in Colombia, and we’re looking at other areas in Mexico and at Belize, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We hope to get all four brands into those markets. Are Millennials more demanding than others?
Probably. I don’t mean it in a bad way. You have to know what they are selective about. They are experience-driven. Take morning coffee. Everyone would expect a three-and-a-half star hotel—like Dhawa in Cuba—would offer Nescafé. Instead you will find Nespresso, and a huge range of juices and carbonated drinks. It’s that quality of experience that Millennials expect. What about larger-scale experiences?
That’s the other aspect. Millennials definitely want to try new things—off the beaten path. In Tibet we have Banyan Tree Ringha nestled on the highlands of Shangrila—32 original old Tibetan houses, which we moved to another location and reassembled. It’s just slightly profitable, but the contribution to the brand is fantastic. Can you cite one single major trend that has influenced your brand?
I’m not sure about trend, but if you mean a guiding principle, ours is to always trust our own instincts. We try to do what we think guests will like. We decide major issues on intuition and then drive the daily business based on data analytics. You have to match the two.
“Not far into the future you could see a global giant doing housekeeping, laundry, food service, security for all the hotels.”
How is the increasing use of mobile-phone technology affecting your business?
With 60% to 70% of people around the world making their purchasing decisions on a mobile phone, we make sure it is one of our major ways to target people for transactions. More than that, we want to begin getting our guests to create videos on their phones to post with us. You can build a whole community of Banyan Tree guests who start communicating with one other through Facebook, Instagram and our own platforms.
You sell holiday homes in several Asia-Pacific countries under your Cassia brand. Does Airbnb dampen demand?
We think the impact has been relatively neutral. On one hand, it has encouraged people to buy holiday homes and make money on them—it’s much easier. At the same time, others say, “I don’t need to buy.” We focus on what economists call the “wealth effect”: When you feel rich, you buy something. Who is buying?
You have made a major commitment to China. How did the economic downturn then affect you?
It’s not so much the economic downturn, it’s the anticorruption campaign that has set stringent regulations impacting lavish spending and being hosted.
JONATHAN WONG/SCMP
So do you regret your timing?
No. Every company in the world has to have a China strategy. We will continue to expand—one of the things we are happy about in the so-called downturn. The Dhawa brand [is] going places. Secondary cities all need decently managed, inexpensive hotels. That’s the good space we are in.
Cassia has sold really well to Asians, especially the Chinese who want to get their money out of China. And to Russians. Coming to a tropical climate in Asia is appealing. What changes are ahead for the hotel industry?
I think not far into the future you could see a global giant doing housekeeping, laundry, food service, security for all the hotels. More companies like ours will be happy to outsource regular operations so we can focus on our brand. That’s the key to success: Make the brand more distinct and let everything else be done by another company. It’s something that was actually unimaginable ten years ago. F
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 19
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO PHILANTHROPY
THE $150 BILLION MOMENT
PATRICE MOTSEPE Executive chairman, African Rainbow Minerals $1.7 BIL JERRY JONES Owner, Dallas Cowboys $5.6 BIL ARTHUR BLANK Cofounder, Home Depot $3.8 BIL
LARRY GAGOSIAN Founder, Gagosian Gallery
SANDY WEILL Former CEO, Citigroup $1 BIL
MARTINE ROTHBLATT Founder, Sirius radio, United Therapeutics SEAN “DIDDY” COMBS Entertainer $820 MIL JACK WELCH Former CEO, GE
T. BOONE PICKENS Founder, BP Capital
ON SEPTEMBER 19, Forbes convened more than 200 billionaires, near-billionaires and brilliant thinkers for our sixth annual Philanthropy Summit in New York. Later that night, 28 of them—all among the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds honored in our recent Centennial issue—gathered for an extraordinary portrait. No single image has ever captured more wealth, ambition and imagination. Collectively this group of givers is worth some $150 billion; 9 of them appear in this year’s Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans. They represent an astonishing amount of money. And an astonishing opportunity to change the world. 20 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
JAMES PATTERSON Author
JEFF KOONS Artist
LOUIS GERSTNER JR. Former CEO, IBM
HAMDI ULUKAYA Founder, Chobani yogurt $1.8 BIL DANIEL GILBERT Founder, Quicken Loans $5.8 BIL
STEVE CASE Cofounder, AOL $1.4 BIL
YURI MILNER Founder, DST Global $3.5 BIL WARREN BUFFETT CEO, Berkshire Hathaway $78 BIL
CRAIG VENTER Chairman, Human Longevity $300 MIL
JACQUELINE NOVOGRATZ Founder, Acumen Fund
RAY DALIO Founder, Bridgewater Associates $17 BIL HENRY KRAVIS Cofounder, KKR $5.2 BIL
MORRIS CHANG Founder, Taiwan Semiconductor ELI BROAD $930 MIL Founder, KB Home $7.3 BIL JACK BOGLE Founder, Vanguard
JIM COLLINS Author PHILIP ANSCHUTZ Owner, AEG $12.6 BIL
MUHAMMAD YUNUS Nobel laureate, father of microямБnance STEVE WYNN Founder, Wynn Resorts $3.1 BIL
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 21
FORBES ASIA
XIAOMI
In-Store and in India Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone comet online, had to broaden its retail base. Manu Jain is helping to pull that off. BY ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN
C
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Manu Jain, head of Xiaomi India, takes a selfie with his colleagues.
times as many phones in China, but India is its best hope for gains that might at last unlock its IPO opportunity. Yes, Xiaomi can work the online channel better than anyone—it has half of such sales in India. But key to Jain’s push are the physical contact points: “preferred” retail outlets (which give Xiaomi a push over rivals they sell) and “Mi Homes” (experience/sales centers). “Xiaomi has managed to create a lot of buzz around the brand,” says Navkendar Singh, senior analyst at global advisory firm IDC’s India office. “They have good cus-
NAMAS BHOJANI FOR FORBES
hinese phone maker Xiaomi started off its pre-Diwali sale in India this year on a high note—selling one million phones in 48 hours in September. It was a reminder of how potent the online marketing channel can still be for a company that lit up its home market that way three years ago. But the company’s luster had faded in the meantime. The bigger story for Xiaomi in 2017 is how it is using bricks and mortar to regain momentum. And India, its second big market, is in the forefront of that effort. For the first half of 2017, Xiaomi was the first runner-up in the country’s smartphone segment, after Korea’s Samsung (see table, p. 25). Globally, this matters: India has the second-largest smartphone base after China but still has only 300 million users against China’s 710 million. Although China remains a key battleground, its market is getting saturated. Hence, ever more competitive Chinese brands are assiduously wooing Indian consumers. In that first half of 2017, they combined for a 54% share. “We’ve been able to bring really high-end, high-quality products and make them affordable,” says Manu Kumar Jain, 36, who heads Xiaomi India and is a global vice president. “Phones with similar specs—for the price ranges that we offer—will cost double with a competitor.” Xiaomi, which entered India in 2014, is looking for revenues there to exceed $2 billion for 2017—doubling from last year. (Margins are wafer-thin, but the Indian subsidiary has been profitable since 2015.) Overall sales should pass $16 billion. Jain’s operation has running room—India’s $19 billion market (wholesale smartphone revenues) is expected to cross $30 billion by 2020. Closely held Xiaomi may still sell three
tomer engagement. And they also refresh their portfolio pretty frequently.” Xiaomi is churning out one phone per second at its two manufacturing facilities in Andhra Pradesh (in partnership with Foxconn) to cater to Indians. It has already invested $500 million in India (along with its various partners) and is looking to pour in another $500 million over the next two years, creating an estimated 20,000 jobs along the way. Started in 2010, Xiaomi took China by storm with its $100
to $300 phones. Online selling cut costs and reached customers directly. Revenues doubled for a few years, and founder Lei Jun was named Forbes Asia’s 2014 Businessman of the Year. But in 2016 shipments fell 36% amid fierce competition from Chinese rivals Huawei and Oppo. Lei’s estimated net worth, too, was cut in half from a high of $13.4 billion in 2015. Cue the offline reboot. Xiaomi had come to India with its online prowess but found that 70% of the market was in stores. So over the next two years it set up 600 service centers,
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 23
FORBES ASIA
XIAOMI with China are always in the background.) Then came a copyright case—regarding chipsets—slapped by phone maker Ericsson. Some Xiaomi basically competes in the midpremium market in India, where products also backfired, like the tablet Mipad, the average smartphone sells for $157. Lenovo-Motorola—its most which was later withdrawn from the market. direct competitor—has doubled production capacity in India and has At that time, Jain worked closely with the launched 13 models since June. But Xiaomi also aims to contend up charismatic Hugo Barra, who used to head inthe margin ladder, against Huawei (which builds phones in India as ternational sales for Xiaomi and has since well) and ultimately Samsung, to offer 4G wonders such as better moved to Facebook. These days, Jain connects cameras and larger screen sizes. with Xiaomi founder Lei Jun to craft strategy. A case in point is the Mi MIX 2, priced at $550—a bezel-less ceLei doesn’t speak much English and Jain doesn’t ramic phone, which was offered online on the day before Diwali. The know Mandarin, but the two catch up many flash sale finished in three minutes flat with expressions of interest times a day to chat, using in-house translafrom 100,000 buyers. Xiaomi has not disclosed how many phones tors or even Google Translate. Lei visits India at were sold. least once every quarter. Jain, who has an undisNot everyone can compete well in that realm. Huawei—the largestclosed equity stake, hosted him at his Bangalore selling brand in China—had a meager 1% share in India for the first half home recently. (Bin Lin, meanwhile, continues of 2017. (High-priced Apple is also a secondary presence, with 2.3%.) to oversee the entire company’s growth.) Samsung is not going to cede its top spot willingly. In June, it By 2016, Xioami rose to the No. 5 position announced a $760 million expansion of the Noida plant in northern in a bunched Indian smartphone ranking after India, doubling capacity to 120 million units per year. Samsung. Starting this year things looked even While Samsung continues to be No. 1, it’s gone from owning a third better, spurred by the government’s demonetiof the Indian market in 2013 to a fourth in 2016—albeit of a growing zation move to formalize transactions, which pie. —A.R. boosted online buying. Also helpful was its $150 to $200 Redmi Note 4 series. With an allmetal body, fingerprint scanner and 13-megastitched up partnerships with 650 retailers and opened seven pixel camera, it became India’s favorite model for the first half Mi Home centers. It recently tied up with Kishore Biyani’s Fuof the year, selling nearly 5 million phones, per company data. ture Retail to sell its two most successful models at Big Bazaar Xiaomi appeals, in part, to young adults upgrading from a outlets during the festive season. $100 to a $200 smartphone. This is a notch above where doIn China, Xiaomi now has 200 stores and is looking to add mestic outfits like onetime star Micromax had gotten a foot800 by 2020. Already, this is showing results: Offline sales in hold. “Micromax and other India-based vendors were domChina grew significantly in 2017, and in the second quarter, inant in the sub-$100 category,” says IDC’s Singh. “But with Xiaomi overtook vaunted Apple as the fourth-largest phone the huge onslaught of Chinese vendors in the $100 to $250 shipper in China. Worldwide, it ranked fifth in the second category, the sub-$100 lost its appeal, since there were betterquarter, with a 59% rise, a considerably faster climb than the designed devices with high specifications.” rest of the top five. In this sector, Oppo and a similarly aimed Chinese brand, India is setting the pace. “We expect to be the number one Vivo, are on a marketing blitzkrieg in India, splashing their smartphone brand soon,” says Jain, who has an engineering names across billboards and mom-and-pop shops. They are degree from IIT Delhi plus a postgraduate diploma from the wooing cricket-loving Indians by sponsoring major cricketpremier Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata. ing events. And they are He worked as a consultant with McKinsey out of college luring dealers with good and then cofounded fashion retailer Jabong.com in 2012 with markups. a group of friends. He quit the Delhi startup in early 2014. (JaXiaomi’s answer is bong was sold to Flipkart in 2016. Jain offloaded his stake for to use social media and an undisclosed sum.) Mi fan clubs to spread Back in Bangalore and previously acquainted with Xiaothe word. It’s online Mi mi’s cofounder Bin Lin through a common friend, Jain soon Community has more joined the phone maker. For a while he was the only employthan 2 million Indiee in India. “I’d be opening the door, serving tea and coffee an users. Clubs bring tomyself and also discussing deals worth hundreds of crores,” gether Xiaomi fans, who recalls Jain. The India staff now exceeds 300. discuss everything from But the initial days were tough. For instance, during Diheadphones to screens to wali 2014, there were rumors that the Indian Air Force had battery capacities. They banned Xiaomi phones and sales dipped. (Official tensions also beta test the phones Xiaomi founder Lei Jun.
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DHIRAJ SINGH/BLOOMBERG
TOP SHELF
under extreme conditions—like watching movies for LATE ADAPTERS INDIA HAS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR 48 hours straight or playing videogames for 20 hours SMARTPHONE MARKET SHARE IN MOBILE BRAND BUILDING. INDIA (FIRST HALF OF 2017): at a stretch. Jain points out that the phone itself is not the endSMARTPHONES AS A SAMSUNG 25.8% PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PHONES game. “Our smartphones will be at the center of a universe (FIRST HALF OF 2017): XIAOMI 15.7 of products,” he says. Xiaomi fare in China includes such VIVO 11.7 products as shoes, air purifiers and TVs. It has invested KOREA 100% OPPO 8.6 in 89 hardware startups. In India it has already rolled out JAPAN 99 LENOVO 8.2 power banks, audio accessories and fitness bands, though CHINA 98 APPLE 2.3 they make up a tiny percentage of revenues. INDIA 47 HUAWEI 1 Xiaomi also has its own operating system (MIUI) REST OF ASIA 65 TOTAL SHARE OF ALL and an internet platform, Mi.com. (MI stands for GLOBAL 78 CHINA-BASED VENDORS: 54 “Mobile internet,” and Xiaomi—which means “milSOURCE: COUNTERPOINT. SOURCE: IDC. let” in Mandarin—was named to signify ubiquity.) “The momentum is there, but their profitabiliproducts in these emerging markets.” ty is limited by [Xiaomi’s] business model,” says Neil Shah Jain is conscious of the hypercompetition around him. He says of Mumbai’s Counterpoint Research. “Since this is a volume his backpack has at least 20 new marketplace releases at any given game, global-level scale will be important and thus growth time. His desk drawers are jammed with cellphones of varying beyond the India or China markets.” colors, screen sizes and specs. But while he had cited the marThat’s true for the Chinese rivals, too. “They have startket title as an expectation, “We don’t chase the No. 1 ranking,” ed expanding their presence in Southeast Asian countries Jain professes. “Our philosophy is to focus on the inputs—as in like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietthe right product, the right innovation, the right services and the nam,” says Xiaohan Tay, research manager for client devices right business model. The output, which is the market share and at IDC. “These are price-sensitive markets, and vendors have rankings, will automatically happen.” F Additional reporting: Jane Ho to continue to focus on pushing their low-end and midrange
THE FORBES I
400 E D I T E D BY L U I S A K R O L L A N D K E R RY A . D O L A N
t was another record year for the wealthiest people in America, as the price of admission to make The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans is now $2 billion. Even at these new heights, entrepreneurs are breaking into the ranks for the first time as they mint fortunes in everything from telecom to booze to fishing. There were 22 newcomers, 14 of whom are self-made entrepreneurs. Number one for the 24th consecutive year is Bill Gates, who is now worth $89 billion, up $8 billion from a year ago. Gainers (there were 289) since last year’s list outnumbered losers (just 51) by more than five to one. A strong stock market was the main reason for this record-breaking year. The S&P 500, for instance, was up roughly 17% in the 12 months since the 2016 Forbes 400 list. The most notable loser was President Donald Trump, whose fortune fell $600 million to $3.1 billion. A tough New York real estate market, particularly for retail locations; a costly lawsuit; and an expensive presidential campaign all contributed to the declining fortune of the 45th president. Forbes Editor Randall Lane interviews Trump (eliciting Trump’s now infamous IQ remark about Rex Tillerson) and reflects on the president’s winnertake-all mentality (see p. 28). We also take a look at the correlation between higher learning and business success by slicing and dicing the educational pedigrees of the 400 members (see p. 38); we highlight their degrees (or lack thereof ) in the list entries (p. 54). A record 169 billionaires were too poor to make the cut, including such well-known figures as activist investor Nelson Peltz and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. Twenty-six members of the 2016 class fell out of the ranks (even though 13 of those 26 went up in wealth). Go to forbes.com/forbes-400 for more information on list members, as well as photos, videos and coverage of these influential billionaires.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 27
FORBES
400
WINNER TAKES ALL For decades, Donald Trump made deals with an “I win, you lose” mentality. Little surprise that he is bringing the same philosophy to governing the most powerful nation on earth. BY R A N DA L L L A N E
28 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 29
FORBES 400 TRUMP
I
f Trump really did call the “Very comfortable,” he replies. State Rex Tillerson, who reportWhite House a “dump,” he’s over it. “What I want to do is reciproedly called his boss a moron: “I Inside the small West Wing study— cal. See, I think the concept of think it’s fake news, but if he did where he stacks his papers and reciprocal is a very nice concept. that, I guess we’ll have to compare takes his meals atop what he calls If somebody is charging us 50%, IQ tests. And I can tell you who is his “working desk,” the president we should charge them 50%. Right going to win.” now they charge us 50%, and we talks volubly about a chandelier he And above all, he sells: “I also charge them nothing. That doesn’t had installed and the oil paintings have another bill . . . an economicwork with me.” of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. He development bill, which I think It never has. Donald Trump didn’t pokes open the door to his pristine will be fantastic. Which nobody get rich building businesses, deprivate bathroom, a must for the knows about. Which you are hearspite years of brand-burnishing via germophobe-in-chief. He takes us ing about for the first time. . . . The Apprentice and millions of votes outside to see the serene swimming Economic-development incentives from people who craved exactly that pool. And inside the Oval Office, for companies. Incentives for comexperience. Instead, his forte lies in freshly renovated with drapes, carpanies to be here.” Companies that transactions—buying and selling and pet and fixtures that lean heavily keep jobs in America get rewarded; cutting deals that assure him a win on gold, he slides his hand across those that send operations offshore regardless of the outcome for others. the same Resolute desk where JFK “get penalized severely.” “It’s both a The nuance is essential. Entreprehandled the Cuban Missile Crisis carrot and a stick,” says the presineurs and businesspeople create and and Reagan fought the Cold War, dent. “It is an incentive to stay. But run entities that have any number adorned with nothing but two teleit is perhaps even more so—if you of interested parties—sharephones and a call button. holders and customers and “This looks very nice,” “I THINK IT’S FAKE NEWS, BUT IF employees and partners and says the president. hometowns—that in theory all He could as easily be HE DID THAT, I GUESS WE’LL HAVE share in success. Under Steve pitching a Trump Tower TO COMPARE IQ TESTS. AND I CAN Jobs and Tim Cook, Apple penthouse or a Doral TELL YOU WHO IS GOING TO WIN.” has helped early shareholdgolf club membership, ers multiply their investments and over the course of a nearly 400-fold, turned thounearly one-hour interview sands of options-wielding in the Oval Office, Presiemployees into millionaires (swelling dent Trump stays true to the same leave, it’s going to be very tough for the local tax base), performed simiCitizen Trump form that Forbes has you to think that you’re going to be lar wonders for Taiwanese supplier seen for 35 years. able to sell your product back into Foxconn and made customers so He boasts, with a dose of hyour country.” deliriously happy that they wait all perbole that any student of FDR or And so here we are, the first night to fork over hundreds of dollars even Barack Obama could underpresident to come solely from the for products that will be obsolete two cut: “I’ve had just about the most private sector, representing the years later. legislation passed of any president, party that for more than a century Dealmakers rarely seek that kind in a nine-month period, that’s ever championed laissez-faire capitalof win-win-win-win-win. Whether served. We had over 50 bills passed. ism and free trade, proposing that it’s a stock trade, a swap of middle I’m not talking about executive government punish and reward relievers or optioning a real estate orders only, which are very imporcompanies based on where they parcel, a deal tends to involve just tant. I’m talking about bills.” choose to locate factories and oftwo parties and generally results in He counterpunches, in this fices. Is the president comfortable one coming out ahead of the other case firing a shot at Secretary of with that idea?
30 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
(so much so that a “win-win” is considered a noteworthy aberration). “Man is the most vicious of all animals,” Trump told People in 1981 (and it merited a mention the first time he appeared in Forbes, a year later). “Life is a series of battles ending in victory or defeat.” It’s a mentality that remains hardwired in President Trump. Nearly a year after the most stunning Election Day in many decades, pundits still profess to find themselves continually shocked by President Trump. They shouldn’t be: His worldview has been incredibly consistent. Rather than as an opportunity to turn ideology into policy, he views governing the way he does business—as an endless string of deals, to be won or lost, both at the negotiating table and in the court of public opinion. Look at his first year through this prism, and it makes sense. And it offers clues for the next three years—or seven. ASK PRESIDENT TRUMP if he’s having fun in his new job, and he has a quick answer: “I am having fun. I’m enjoying it. We’re accomplishing a lot. Your stock market is at an alltime high. Your jobs, your unemployment is at the lowest point in almost 17 years. We have fantastic numbers coming out.” Fantastic numbers aren’t generally how most people would measure fun. But Trump always has. “Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry,” he wrote in The Art of the Deal 30 years ago. “I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.” Numbers offer Trump validation. They determine the winner or loser of any deal and establish an industry hierarchy. It’s why Trump, more than any of the 1,600 or so people who’ve been on The Forbes 400, has spent more time lobbying
POORER PRESIDENT NIKETOWN, NEW YORK CITY
A tough New York real estate market, a Niketown costly lawsuit and an expensive presi(NEW YORK CITY) WHAT HE OWNS: Ground lease dential campaign all contributed to the on retail through 2079 declining fortune of the 45th president. TOTAL VALUE: $253 million After months of digging through finanDEBT: $0 NET VALUE: cial disclosures and public property records and conducting dozens of inCHANGE VS. 2016: terviews, Forbes now estimates POTUS’ –$137 million net worth at $3.1 billion, down from $3.7 Long the sole tenant at 6 East billion a year ago, putting him in 248th 57th Street in New York City, place on our annual ranking of the richNike signed a 15-year, $700 milest Americans. lion lease in late 2016 for a nearby The biggest hit was to Trump’s real space, stoking rumors that it will estate portfolio, which is weighted vacate this Trump property. Nike is staying put for now. “We are heavily toward New York City. Values in a multiyear-lease agreement of several Manhattan properties have for our Niketown New York locadropped, shaving nearly $400 million tion that does not end for severoff his fortune. Some of his golf properal years,” a Nike spokesman said. (The company would not confirm ties, including ones in Miami, Ireland when the lease ends.) The bigger and Scotland, have also declined in issue is the weaker real estate valvalue, as some would-be guests stayed ues, particularly for Manhattan away, apparently offended by the presistorefronts in this tony neighbordent’s politics and bombast. Trump’s hood, which is also home to nearby Trump Tower. cash pile is down $100 million since last year, after he spent $66 million on his campaign and $25 million settling a lawsuit over Trump University. A handful of Trump’s assets rose in value in the past year, including the hotel-condo tower in Las Vegas that he owns with fellow Forbes 400 member Phil Ruffin (No. 315) and his minority stake in a downtown San Francisco office building, which continues to benefit from the red-hot real estate market there. Changes in values are measured against last year’s Forbes 400, which was published a month before the election. —Dan Alexander & Matt Drange
$253 million
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 31
FORBES 400 TRUMP
tics serve as marketing grist. and cajoling Forbes to get a higher Tower to make the building seem He also uses numbers as levervaluation—and validation. taller, obsessed over his Apprentice age, a way to set parameters and In the Oval Office, when I tell ratings and lied about the square eventually declare victory. Back him the markets are up 20% during footage of his penthouse. All of this when he bought the New Jersey his term, he stretches the time periexplains the inexplicable—the need Generals of the United States Footod to yield an even glossier figure. to exaggerate crowd sizes or shoot ball League in 1984, he report“No, 25 since the election. You have the messenger any time a bad poll edly described his bidding style to to go since the election.” comes out. his fellow owners thusly: “When I That depends on the index, of For Trump, numbers also serve build something for somebody, I course (he’s conveniently using the as a pliant tool. American busialways add $50 million or $60 milmost Trump-friendly one, Nasdaq), ness has fully embraced Big Data, lion onto the price. My guys come but the president will brook no Moneyball-style analytics and main, they say it’s going to cost $75 such subtlety. “Since Election Day chine learning, where figures sugmillion. I say it’s going to cost $125 it’s 25%. It has gone up since Elecgest the best course of action. But million and I build it for $100 miltion Day $5.2 trillion—$5.2 trillion. Trump, for decades, has boasted lion. Basically, I did a lousy job. But If Hillary Clinton would have won, about how he conducts his own they think I did a great job.” the markets would have gone down research—largely anecdotal—and According to Trump, that trick substantially.” then buys or sells based on instinct. explains the current proposal to He’s similarly proud of the GDP. Numbers are then used to justify cut the corporate tax rate to 20%, “So GDP last quarter was 3.1%. his gut. He governs exactly that after months of saying he Most of the folks that are wanted to go even lower, to in your business, and elseBIG NUMBERS HAVE ALWAYS 15%. “I was actually saying where, were saying that ATTRACTED TRUMP, REGARDLESS 15 for the purpose of getwould not be hit for a long ting to 20,” he says, adding, time. You know, Obama OF THEIR ACCURACY. WHICH “As you know, this will be a never hit the number.” EXPLAINS THE INEXPLICABLE—THE negotiation for the next 30 When informed that his NEED TO EXAGGERATE CROWD days. But I wanted the 15 in predecessor did, several SIZES OR SHOOT THE MESSENGER order to get to 20.” times, Trump pivots imANY TIME A BAD POLL COMES OUT. It’s a trait he has apparmediately. “He never hit it ently long admired in presion a yearly basis. Never hit dents. Back in the 1980s, he it on a yearly basis. That’s recalled getting a $5 mileight years. I think we’ll go lion request from Jimmy Carter to substantially higher than that. And way, sticking with even his most help build his presidential library. I think this quarter would have illogical campaign promises—the “Jimmy Carter had the nerve, the been phenomenal, except for the kind other politicians walk back guts, the balls, to ask for something hurricanes.” from once confronted with actual extraordinary,” he wrote in The Art And what of those storms? policy decisions, whether making of the Deal. “That ability above all “Well, I’ve gotten very high marks Mexico pay for a border wall when helped him get elected president.” for the hurricanes,” he says, two illegal immigration is historically One bid, however, isn’t enough. days before he tweets about how low or pulling the U.S. from the In a transactional mindset, when he wasn’t getting enough personal Paris climate accords, despite the the person across the table is a credit. The president’s much-mafact that compliance is voluntary— competitor rather than a partner, ligned Twitter stream provides a citing whatever figures he can to the best terms come from creating modern way to self-validate. Anyjustify his stances. When asked multiple bidders. Which explains thing he says registers thousands about Russian interference in the his sudden fondness for Nancy Peof likes, thousands of retweets and, election, for example, he notes that losi and Chuck Schumer, whether over time, millions of new folhe got 306 electoral votes and adds on the debt-limit increase, imlowers. So what if some of those that the Democrats need “an excuse migration proposals for Dreamers followers are fake accounts? Big for losing an election that in theory (at least briefly) or health care. “I numbers have always attracted they should have won.” For the think the Democrats want to make Trump, regardless of their accuracy. greatest-ever American salesman a deal,” says Trump, referring to He numbered the floors in Trump (yes, including P.T. Barnum), statis-
32 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
Obamacare. “At the same time, I think I have a deal with the Republicans. So I have the best of both worlds. That’s business to a certain extent. . . . I’m very able to make deals with Democrats if I have to.” The specter of playing each side off the other also looms over tax negotiations. “We’ll be talking about all of it. You know, it will be a very serious set of negotiations going on over the next period of time.” Of course, those who don’t see eye-to-eye with the president will feel his Twitter lash: Ask Ryan (“does zilch!”), McConnell (“get back to work”), Schumer (“Cryin’ Chuck”), Lindsay Graham (“dumb mouthpiece”), Elizabeth Warren (“Very racist!”), John McCain (“dummy!”) or approximately 1,000 others in the past year who have had the temerity to stand up to the president. Much as these digs seem personal, in truth he’s just sticking with a business tactic he’s long employed. Again, from The Art of the Deal: “I’m the first to admit that I am very competitive and that I’ll do nearly anything within legal bounds to win. Sometimes, part of making a deal is denigrating your competition.” Or denigrating your own team. In any situation, Trump must be the alpha dog. Delegation isn’t his strong suit. Witness what happened when Tillerson apparently reopened a dialogue with the North Koreans. “He was wasting his time,” Trump now says. But doesn’t publicly upbraiding his top diplomat effectively neuter him? “I’m not undermining,” Trump says. “I think I’m actually strengthening authority.” It’s hard to see whose authority he’s strengthening, other than his own. In Donald Trump’s orbit, clearly, no one is off-limits. A decade ago, Donald Trump Jr. told Forbes this story about his now-presidential father. “I’d be going to work with my
THE BILLION-DOLLAR TAX BREAK? Is Donald Trump getting rich off being president? So far, no. Since Trump was elected last November, the S&P 500 is up 18%, yet Donald Trump’s net worth is down 16%. That’s because Donald Trump’s portfolio (mostly Manhattan real estate and golf courses) does not reflect the broader American economy. Still, one thing that would give the Trump family a tremendous boost is eliminating the estate tax, which claims roughly 40% of the richest’s assets upon their death. Unlike most well-lawyered members of The Forbes 400, especially ones who are over 70 years old, Donald Trump retains almost complete ownership of his fortune. He has transferred very little to his kids. That means that if he dies, Ivanka, Tiffany, Donald Jr., Barron and Eric would face an estimated billion-dollar tax bill—unless President Trump does something about it first. Estate-tax repeal sits near the top of his tax-cut wish list. When reminded that the plan would yield a ten-digit benefit to the Trumps, the president demurs: “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.” He adds: “I built a great business, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. My children are running it. It doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I don’t even think about it because this is so big, what I’m doing now.” —Matt Drange
dad when I was 5 or 6 years old. . . . Besides telling me again and again not to drink, not to smoke and not to chase women, he always told me: ‘Never trust anybody.’ Then he’d ask me if I trusted anybody. I’d say, ‘No.’ ‘Do you trust me?’ he’d ask. I’d say, ‘Yes.’ “And he’d say: ‘No! Don’t even trust me!’ ” THANKS TO THE APPRENTICE, most people think Donald Trump ran a big company. He did not. The Trump Organization has 22 real estate assets, with their own management teams. Trump licenses his brand to over a dozen entities, collecting royalties. All in all, it’s a valuable company that’s more impressive for its efficiency than its breadth. Trump leveraged that mindset, and his formidable skills as a marketer and showman, to run a historically efficient political campaign. “Nobody talks about it, but I spent much less money and won,” he says. He’s absolutely right. But there’s precious little about
running the Trump Organization that provides the kind of experience that it takes to run the ultimate organization in America: the U.S. government. At the Trump Organization, he owns basically everything. There’s no known board of directors, no outside shareholders and no real customer base, save onetime luxury real estate buyers and golf club members. It’s far closer to running a family office than running Wal-Mart. When it comes to moguls turned presidential aspirants, compare him with the two privatesector leaders who previously came closest to going directly to the Oval Office: Wendell Willkie, who ran a giant public utility before losing to FDR in 1940, and Ross Perot, whose quixotic third-party bid in 1992 was based on a career building two huge public companies, most notably Electronic Data Systems, a global firm that had its own de facto foreign policy, including a famous Iranian hostage rescue. Trump does have experience leading public companies, but even
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 33
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that—one-on-one bargains carrythen there was only one sharehere. But with that being said, no, ing the implicit prospect of a negoholder who mattered. When Trump Obamacare is Obama’s fault. It’s notiation that will create a winner and controlled 40% of publicly traded body else’s fault.” a loser. Doesn’t this fly in the face Trump Hotels & Casino, he used it But isn’t it now his administraof our multilateral world? to buy a casino he privately owned tion’s responsibility? “Yes. But I’ve “You can have it this way and for $500 million, even though one always said Obamacare is Obama’s do much more business. And if it analyst thought it was worth 20% fault. It’s never going to be our doesn’t work out with a country, less. At one point, he also owned fault.” you give them a 30-day notice, and more than 10% of Resorts InternaThe same approach comes you either renegotiate or not.” tional. He cut a deal with that comthrough in foreign policy, again Trump’s bilateral world, of pany that garnered him millions in and again, whether it’s the Iran course, explains why foreign aid gets fees at the expense of other owners. deal, the Paris climate agreement cut. It comes with a huge downside. Neither ended well: Trump Hotels or, especially, free-trade deals. Deals score points, but deals don’t filed for bankruptcy (for the first Doesn’t he feel a responsibility to create long-term investments. It’s time) in 2004; Resorts had gone honor agreements from previous impossible to think of something bankrupt some years earlier after administrations? like the Marshall Plan, which teed Trump cashed out. President Trump has a quick up more than six decades of Inheriting the keys to peace and prosperity, comAmerican government IT’S A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT: ing out of the Trump White is akin to a succession at AN AMERICA WHERE EACH House. To that, he shrugs General Electric or MicroADMINISTRATION, RATHER THAN again. soft. Continuity is generBUILDING ON THE AGREEMENTS OF “For me, it’s America ally assumed—honoring first. We’ve been doing that prior commitments and ITS PREDECESSORS, UNDOES EACH so long that we owe $20 running the company/ OTHER’S DEALS. trillion, okay?” country as best as possible, Trump intends to run while pivoting to new prithe country more like the orities and policies. Trump Organization in Trump’s transactional other ways. Much has been made mindset, however, doesn’t see it response: “No.” about how slow he’s been to nomithat way (nor do many of his core It’s a dangerous precedent: an nate people to key positions. In the supporters, who expect radical America where each administraState Department, for example, change above all else). If previous tion, rather than building on the he has failed to put up names for policies were bad deals, he sees agreements of its predecessors, more than half of the comfirmable no reason to honor them, even at undoes each other’s deals—effecpositions. That’s apparently not an the cost of America’s reputation or tively undermining the authority of accident. the perception of stable American any American head of state. Again, “I’m generally not going to policy. Trump shrugs. make a lot of the appointments Take Obamacare. “It’s a total “I happen to think that NAFTA that would normally be—because mess,” Trump says. Fair point. will have to be terminated if we’re you don’t need them,” he says. “I But doesn’t Trump, as the CEO going to make it good. Otherwise, mean, you look at some of these of America, have an obligation to I believe you can’t negotiate a good agencies, how massive they are, and operate it as well as he can until deal. . . . [The Trans-Pacific Partnerit’s totally unnecessary. They have he has an alternative, rather than ship] would have been a large-scale hundreds of thousands of people.” threaten to withhold payments to version of NAFTA. It would have And how does this man, who’s insurance companies, shrink the been a disaster. It’s a great honor to never really had a boss, feel about enrollment period and slash the have—I consider that a great accomnow having 330 million of them, advertising budget? plishment, stopping that. And there to be exact? He acknowledges the “What we’re doing is trying to are many people that agree with me. fact, but then answers in a way that keep it afloat, because it’s failI like bilateral deals.” is perfect, consistent Trump: “It ing,” he says. “I mean the insurOf course he does. Trump has doesn’t matter, because I’m going to ance companies are fleeing and been doing bilateral deals his whole do the right thing.” F have fled. They fled before I got life. But bilateral deals are just
34 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
3000
FORBES ASIA
FORBES 400 TOTAL NET WORTH
THE FORBES 4OO
2000
LUXURY
THE PRICE OF THE GOOD LIFE
1000 900 800 700 600 500
CLEWI
400
1982 = 100
300
For the wealthiest Americans, living extremely well is relatively affordable.
200
CPI
BY ANDREA MURPHY
THINK IT’S EASY being a multibillionaire? Well, yes, it probably is—and America’s richest will be heartened further by our latest Cost of Living Extremely Well Index (CLEWI), which shows that consumer prices for the ten-figure set nudged up just 1.7% this year, nearly half a point below its 2016 increase. Since the Reagan era, we’ve tracked the cost of this basket of 40 ultraluxe items; it has gone up every year, by an average of 5%, while the U.S. Consumer Price Index has risen 3% a year, on average, over the same period. Whatever the cost of these glamorous gewgaws, the wealthiest can handle it: Since we began tracking CLEWI in 1982, the THE FOUR SEASONS average net worth of The Forbes 400 has increased 960%.
100 1982
1985
1990
1995
OYSTER 595
OPERA: Metropolitan
JOHN LOBB WINGTIPS
MOTOR YACHT: Hatteras
75 (North Carolina)
METROPOLITAN OPERA CENDRILLION: KEN HOWARD/METROPOLITAN OPERA; ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM: GODDARD AUTOMOTIVE/ALAMY; GOLDEN DOOR: JESSICA SAMPLE
$5.6 MIL / NA
SAILING YACHT: Oyster 595 (U.K.) $2.3 MIL / NA SPORTING SHOTGUNS:
Pair of 12-gauge side-byside from James Purdey & Sons (New Jersey) $307,160 / 16% THOROUGHBRED: Aver-
age yearling, Keeneland September sale (Kentucky) $550,263 / NA TRAIN SET: Thomas & Friends Lionel remote operating system (New York) $230 / 0% CIGARS: 25 Davidoff Dominican Aniversario Double “R” (New York) $820 / –4%
FASHION +1% COAT: Russian
sable, Bloomingdale’s (New York) $265,000 / 0% BLACK JERSEY DRESS: With web
trim, Gucci (Italy) $1,700 / –6% LOAFERS:
Horsebit leather, Gucci (Italy) $670 / 4% SHIRTS:
12 cotton bespoke, Turnbull & Asser (U.K.) $8,100 / 0%
MAGAZINE: Forbes, 1-year
subscription (New York) $60 / 0%
THE MET OPERA
UNIVERSITY: Year’s tuition, room and board, plus insurance, at Harvard (Massachusetts) $68,739 / 5% FACE-LIFT: Experienced
surgeon (New York)
$18,500 / 0%
CONCIERGE: One-year membership for personal service (New York) $25,000 / NA
wingtips, custom-made, John Lobb (U.K.) $5,331.17 / 6%
PSYCHIATRIST: 45 minutes at Upper East Side shrink (New York) $400 / 7% LAWYER: Hourly fee
self-winding, 18-karat pink gold, alligator strap, Audemars Piguet (Switzerland) $22,700 / NA
D concert-grand Steinway (New York) $164,100 / 2%
2017
SCHOOL: Year’s tuition, room and board at Groton (Massachusetts) $55,700 / 0%
WATCH: Jules Audemars
PIANO: Ebonized Model
2010
SERVICES +2%
PERFUME: 1000 by Jean Patou, 0.5 oz. (France) $350 / 0%
Opera tickets for two, for six Saturday-night shows (purchased in New York) $5,520 / –3%
2005
THE GOLDEN DOOR SPA
SHOES: Men’s black-calf
ENTERTAINMENT AND TOYS +2%
2000
for estate planning, a Schlesinger, Gannon & Lazetera partner (New York) $995 / 0%
HANDBAG: Hermès
Clemence Jypsière, bull-calf leather (France) $8,500 / 0%
FOOD AND DRINK +3%
SIKORSKY S-76D
CATERED DINNER:
40-person meal from Ridgewells (Maryland) $7,907.04 / 0% CAVIAR: Kilo of
Petrossian Special Reserve Ossetra (California, New York) $12,500 / 0% CHAMPAGNE: Case of
750ml Dom Pérignon 2006 (New York) $1,919.40 / –6% CHATEAUBRIAND: Seven
pounds of tenderloin (New York) $559.86 / 0% DINNER: La Tour
d’Argent tasting menu, excluding wine and tip (France) $416.50 / 19%
HOUSEHOLD +3% FLOWERS IN SEASON:
Arrangements for six rooms per month, changed weekly (New York) $8,175 / 0% SHEETS: Queen-size Purity Doppio Ajour linen set (Italy) $2,100 / 0% STERLING SILVER FLATWARE: Five-piece dinner
set for 12 (Massachusetts) $12,960 / 8% SAUNA: 8 by 10 by 7 feet
in Nordic spruce (Minnesota) $18,276 / 5% SWIMMING POOL:
Olympic-size (California) $1.8 MIL / 3% TENNIS COURT: Har-Tru
crushed stone (Connecticut) $55,000 / 0% NA: NEW ITEM.
SPA: Coed weekly rate, the Golden Door (California) $8,850 / 0%
TRAVEL +/–0% HOTEL: Four Seasons one-
bedroom suite, off-peak (New York) $4,410 / NA AIRPLANE: Learjet 70,
Bombardier (Canada)
$11.3 MIL / 0%
HELICOPTER: Deluxe
Executive VIP Sikorsky S-76D (Connecticut) $16.7 MIL / –1% CAR: 2018 Rolls-Royce
Phantom (New Jersey)
$530,000 / NA
TRAVEL BAG: Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandoulière 55 (France) $1,760 / 0%
ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 35
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO THE 10-Q
BY THE NUMBERS Why would founders share their success secrets?
Part of what we have here in Silicon Valley is this network of people talking to each other about the key lessons to learn. You like to invest in companies with network effects, which rely on fast growth.
Most Silicon Valley kinds of businesses have network effects. You have to move fast. If you want to transform the world, you have to have scale. Funny thing is, you have to embrace inefficiencies to get speed and scale. That runs counter to traditional business thinking. Explain.
Business school teaches you to focus on efficiency. With blitz scaling, only rapid engagement and growing the customer base matters. You can refactor efficiency later.
DATA RICH 289 Forbes 400 members (72%) whose net worth increased over the past year.
51 Forbes 400 members (13%) whose net worth decreased.
267 Forbes 400 members (67%) whose fortune is self-made.
How do you keep customers happy when you’re growing like crazy?
Forbes 400 member and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman on “blitz scaling,” his new podcast and Facebook’s revised mantra. You’re a busy guy—venture capital partner, serving on boards like Microsoft’s. Why add your Masters of Scale podcast now too?
I taught a Stanford class on what I call “blitz scaling” in 2015, and now I want founders to share how they rapidly scale their companies— how they manage their people, customers, product development, all while making incredibly rapid changes. Your favorite podcast so far?
Mark Zuckerberg. I asked him about changing Facebook’s cultural principle from “move fast and break things” to “move fast with stable infrastructure.” He looked at me and said, “Nothing changed. When you’re large and you start breaking the infrastructure, that’s actually going to make you move slower. You don’t want to always be rebuilding the infrastructure, because that will actually ultimately be slower.” Wow, I thought, Zuck is smarter than I’d imagined.
Would blitz scaling work in traditional, more regulated industries?
I think it will. Transport with Uber is regulated. Lodging with Airbnb has regulations. Going into a regulated industry is not new. I mean, I myself did that at PayPal, which challenged banking.
63 Forbes 400 members (16%) who inherited their wealth and seem to be just enjoying its spoils.
27 Age of Snap cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel, who for the third year in a row is the youngest member of The Forbes 400.
What have founders who use blitz scaling done about their company cultures?
They all say successful cultures operate on simple, easily understood principles. Speed means you have to change and adapt tactics constantly. You can’t do that if you’re rules-based. There’s criticism that tech companies reward jerks.
No question. The important thing is to be deliberate and explicit about your culture. The CEO and management team must live the culture, so that everyone else lives it.
94 Age of property magnate David Murdock, the oldest member of The Forbes 400 in the wake of David Rockefeller’s death on March 20.
54 Forbes 400 members (14%) based in New York, the most of any city.
An example?
Netflix. It shared the problem of every Silicon Valley company. High-talent people leave because they don’t fit the culture. So Netflix says, “We need to do better at screening who fits. We’ll do this in the interviewing process.” But that didn’t work. Then Netflix said, “Well, let’s broadcast what our culture is. Then the right people will come and the other people will say, ‘I don’t want to work there.’ ” That’s worked well.
REID HOFFMAN SPOKE WITH RICH KARLGAARD, OUR EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND GLOBAL FUTURIST. THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED. FOR THE EXTENDED CONVERSATION, VISIT FORBES.COM/SITES/RICHKARLGAARD. 36 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
70 Forbes 400 members (18%) who inherited their wealth but are building on it.
18 Forbes 400 members (5%) in San Francisco, the runner-up to Gotham.
91 Forbes 400 members (23%) who made their money in finance and investments, the most prevalent industry.
59 Forbes 400 members (15%) whose wealth comes from tech, the secondmost-prevalent industry.
LEFT: DAVID YELLEN; ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER AND MARIA HOEY FOR FORBES
THE WARP-SPEED ENTREPRENEUR
Traditional thinking says, for customer service: Your customer should always love you. But blitzscaled companies do it differently. They say, Well, we’ll just have email customer service— not telephonic customer service—because we can scale email customer service much faster.
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO PHILANTHROPY
THE GREATEST GIVERS
Mayors from 290 cities in 19 countries entered an urban-solutions contest funded by former New York mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG. The $5 million grand prize went to São Paulo, Brazil, for its plan to connect nearby farmers to the city’s restaurants and markets.
A PROMISE IS one thing. Plunking down actual cash is another. Our annual list of America’s top philanthropists, compiled in partnership with Shook Research, makes that important distinction: It tallies who gave away the largest amount last year in dollar terms, not who merely pledged the most. The top 20 are below; for the full list, see forbes.com/top-givers.
BY JENNIFER WANG FROM TOP: DAVID M BENETT/DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES; NATHANIEL WELCH/REDUX; BRENT HUMPHREYS
1. WARREN BUFFETT
$2,861 MIL
2. BILL & MELINDA GATES
2,142
3. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
600
4. GEORGE SOROS
531
5. CHUCK FEENEY
482
6. WALTON FAMILY
454
7. PAUL ALLEN
341
8. JAMES & MARILYN SIMONS
293
9. GORDON & BETTY MOORE
289
10. JOHN & LAURA ARNOLD
277
11. HANSJOERG WYSS
276
12. CHARLES BUTT
183
13. CHARLES KOCH
180
14. PIERRE OMIDYAR
173
15. ELI & EDYTHE BROAD
169
16. GEORGE KAISER
165
17. IRWIN & JOAN JACOBS
162
18. JULIAN ROBERTSON JR.
140
19. LYNN SCHUSTERMAN
139
20. RAY DALIO
138
RAY DALIO cites meditation as the primary ingredient of his success. The hedge fund mogul supports programs that teach the practice to inner-city kids, veterans, prisoners and people with HIV. The son of a jazz musician who played sax and clarinet in New York clubs, Dalio also donates to music organizations— particularly those that focus on jazz and blues.
Romania will have a new national park, partly thanks to HANSJOERG WYSS; he donated over $16 million worth of forest he owned to a conservation group that will restore it and then transfer it to the country’s government.
JOHN & LAURA ARNOLD distributed $24.1 million in grants for public safety and measures to improve the U.S. justice system’s cost-effectiveness and fairness. 50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 37
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO MAKING THE GRADE
DOCTORATE, DEGREE OR DROPOUT?
+$70 BIL
+$40 BIL
+$30 BIL
+$20 BIL
+$15 BIL PIERRE OMIDYAR
BILL GATES
HOW MUCH schooling do you need to succeed? If The Forbes 400 is any measure, just a bachelor’s degree. Most of the 400 got nothing more than an undergraduate degree (although 84% have a four-year degree, compared with just 33% of American adults). America’s wealthiest are also far more likely to have graduated from a super-elite university. A full 23% of The Forbes 400 has an undergraduate degree from an Ivy League institution, a feat achieved by less than 0.8% of the U.S. class of 2015. Many of the 400 (Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg most famously) dropped out of college to start their careers. In all, there are 47 high school and college dropouts on this year’s rich list.
+$15 BIL
+$9 BIL
+$10 BIL
JOHN MALONE +$8 BIL
+$7 BIL
+$6 BIL
+$5 BIL
+$5 BIL
+$4 BIL
+$4 BIL
+$4 BIL
+$4 BIL
+$3 BIL
THE FORBES 400 2%
42%
25%
+$3 BIL
8% 6% 0.5%
+$3 BIL
5%
DONALD TRUMP
JOHN PAUL DEJORIA
11%
+$3 BIL
0.5%
U.S. POPULATION 2016 10%
MEG WHITMAN
OPRAH WINFREY DAVID MURDOCK
+$3 BIL
+$2 BIL
5%1 21%
6%
<1 % 2%
+$2 BIL
9%
17%
PETER THIEL
29%
1
U.S. population with middle school or no degree. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE COLLEGE DROPOUT ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE BACHELOR’S DEGREE M.B.A. OR MASTER’S EQUIVALENT J.D./M.D. PH.D. UNKNOWN
38 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
+$2 BIL
+$2 BIL DAVID ZALIK +$2 BIL
Includes educational information for both people in the six cases (married couples or brothers) in which fortunes are shared.
BY DENIZ CAM WITH ANGEL AU-YEUNG (THIS PAGE). PAGE 39: BY JENNIFER WANG (STUDENT LABOR) AND IGOR BOSILKOVSKI (VARSITY SQUAD)
+$2 BIL
EDUCATION
THE TOP SCHOOLS FOR THE FORBES 400 UNDERGRADUATE1 U. OF PENNSYLVANIA 18
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
A far greater share of Forbes 400 members attended an Ivy League school for an undergraduate degree than did American adults overall.
THE FORBES 400
U.S. CLASS OF 2015 IVY 0.8%
IVY 23%
STANFORD 13 PUBLIC 35%
PRIVATE 65%
PRIVATE 36%
PUBLIC 64%
YALE 13 USC 11
SOURCES: NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS; IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTIONS.
HARVARD 11
STUDENT LABOR
VARSITY SQUAD The old trope that success on the playing field leads to success in life certainly holds true for The Forbes 400. Twenty-six of them played top-tier sports as undergraduates, competing in football, basketball, skiing and more.
COLUMBIA 8 U. OF MICHIGAN 7 DARTMOUTH 7
DAVID KOCH BASKETBALL, MIT, CLASS OF ’62
DUKE 6 CORNELL 6
GRADUATE2
HARVARD 28
STANFORD 23
COLUMBIA 12 U. OF CHICAGO 8 U. OF PENNSYLVANIA 8 NYU 6 UC BERKELEY 5 U. OF MISSOURI 5 NORTHWESTERN 5 UCLA 5 OTHER 63
1
Based on information on 318 members of The Forbes 400. 2 Based on information on 161 members of The Forbes 400; some have more than one graduate degree.
College is expensive. In 2016 the average new graduate from an American school left with some $30,000 in debt. The budding entrepreneurs who would eventually land on this year’s Forbes 400 tackled that problem naturally enough: They went to work. After immigrating to America from Pakistan, Shahid Khan (U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, class of ’71) delivered pizza, supervised road construction and sold clothes at Sears. While holding down a dishwashing gig, he remembers thinking: “I’m breathing oxygen for the first time. . . . If you put $1.20 per hour in terms of Pakistan, you’re making more than 99% of the people over there.” Forget cushy country-club jobs; many future tycoons did hard, dirty work. Terrence Pegula (Penn State, ’73) worked in a coal mine, while George Soros (London School of Economics, ’51) worked part-time as a railway porter after fleeing Hungary in 1947. Frank VanderSloot (BYU, ’72) was a cleaner in a laundromat (where he also lived, in a back room). And what didn’t Ron Baron (Bucknell, ’65) do? He was a lifeguard, cabana boy, emergency-room orderly, waterskiing instructor, ice cream truck driver, hotel waiter (he briefly lived in the basement), frat-house dishwasher, busboy, Fuller Brush salesman and caddie ($4 to $5 for a single bag, $8 to $10 for a twofer).
At 6-foot-5, Koch was a hardwood natural with a killer hook shot. He started three seasons for the Engineers and captained the squad his senior year. (His fraternal twin, Bill, played two years for the team as well.) David graduated having scored 946 points over his career, a school record at the time. “I had some pretty good moves,” the habitually understated Koch says. DONALD BREN SKIING, U. OF WASHINGTON, CLASS OF ’56
The California property magnate got a skiing scholarship and had Olympic ambitions, but an ankle injury forced him to miss the American-team tryouts prior to the 1956 Winter Games. PHIL KNIGHT TRACK & FIELD, U. OF OREGON, CLASS OF ’59
HENRY KRAVIS GOLF, CLAREMONT MCKENNA, CLASS OF ’67
Kravis captained the Stags’ golf team as a junior and senior and still plays to an 8 handicap.
The inventor of the modern running shoe competed mostly in 1- and 2-mile races as an undergraduate, almost entirely in the shadow of teammate Jim Grelle. Knight would beat the future Olympian just once—by two tenths of a second in a race during his junior year— but his time on the track team resulted in a tight relationship with his coach, Bill Bowerman; the two would go on to found Nike together in 1964.
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL WITTE; PHIL KNIGHT: SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
OTHER 218
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 39
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO OFF THE LIST
DROP-OFFS ALEXANDRA DAITCH $1.97 BIL
DECEASED, DECLINED OR LEFT BEHIND
SARAH MACMILLAN $1.97 BIL LUCY STITZER $1.97 BIL KATHERINE TANNER $1.97 BIL
WITH THE MINIMUM net worth for admission to a Forbes 400 membership at a record $2 billion, 26 titans from last year’s list can no longer afford to get past the velvet rope and into the club. Death removed an additional 4 members from the rolls permanently.
OFF-TRACK
PAIN DRAIN John Kapoor stepped down as CEO of opioid maker Insys in January (while holding on to his majority stake in the firm), as mounting federal and state investigations into the company’s sales and marketing practices have hit the stock hard. Insys has lost 36% of its value in a year.
Despite ten-year deals with NBC and Fox that began in 2015, James France’s Nascar might be losing speed: TV viewership is down, and in-stadium admission revenues haven’t recovered since the Great Recession. The average value of a Nascar team fell by 7% this year.
VINCENT VIOLA $1.96 BIL JONATHAN NELSON $1.95 BIL PHILLIP RAGON $1.95 BIL AMY WYSS $1.95 BIL LESLIE ALEXANDER $1.9 BIL JAMES DINAN $1.9 BIL JOHN KAPOOR $1.9 BIL JENNIFER PRITZKER $1.9 BIL CHARLES ZEGAR $1.9 BIL NICOLAS BERGGRUEN $1.8 BIL BHARAT DESAI & NEERJA SETHI $1.8 BIL LINDA PRITZKER $1.8 BIL JAMES FRANCE $1.75 BIL LOUIS BACON $1.7 BIL TIMOTHY BOYLE $1.7 BIL ROBERT DUGGAN $1.7 BIL EDWARD LAMPERT $1.7 BIL KEVIN PLANK $1.7 BIL CAROL JENKINS BARNETT $1.5 BIL RICHARD YUENGLING JR. $1.4 BIL
In April, Kevin Plank’s Under Armour posted its first quarterly loss since going public 11 years ago. The stock is down nearly 60% in the past year amid increased competition and hard times for retail overall.
GAIL MILLER $1.2 BIL WILBUR ROSS $700 MIL
IN MEMORIAM
SAMUEL NEWHOUSE (Age 89, died October 1) MEDIA $12.3 BIL
A. JERROLD PERENCHIO (Age 86, May 23) TELEVISION, UNIVISION $2.8 BIL
HENRY HILLMAN (Age 98, April 14) INVESTMENTS $2.6 BIL
DAVID ROCKEFELLER SR. (Age 101, March 20) REAL ESTATE, INVESTMENTS $3.3 BIL Net worth calculated at date of death. 40 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
BY MICHELA TINDERA AXEL DUPEUX/REDUX; LEON SWITZER/ZUMAPRESS/NEWSCOM; JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES; TIMOTHY FADEK/GETTY IMAGES
UNDERPERFORMER
PROMOTION 1
THE NEXT CENTURY SEPTEMBER 26 – 27, 2017 • HONG KONG
This year marks a major milestone for Forbes – the 100th anniversary of its inaugural September 1917 issue. In conjunction with Forbes’ centennial anniversary celebration, the 17th annual Forbes Global CEO Conference was held in Hong Kong from September 26 to 27, 2017, under the theme of ‘The Next Century’. As Forbes enters its second century, the conference looked forward to what lies ahead. Gathering some 490 of the world’s top visionaries, CEOs, tycoons and investors, the conference provided a high-level platform to discuss and evaluate how far the global community has come, what needs to be done, and where it is going next.
Speakers at the Forbes Global CEO Conference
(L-R) Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO, Charoen Pokphand Group, Chairman of the Executive Committee, True Corporation; Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media
(L-R) David Fong, MD, Hip Shing Hong (Holdings); Christopher Forbes, Vice Chairman, Forbes Media; Vincent Fong, Founder, Acoustic Metamaterials, Director, Hip Shing Hong (Holdings)
(L-R) TC Yam, Chairman, Integrated Capital Holdings; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Sammy Wong, Partner, Whale Capital
PROMOTION 2
A Meeting of Minds: A conversation between Carrie Lam, The Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China, and Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media During the final session of the conference, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam engaged in A Meeting of Minds with Steve Forbes and spoke about Hong Kong’s economic strategy. In the discussion, she highlighted opportunities for businesses in the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Bay Area. She also shared insights on the Belt and Road Initiative and how Hong Kong can benefit from it. On taxation, she revealed that the government intends to reduce tax burden on start-ups and SMEs. In closing, she said she hopes to create a much better future for Hong Kong during her five-year term.
(L-R) Sammy Wong, Partner, Whale Capital; Steve Forbes; Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam; TC Yam, Chairman, Integrated Capital Holdings; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media
(L-R) Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam; TC Yam; Colin Lam, Vice Chairman & Executive Director, Henderson Land Development; Mike Perlis, CEO & Executive Chairman, Forbes Media; William Adamopoulos
(L-R) Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam; Francis Yeoh, MD, YTL Group of Companies
(L-R) Prakash P. Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group of Companies (Europe); Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam
PROMOTION 3
A Meeting of Minds: A conversation between Wilbur Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media In A Meeting of Minds dialogue with Steve Forbes, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross spoke about his current role and described his transition from the private sector to working for the government. He commented on trade policies, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations. He also shared his views on tax reforms in the U.S., the country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement as well as U.S.-China trade relations. At the close of the dialogue, he encouraged investors to consider investment opportunities in the U.S., citing advantages such as market size and access, intellectual property rights protection and a highly skilled workforce.
(L-R) U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross; Steve Forbes; Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO, Charoen Pokphand Group, Chairman of the Executive Committee, True Corporation
(L-R) Yoshito Hori, President, GLOBIS University, Managing Partner, GLOBIS Capital Partners; U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross
Under the theme of “The Next Century”, this year’s conference sessions covered a diverse range of topics, including the global economic outlook, insights into trends that will shape the next century, as well as opportunities in sectors such as finance, real estate and technology. The panels also highlighted the best strategies in leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, family business and philanthropy.
THE FUTURE IS NOW
(L-R) Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman, Hang Lung Properties; V Shankar, CEO & Partner, Gateway Partners; Neil Shen, Founding & Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China; Helman Sitohang, CEO Asia Pacific, Executive Board Member, Credit Suisse; Jim Walker, Chief Economist, Asianomics Group; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia
PROMOTION 4
MONEY MATTERS
(L-R) Cheah Cheng Hye, Chairman & Co-CIO, Value Partners Group; Jean Eric Salata, Chief Executive, Baring Private Equity Asia; Tan Xiangdong, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors & CEO, HNA Group; Jay Wintrob, CEO, Oaktree Capital Management; Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media
BIG SHOES
(L-R) Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice Chair, Public Policy, EY; Sam Goi, Executive Chairman, Tee Yih Jia Group and GSH Corporation; Prakash P. Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group of Companies (Europe); Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman, GEOX Group; Enrique K. Razon Jr., Chairman & President, International Container Terminal Services, Inc; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman
BUILDING A FANTASTIC TOMORROW
(L-R) Adrian Cheng, Founder, K11 and K11 Art Foundation, Executive Vice Chairman & GM, New World Development; Miwako Date, President & CEO, Mori Trust; Goodwin Gaw, Managing Principal & Chairman, Gaw Capital Partners; Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Group CEO, Frasers Centrepoint; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman & CEO, Ayala Corporation; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia
PROMOTION 5
MAKING MAGIC â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AND MONEY
(L-R) Brendan Blumer, CEO, Block.one; Matt Dalio, CEO & Chief of Product, Endless; David Hanson, CEO, Hanson Robotics; Divesh Makan, CEO, ICONIQ Capital; Jane Jie Sun, CEO, Ctrip.com International; Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media
DARE TO DREAM
(L-R) Binod K. Chaudhary, Chairman, CG Corp Global; Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings; Lawrence Ho, Chairman & CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment; Kathy Ireland, CEO & Chief Designer, Kathy Ireland Worldwide; Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman & CEO, ONE Championship; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia
AT THE CUTTING EDGE
(L-R) Patrick Grove, Group CEO, Catcha Group; David Gurle, CEO, Symphony; Jeongdo Hong, President & CEO, JoongAng Ilbo and JMnet, President & CEO, JTBC; Yoshito Hori, President, GLOBIS University, Managing Partner, GLOBIS Capital Partners; John Riady, Executive Director, Lippo Group, Managing Partner, Venturra Capital; Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media
PROMOTION 6
BUILDING LEGACIES
(L-R) Gaurav V. Burman, Director, Dabur International; Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO, Charoen Pokphand Group, Chairman of the Executive Committee, True Corporation; David Fong, MD, Hip Shing Hong (Holdings); Spencer Fung, Group CEO, Li & Fung; Jonathan Tahir, Deputy Chairman, Mayapada Group; Tim Ferguson, Editor, Forbes Asia
GOOD VALUES
(L-R) Douglas Hsu, Chairman & CEO, Far Eastern Group; Francine LeFrak, Social Entrepreneur & Philanthropist, Founder, Same Sky; Dikembe Mutombo, Chairman & President, Dikembe Mutombo Foundation; S D Shibulal, Co-Founder, Infosys & Axilor Ventures; Francis Yeoh, MD, YTL Group of Companies; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman
THE NEXT CENTURY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; IN 20 YEARS OR LESS!
(L-R) Antoine Blondeau, Chairman, Sentient; Mike Perlis, CEO & Executive Chairman, Forbes Media; Anthony Tan, Group CEO, Grab; Joseph C. Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group; Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media
PROMOTION 7
Gathering an unparalleled mix of prominent business leaders and powerful tycoons, the conference also provided an excellent opportunity for delegates to engage and network exclusively within the Forbes community.
(L-R) William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Joseph C. Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group
(L-R) Ron Sim, Chairman, V3 Group; Edward Yau Tang Wah, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, HKSAR Government
(L-R) Spencer Fung, Group CEO, Li & Fung; Jonathan Tahir, Deputy Chairman, Mayapada Group
(L-R) Helman Sitohang, CEO Asia PaciďŹ c, Executive Board Member, Credit Suisse; Enrique K. Razon Jr., Chairman & President, International Container Terminal Services, Inc
(L-R) Margaret Lee Pui Man, Senior General Manager - Portfolio Leasing Department, Henderson Land Development; Alfred Chan, MD, The Hong Kong and China Gas; Norman Ho, Executive Director, Tak Hung Holdings
(L-R) Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman & CEO, Ayala Corporation; Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Group CEO, Frasers Centrepoint; Paul Choong, Advisor to President & CEO, Thai Beverage; Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, President & CEO, Thai Beverage
(L-R) Gaurav V. Burman, Director, Dabur International; Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman & CEO, ONE Championship; Hideto Arai, Executive Offi cer, Mori Trust; Miwako Date, President & CEO, Mori Trust
(L-R) Mike Perlis, CEO & Executive Chairman, Forbes Media; Anthony Tan, Group CEO, Grab
(L-R) Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media; Jane Jie Sun, CEO, Ctrip.com International
(L-R) Cecile Ang, President, Diamond Hotel, Project Lead, San Miguel Properties Inc; Jeongdo Hong, President & CEO, JoongAng Ilbo and JMnet, President & CEO, JTBC
(L-R) Neil Shen, Founding & Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China; Goodwin Gaw, Managing Principal & Chairman, Gaw Capital Partners
(L-R) Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media; John Riady, Executive Director, Lippo Group, Managing Partner, Venturra Capital
PROMOTION 8
(L-R) Tan Xiangdong, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors & CEO, HNA Group; Philippe Capdouze, Founder & Chairman, FICOFI Partners Holding
(L-R) Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice Chair, Public Policy, EY; Christopher Forbes, Vice Chairman, Forbes Media
(L-R) Arif Patrick Rachmat, Co-Founder & Group CEO, Triputra Agro Persada; Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings; Suthipak Chirathivat, Executive Director, Central Pattana
(L-R) Douglas Hsu, Chairman & CEO, Far Eastern Group; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media; Dikembe Mutombo, Chairman & President, Dikembe Mutombo Foundation
(L-R) Lee Yi Shyan, Executive Advisor, Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office, OUE; Tan Chin Nam, Chairman, Global Fusion Capital; Sam Goi, Executive Chairman, Tee Yih Jia Group and GSH Corporation
(L-R) Adrian Cheng, Founder, K11 and K11 Art Foundation, Executive Vice Chairman & GM, New World Development; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media (L-R) Jim Walker, Chief Economist, Asianomics Group; V Shankar, CEO & Partner, Gateway Partners; Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman, Hang Lung Properties
(L-R) Lawrence Ho, Chairman & CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment; Peter Yates, Deputy Chairman, The Myer Family Investments
(L-R) Divesh Makan, CEO, ICONIQ Capital; Brendan Blumer, CEO, Block.one; Rich Karlgaard, Editor-at-Large & Global Futurist, Forbes Media; Matt Dalio, CEO & Chief of Product, Endless
PROMOTION 9
(L-R) David Wong, CEO, Hong Kong & Macau and EVP Greater China, FWD Group; Nancy Chan, Deputy Chief Executive, Hong Kong Branch, Bank of Communications; Julian Lipman, Group COO, FWD Group
(L-R) Jay Wintrob, CEO, Oaktree Capital Management; Jean Eric Salata, Chief Executive, Baring Private Equity Asia
(L-R) Binod K. Chaudhary, Chairman, CG Corp Global; Raj Kumar, Group Chairman, Royal Holdings
(L-R) Shruti Hora, Director, Indorama Healthcare; Kathy Ireland, CEO & Chief Designer, Kathy Ireland Worldwide
(L-R) Jan Smits, CEO, Asia Middle East and Africa, InterContinental Hotels Group; Harry S Banga, Chairman & CEO, The Caravel Group; Jacinto Tong, Vice Chairman & CEO, Gale Well Group
(L-R) Ivan Qi, General Partner, Bonfire Group, GM, Shanghai Ye Clean Power; David Hanson, CEO, Hanson Robotics
(L-R) Goh Choon Phong, CEO, Singapore Airlines; Edwin Low, Co-Head of IBCM (Investment Banking & Capital Markets), Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse; Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media
(L-R) Cheah Cheng Hye, Chairman & Co-CIO, Value Partners Group; Tony Lai, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Whale Capital
(L-R) David Gurle, CEO, Symphony; Lee Tian Hock, Founder & Group MD, Matrix Concepts Holdings
(L-R) Francine LeFrak, Social Entrepreneur & Philanthropist, Founder, Same Sky; Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman, GEOX Group
(L-R) Tony Chew, Executive Chairman, Asia Resource Corporation; Vicky Hwang, MD, Chyau Fwu Development (Singapore); June Leong, CEO & Executive Director, Alpha Goal International; Melissa Kwee, CEO, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
(L-R) Donnie Tantoco, President, Rustan Commercial Corporation; Danel C Aboitiz, President & COO, AboitizPower Oil Business Unit
PROMOTION 10
FORBES 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
SPEECHES BY STEVE FORBES, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE CARRIE LAM & TC YAM
Forbes marked its 100th anniversary at an exclusive celebration at the close of the conference, amongst the world’s most powerful business minds, tycoons and thought leaders. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam graced the celebration reception as the Guest of Honor. The reception featured a Forbes@100 light-up ceremony as well as musical performances from an all-star lineup of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honorees. FORBES@100 LIGHT-UP CEREMONY
Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media Carrie Lam, The Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China
(L-R) Mike Federle, President & COO, Forbes Media; Christopher Forbes, Vice Chairman, Forbes Media; Sammy Wong, Partner, Whale Capital; Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media; Carrie Lam, The Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China; TC Yam, Chairman, Integrated Capital Holdings; Mike Perlis, CEO & Executive Chairman, Forbes Media; William Adamopoulos, CEO/Asia, Forbes Media
TC Yam, Chairman, Integrated Capital Holdings
MUSIC PERFORMANCES BY FORBES 30 UNDER 30 ASIA HONOREE STARS
G.E.M.
Gentle Bones Yuna
Jake Zyrus (formerly known as Charice)
PROMOTION 11
Champagne toast led by TC Yam to celebrate Forbes’ 100th anniversary
(L-R) Teh Hua Fung, Principal, TPG Capital (S); Cecile Ang, President, Diamond Hotel, Project Lead, San Miguel Properties Inc; Patrick Grove, Group CEO, Catcha Group; Kuok Meng Ru, Group CEO & Co-Founder, BandLab, MD, Swee Lee Music; Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board
(L-R) S D Shibulal, Co-Founder, Infosys & Axilor Ventures; BG Srinivas, Group MD, PCCW
(L-R) Kuok Meng Han, Founder & MD, Camtech; V Shankar, CEO & Partner, Gateway Partners
(L-R) Gentle Bones; Jake Zyrus; Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman; G.E.M.; Yuna
(L-R) Chia Song Hwee, President, Joint Head of Investment Group and Joint Head of Portfolio Management Group, Temasek International; Gay Chee Cheong, Director, CapitaMall Trust Management, Board Member, Hyflux; Mike Federle, President & COO, Forbes Media; Robert Chiu, Group President, Shanda Group; Roy Quek, Executive Chairman, Thomson Medical Group
(L-R) Anton Eilers, VP, Wanda International Real Estate; Michael Purefoy, Global Head of Sales & Marketing, Wanda Overseas Projects, Wanda Group; Antoine Blondeau, Chairman, Sentient; Rohan a’Beckett, Director, Sales & Marketing, Wanda Group
Delegates networking at the reception
(L-R) Wendy Law, Executive Director, Park Capital Group; Queenie Law, Founder & Director, Production Q; Tan Shin Hui, Executive Director, Park Hotel Group
PROMOTION 12
Forbes staff at the Forbes 100th Anniversary Celebration
A special thanks to the speakers, delegates and sponsors of the seventeenth Forbes Global CEO Conference. PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
CORPORATE SPONSORS
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION
FORBES ASIA
THE FORBES 4OO FORBES@100 During our centennial year, we’re unearthing our favorite covers.
NINE ZEROS: OCTOBER 9, 2006 FOR THE FIRST TIME, everyone on The Forbes 400 was a billionaire. In all, the 400 richest Americans controlled $1.25 trillion in wealth, up about 10% from a year earlier. The top of the list looked much as it does today: Bill Gates remains the richest man in the country; Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison are still in the top five. Missing in 2006: Mark Zuckerberg, now the nation’s fourth-richest person, who had launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room two years earlier. The storm clouds that would soon drench America’s economy were a little way off yet, but we had a hunch the forecast was gloomy. As we put it in a piece about the country’s biggest property fortunes: “A real estate collapse may be on the horizon, but for now it’s clear skies for the land barons of The Forbes 400.” By 2009, 9 of the 32 real estate billionaires on the 2006 list (28% of them) had gone MIA. Only one of those dropouts, Miami condo king Jorge Perez, appears on this year’s Forbes 400.
Last of the Unapologetic Gas-Guzzlers Within four years, Hummer would go from land-tank trophy vehicle to discontinued brand.
NOTABLE AND NEWSWORTHY
Plus Ça Change . . . The words are as true today as they were 11 years ago: “Donald Trump, famous for his wealth, infamous for his ego, has a dim view of the world. [To him] . . . most people are either ‘enemies,’ ‘bastards,’ ‘sleazebags’ or ‘stone-cold losers.’ ” And even as the future president explained how Donald Jr. and Ivanka might someday run the Trump Organization, he didn’t miss an opportunity to dispute our estimate of his wealth. He was, he insisted, worth more than double our $2.9 billion figure.
SIGN OF THE TIMES
Gigagrowth at the Googleplex Sergey Brin and Larry Page had seen their fortunes increase 250% in just two years—a “meteoric rise . . . [outpacing] the early years of Bill Gates [and] Larry Ellison.”
FAST-FORWARD
Ambition Brewing 2006: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made his debut on The Forbes 400. He had, we said, “tapped the late-1980s health craze; created skim-milk–based drinks.” 2017: Schultz has retired as CEO for the second time; speculation swirls that he might have his eye on a Venti-size goal: the White House. NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 53
BY ABRAM BROWN LEFT TO RIGHT: DAVID SCHINMAN; KIM KULISH/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; JUNKO KIMURA/GETTY IMAGES
AMAZING ADS
FORBES 400
3. Warren Buffett
The rich just keep on getting richer. The minimum fortune required to make our annual ranking of the wealthiest Americans is a record $2 billion, up 18% over last year. Their average net worth is $6.7 billion, and in total, these tycoons are worth some $2.7 trillion, more than the gross domestic product of the United Kingdom.
1. Bill Gates
2. Jeff Bezos
SOURCE: MICROSOFT AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: MEDINA, WASH.
SOURCE: AMAZON AGE: 53 RESIDENCE: SEATTLE
$89 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$81.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
DROPOUT, HARVARD
B.S., PRINCETON ’86
Harvard’s famous dropout was an autodidact from an early age. When he was a kid, he read the encyclopedia cover to cover. He wrote his first computer program— a tic-tac-toe game—at age 13. In 8th grade he hacked into a school computer to get students more programming time—and was caught and banned from using the computer through the end of the school year. Gates entered Harvard with plans to become a lawyer but dropped out when he was 19 to start Microsoft with his high school classmate Paul Allen (No. 22). Forty-two years later, it is the world’s biggest software maker, with $90 billion in revenues. Gates still sits on the board and owns 1.3% of the stock. But his focus since leaving his daily role at Microsoft in 2008 has been on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charity on the planet, which is working to eradicate polio and improve childhood vaccination rates in the developing world. In September he and his wife, Melinda, addressed the UN General Assembly, celebrating progress that’s been made and prodding world leaders to continue working to end extreme poverty and inequality.
For four hours in July, Amazon’s founder and CEO was the richest person in the world when Amazon stock hit an all-time high. It’s a title he is likely to regain, given his ambitions. Bezos, whose fortune rose $14.5 billion since last October, has had a busy year: In August he closed the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market (his biggest deal yet), signaling another direct challenge to traditional retailers. In September Seattle-based Amazon announced it was searching for a second North American headquarters. The 50,000 high-paying jobs on offer prompted an instant bidding war among cities ranging from Baltimore to Toronto. At a space symposium in April, the lifelong outer space fanatic said he’s been selling $1 billion of his Amazon stock a year to fund Blue Origin, a rocket firm. After studying electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton, Bezos worked at hedge fund D.E. Shaw but left just after his 30th birthday to start selling books online out of his garage in Seattle.
SOURCE: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: OMAHA M.S., COLUMBIA ’51
One of the greatest investors of all time, the Oracle of Omaha couldn’t get into Harvard Business School. Buffett—who spent two years at Penn before transferring to the University of Nebraska— traveled ten hours to Chicago to interview for a spot at HBS. He was rejected within ten minutes. Instead he studied at Columbia under Ben Graham, who pioneered the value investing philosophy that made Buffett rich. His Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom and has large stakes in Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz and Wells Fargo. Flush with cash, he struck a deal in October for Berkshire to buy a 39% stake in Pilot Flying J., the truck stop operator owned by Jimmy Haslam (No. 206) and his family. Berkshire’s shares are up 25% in the past year, adding $12.5 billion to Buffett’s fortune; he is richer than ever despite giving $3.2 billion to charity this summer.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
$71 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: FACEBOOK AGE: 33 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF. DROPOUT, HARVARD
More than a quarter of the world’s population is on the social media platform Zuckerberg cofounded in his Harvard dorm room at age 19. Now, amid an epidemic of Facebook-enabled fake news, he is starting to grapple with the power that comes with that reach. “We’ve been thinking about what our responsibility is in the world and what we need to do,” Zuckerberg recently told Forbes. Outside of Facebook, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are focused on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the entity they created after pledging in 2015 to give away 99% of his Facebook shares over their lifetimes. The couple has committed $600 million to the Chan Zuckerberg BioHub, a research center with the heroic goal of preventing or curing all diseases by the end of the century.
Education entries for The Forbes 400, when available, indicate the highest degree sought or attained. 54 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY LARS LEETARU FOR FORBES
THE FORBES 400
$78 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
5. Larry Ellison
6. David Koch
9. Larry Page
SOURCE: ORACLE AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: GOOGLE AGE: 44 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
$59 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$48.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$44.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
DROPOUT, U. OF CHICAGO
M.S., MIT ’63
M.S., STANFORD ’98
Growing up, Ellison dreamed of going to medical school but hated his time as a premed student at the University of Illinois. “I just couldn’t make myself study something that didn’t interest me,” he said in his 2016 USC commencement address. He dropped out sophomore year after his mother died during finals week. Ellison then briefly studied physics at the University of Chicago, where he was introduced to computer programming. At 21, he dropped out again, threw his leather jacket and guitar in his car, and moved to Berkeley. There he joined the Sierra Club and was a river guide and rock-climbing instructor, working part-time as a computer programmer to pay the bills. He had jobs at several Silicon Valley companies but says he didn’t like any as much as he liked sailing. He wanted to be his own boss and founded the database-software giant Oracle in 1977. He resigned as its CEO in 2014 but still serves as its chairman. Oracle stock is up 25% in the past year, adding $9.7 billion to Ellison’s fortune.
Before he helped run the show at Koch Industries, Koch was running up and down the courts as a college basketball star. The chemical engineer captained MIT’s basketball team and graduated as the university’s all-time scoring leader. Now an executive vice president at his family’s $100 billion (sales) conglomerate, Koch, who is a prostate cancer survivor, has become one of MIT’s biggest donors, giving $180 million for a cancer research center and a child-care facility and endowing the basketball head coach position. He’s not shy about his gifts: His name is on several Manhattan institutions, including Lincoln Center’s ballet theater and a plaza in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He donated $77 million in 2016, bringing his lifetime giving to $1.3 billion.
The son of computer-science professors, Page got his first computer when he was 5. He majored in engineering at U. of Michigan, then started a doctoral program in computer science at Stanford. He got his master’s but never finished the Ph.D., dropping out in 1998 to build Google with classmate Sergey Brin. Page served as Google’s CEO until 2001 and then again from 2011 to 2015. When Google reorganized, Page became CEO of its new parent company, Alphabet. Its selfdriving-car unit, Waymo, is embroiled in a highprofile lawsuit with the ride-hailing giant Uber (in which Alphabet’s venture capital arm is an investor) over trade secrets and patent infringement. When Page was deposed in July, he drew attention for his seeming lack of knowledge about key details, such as when Google invested in Uber.
8. Michael Bloomberg
10. Sergey Brin
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG LP AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: GOOGLE AGE: 44 RESIDENCE: LOS ALTOS, CALIF.
6. Charles Koch
$48.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED AGE: 82 RESIDENCE: WICHITA, KANS. M.S., MIT ’58, ’59
Koch pursued nuclear and chemical engineering degrees at MIT, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He took over Koch Industries, now the nation’s second-largest private company, after his father, Fred, died in 1967. Charles transformed it into a world-beating conglomerate with interests in consumer products (Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups), textiles and manufacturing, partly by consistently reinvesting around 90% of profits. The longtime Republican megadonor is the cofounder of a network that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars influencing elections.
$46.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$43.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
M.B.A., HARVARD ’66
M.S., STANFORD ’95
The former New York City mayor, who flirted with running for president, is influencing policy with his pocketbook. After the Las Vegas shooting in October, Bloomberg announced on Twitter that he’d match donations to his gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety. In September 2016 he pledged $300 million to Johns Hopkins for a public health initiative; he got his undergrad degree from the university, where he was a mediocre student and president of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, class president and self-proclaimed “Big Man on Campus.” After being fired in 1981 from Salomon Brothers, he cofounded the financial data and media firm Bloomberg LP. The terminal business was hit in 2016 by layoffs at some of its clients.
America’s richest immigrant, the Google cofounder gave a stirring pro-immigration speech in January following the announcement of Trump’s (first) travel ban. “I came here at age 6 with my family from the Soviet Union, which was at that time the greatest enemy the U.S. had . . . even then the U.S. had the courage to take me and my family in as refugees,” he said. His father became a math professor at the University of Maryland, where Brin later got his undergrad degree in math and computer science. Now Alphabet’s president, he is reportedly spending up to $150 million to build an airship inside a hangar at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The blimp will serve as his personal “air yacht,” but he hopes to fly it on humanitarian missions.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 55
FORBES 400
11. Jim Walton
16. John Mars
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: BENTONVILLE, ARK.
SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 82 RESIDENCE: JACKSON, WYO.
B.S., U. OF ARKANSAS-FAYETTEVILLE ’71
B.S., YALE ’57
12. S. Robson Walton
18. Phil Knight & family
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: BENTONVILLE, ARK.
SOURCE: NIKE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: HILLSBORO, ORE.
J.D., COLUMBIA ’69
M.B.A., STANFORD ’62
$38.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
$25.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: @
24. Laurene Powell Jobs
& family $19.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: APPLE, DISNEY AGE: 54 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
34. Steve Cohen
$13 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: GREENWICH, CONN. B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’77
M.B.A., STANFORD ’91
$38.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$25.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
25. James Simons
$18.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: EAST SETAUKET, N.Y.
35. Philip Anschutz
$12.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: DENVER B.S., U. OF KANSAS ’61
PH.D., UC BERKELEY ’62
13. Alice Walton
19. Michael Dell
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEX.
SOURCE: DELL TECHNOLOGIES AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: AUSTIN, TEX.
B.S., TRINITY U. ’71
DROPOUT, U. OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
14. Sheldon Adelson
20. George Soros1
SOURCE: CASINOS AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: KATONAH, N.Y.
$38.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
$23.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
26. Ray Dalio
$17 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: GREENWICH, CONN.
35. Eric Schmidt
$12.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^ SOURCE: GOOGLE AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF. PH.D., UC BERKELEY ’82
M.B.A., HARVARD ’73
DROPOUT, CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
$23 BILLION TSELF-MADE SCORE: ) M.S., LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS ’54
15. Steve Ballmer
$33.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^ SOURCE: MICROSOFT AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: HUNTS POINT, WASH. B.A., HARVARD ’77
27. Carl Icahn
$16.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: TESLA MOTORS AGE: 46 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’97
38. Donald Newhouse
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF.
$12.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$16.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.A., U. OF WASHINGTON ’56
SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: THE PLAINS, VA.
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: LONDON
29. Abigail Johnson
B.A., BRYN MAWR ’61
M.B.A., HARVARD ’89
$16 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: MILTON, MASS.
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’71
22. Paul Allen $20.6 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: MICROSOFT, INVESTMENTS AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: MERCER ISLAND, WASH. DROPOUT, WASHINGTON STATE
Allen dropped out of Washington State to work at aerospace company TRW. He then moved to Boston, where Bill Gates (No. 1), his former high school classmate at Lakeside School, was attending Harvard. The pair cofounded Microsoft in 1975. Allen left the software firm 8 years later after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. He beat the disease and has gone on to pursue a range of interests and philanthropic causes, from satellites and brain science to artificial intelligence and sports. In August, his research vessel Petrel discovered the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea.
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 70 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
28. Donald Bren
23. Len Blavatnik
$19.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$12.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * M.B.A., HARVARD ’72
16. Jacqueline Mars
$25.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: @
Schwarzman
B.A., PRINCETON ’57
21. Elon Musk
$20.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
35. Stephen
M.B.A., HARVARD ’88
30. Charles Ergen
$15.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: SATELLITE TV AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: DENVER M.B.A., WAKE FOREST ’76
31. Thomas Peterffy
$15.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: DISCOUNT BROKERAGE AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: LIGHTHOUSE POINT, FLA. DROPOUT, NYU
& family SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. DROPOUT, SYRACUSE
39. Jim Kennedy
$12 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA B.S., U. OF DENVER ’70
39. Blair Parry-Okeden $12 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: SCONE, AUSTRALIA B.A., U. OF DENVER ’73
39. Rupert Murdoch
& family $12 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
32. Dustin Moskovitz
$13.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: FACEBOOK AGE: 33 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO DROPOUT, HARVARD
33. Lukas Walton
$13.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 31 RESIDENCE: JACKSON, WYO.
SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 86 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., OXFORD ’53
42. Ronald Perelman
$11.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: LEVERAGED BUYOUTS AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’66
B.S., COLORADO COLLEGE ’10 1
SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT CONFIRMED $18 BILLION IN DONATIONS SHORTLY AFTER WE LOCKED IN OUR LIST VALUATIONS.
56 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
$35.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
43. Harold Hamm
63. John Paulson
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’55
$7.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
& family
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$11 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: OIL & GAS AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: OKLAHOMA CITY
M.B.A., HARVARD ’80
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
65. Carl Cook
$7.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: #
43. David Tepper
SOURCE: MEDICAL DEVICES AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: BLOOMINGTON, IND.
$11 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: MIAMI BEACH
M.B.A., U. OF IOWA ’87
M.B.A., CARNEGIE MELLON ’82
65. David Duffield
$7.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
45. Andrew Beal
SOURCE: BUSINESS SOFTWARE AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: INCLINE VILLAGE, NEV.
$10.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: BANKS, REAL ESTATE AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
DROPOUT, MICHIGAN STATE, BAYLOR
46. Leonard Lauder
$10.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: ESTEE LAUDER AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’54
47. John Menard Jr.
$9.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: HOME-IMPROVEMENT STORES AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: EAU CLAIRE, WIS. B.S, U. OF WISCONSIN–EAU CLAIRE ’63
48. Jan Koum
$9.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: WHATSAPP AGE: 41 RESIDENCE: SANTA CLARA, CALIF. DROPOUT, SAN JOSE STATE
M.B.A., CORNELL ’64
57. Thomas Frist Jr. & family $8.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
65. George Kaiser
M.D., WASHINGTON U. IN ST. LOUIS ’65
SOURCE: OIL & GAS, BANKING AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: TULSA
The quarterback on his state-champion Montgomery Bell Academy high school football team credits his coach with teaching him the importance of putting together the right team. “You always win when you surround yourself with good people,” says Frist, who founded HCA Healthcare with his father in 1968 after a stint as an Air Force flight surgeon. He is no longer an executive at the company, but his sons William and Thomas III sit on the board.
M.B.A., HARVARD ’66
52. Herbert Kohler Jr.
PH.D., CALTECH ’54
& family $8.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: $ SOURCE: PLUMBING FIXTURES AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: KOHLER, WIS.
$9.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: EBAY AGE: 50 RESIDENCE: HONOLULU
54. Charles Schwab
SOURCE: DISCOUNT BROKERAGE AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
55. Patrick
50. Micky Arison
Soon-Shiong
SOURCE: CARNIVAL CRUISES AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: BAL HARBOUR, FLA.
$8.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: PHARMACEUTICALS AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES M.S., U. OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ‘79
DROPOUT, U. OF MIAMI
51. James Goodnight
$8.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: SOFTWARE AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: CARY, N.C. PH.D., NC STATE ’72
56. John Malone
$8.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: CABLE TELEVISION AGE:76 RESIDENCE: ELIZABETH, COLO. PH.D., JOHNS HOPKINS ’67
52. Ken Griffin
57. Stanley Kroenke
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 49 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: SPORTS, REAL ESTATE AGE 70 RESIDENCE: COLUMBIA, MO.
$8.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.A., HARVARD ’89
$8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: PALISADES, N.Y. B.A., BARD COLLEGE ’81
59. Katharine Rayner $8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 72 RESIDENCE: EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. B.A., SARAH LAWRENCE
M.B.A., STANFORD ’61
B.S., TUFTS ’88
$9.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
59. James Chambers
B.S., YALE ’65
$8.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
48. Pierre Omidyar
$7.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: HEALTH CARE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: NASHVILLE
$8.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^ M.B.A., U. OF MISSOURI ’73
59. Margaretta Taylor $8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. B.A., FINCH COLLEGE
65. Gordon Moore
$7.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: INTEL AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
65. Stephen Ross
$7.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY L.L.M., NYU ’66
70. Pauline MacMillan
Keinath $7.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: ST. LOUIS
71. Eli Broad
$7.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES B.A., MICHIGAN STATE ’54
62. Edward Johnson III $7.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: BOSTON B.A., HARVARD ’54
72. Shahid Khan
$7.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: AUTO PARTS AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: NAPLES, FLA. B.S., U. OF ILLINOIS ’71
63. David Geffen
$7.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: MOVIES, RECORD LABELS AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. DROPOUT, U. OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
73. Hank & Doug Meijer $7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: #
SOURCE: SUPERMARKETS AGE: 65, 63 RESIDENCE: GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. B.A., U. OF MICHIGAN ’73 (HANK) B.B.A., U. OF MICHIGAN ’76 (DOUG)
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 57
FORBES 400
74. Richard Kinder
$6.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
95. Jerry Jones
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’69
$5.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: DALLAS COWBOYS AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
J.D., U. OF MISSOURI ’68
M.A., U. OF ARKANSAS ’65
75. John A. Sobrato
95. Les Wexner & family $5.6 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
& family
SOURCE: RETAIL AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: NEW ALBANY, OHIO
$6.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
B.S., OHIO STATE ’59
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF. B.A., SANTA CLARA U. ’60
97. Dannine Avara
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
76. Brian Acton
SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 53 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
$6.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: WHATSAPP AGE: 45 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
97. Scott Duncan
B.S., STANFORD ’94
& family
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
76. Leon Black
$6.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
$6.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
M.B.A, HARVARD ’75
SOURCE: RETAIL AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: OKLAHOMA CITY
79. Marijke Mars
$6.3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: @ SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 53 B.A., DUKE ’86
79. Pamela Mars
$6.3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: @ SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 57 B.A., VASSAR ’82
85. Richard LeFrak
& family $6.1 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: % J.D., COLUMBIA ’70
SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
85. Christy Walton
$6.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: JACKSON, WYO.
79. Victoria Mars
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
SOURCE: CANDY, PET FOOD AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA.
87. Charles Johnson
M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’84
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA.
$6.3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: @
$6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
83. Robert Kraft
B.S., YALE ’54
SOURCE: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: BROOKLINE, MASS.
87. Whitney MacMillan
$6.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
The son of a wealthy businessman and an artist, Black went to Fieldston in the Bronx for high school and then to Dartmouth, where he majored in philosophy and history. His father died in 1975, and Black put his $75,000 life insurance payout into commodities trading, increasing it to more than $600,000, only to lose all but $25,000. He cofounded Apollo Global Management in 1990, the year his former employer Drexel Burnham Lambert filed for bankruptcy; he is still CEO and chairman of the $232 billion (assets) firm.
79. Valerie Mars M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’87
97. Milane Frantz
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 72 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$6.3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: @
SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 35 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
$6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
87. John Tu
$6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: COMPUTER HARDWARE AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: ROLLING HILLS, CALIF. B.S., TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT DARMSTADT ’70
91. John Doerr
$5.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF. M.B.A., HARVARD ’76
91. Daniel Gilbert
$5.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: QUICKEN LOANS AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: FRANKLIN, MICH. J.D., WAYNE STATE ’87
91. Ralph Lauren
$5.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 48 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
97. Randa Williams
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON J.D., U. OF HOUSTON ’88
97. Ann Walton Kroenke $5.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: COLUMBIA, MO. A.S, LINCOLN U. OF MISSOURI ’72
97. Gabe Newell
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: VIDEOGAMES AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: SEATTLE DROPOUT, HARVARD
97. Steven Rales
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: MANUFACTURING AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. J.D., AMERICAN U.
97. Robert Rich Jr. $5.5 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: MINNEAPOLIS
SOURCE: RALPH LAUREN AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: FROZEN FOODS AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: ISLAMORADA, FLA.
83. Tom & Judy Love
B.A., YALE ’51
DROPOUT, CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
M.B.A., U. OF ROCHESTER ’69
SOURCE: RETAIL & GAS STATIONS AGE: 79, 80 RESIDENCE: OKLAHOMA CITY
87. David Sun
94. Dennis Washington
97. Edward Roski Jr.
DROPOUT, U. OF OKLAHOMA (TOM) M.S., U. OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ’83 (JUDY)
SOURCE: COMPUTER HARDWARE AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: IRVINE, CALIF.
SOURCE: CONSTRUCTION, MINING AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: MISSOULA, MONT.
M.B.A., HARVARD ’65
$6.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
B.S., TATUNG INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ’73
$5.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: )
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES B.S., USC ’62
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
58 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
76. David Green
97. David Shaw
118. Charles Dolan
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
& family
& family
$5 BILLION SSELF-MADE SCORE: (
$4.9 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$5.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * PH.D., STANFORD ’80
SOURCE: CABLE TELEVISION AGE: 91 RESIDENCE: OYSTER BAY, N.Y. DROPOUT, JOHN CARROLL U.
107. Richard DeVos
& family $5.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: AMWAY AGE: 91 RESIDENCE: HOLLAND, MICH.
$5.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
118. David Filo
$5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: YAHOO AGE: 51 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF. M.S., STANFORD ’90
$5.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: PIZZA AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: BINGHAM FARMS, MICH.
118. George Lucas
$5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: STAR WARS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: SAN ANSELMO, CALIF. B.A., USC ’66
118. Reinhold
Schmieding $5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: MEDICAL DEVICES AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: NAPLES, FLA. B.S., MICHIGAN STATE ’77
108. Rupert Johnson Jr.
122. Robert Bass
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: BURLINGAME, CALIF.
SOURCE: OIL, INVESTMENTS AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEX.
B.A., WASHINGTON AND LEE ’62
M.B.A., STANFORD ’74
108. Bruce Kovner
122. Jim Davis & family
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 72 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: NEW BALANCE AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: NEWTON, MASS.
$5.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$4.9 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$5.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: DALLAS J.D., SMU ’79
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 47 RESIDENCE: MILLBURN, N.J.
122. Frederick Smith $4.9 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: FEDEX AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: MEMPHIS
122. David Siegel
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
108. Henry Kravis
PH.D., MIT ’91
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: SCARSDALE, N.Y.
122. Tamara Gustavson
& family $4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
SOURCE: SELF STORAGE AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: MALIBU, CALIF.
132. Karen Pritzker
$4.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: BRANFORD, CONN. B.A., NORTHWESTERN ’80
132. Trevor Rees-Jones $4.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: OIL & GAS AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: DALLAS J.D., SMU ’78
132. Alejandro Santo
Domingo $4.8 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: # AGE: 40 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., HARVARD ’99
B.S., USC ’83
115. Travis Kalanick
$5.1 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: UBER AGE: 41 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO DROPOUT, UCLA
122. Diane Hendricks
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: ROOFING AGE: 70 RESIDENCE: AFTON, WIS. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
115. Sumner Redstone
$5.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’69
B.S., MIDDLEBURY ’66
B.A., HARVARD ’66
108. Robert Rowling
122. John Overdeck
B.A., YALE ’66
DROPOUT, DEARBORN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$5.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 92 RESIDENCE: CHEVY CHASE, MD.
M.S., STANFORD ’14
B.S., NYU ’70
108. Marian Ilitch
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’63
L.L.B., GEORGE WASHINGTON U. ’50
DROPOUT, CALVIN COLLEGE
108. Israel Englander
122. Ted Lerner
132. Andres Santo
Domingo $4.8 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: #
108. George Roberts
$5.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF. J.D., UC, HASTINGS ’69
The first cousins met at age 2 and grew up together. Kravis went to Loomis Chaffee for high school where he ran varsity track and was captain of the varsity wrestling team. They both went to Claremont McKenna College and in 1976 set up private equity firm KKR with their former Bear Stearns colleague Jerome Kohlberg (who left in 1987). The cousins put a succession plan in place in July, appointing 2 executives in their 40s as co-presidents and co-chief operating officers. Kravis and Roberts still serve as KKR’s co-CEOs and cochairmen and haven’t said when they will step down. Kravis reportedly turned down President Trump’s offer to become U.S. treasury secretary.
AGE: 39 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., BROWN ’00
132. Dirk Ziff
122. Ray Lee Hunt
132. Ronda Stryker
SOURCE: OIL, REAL ESTATE AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
SOURCE: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: PORTAGE, MICH.
J.D., HARVARD ’47
B.B.A, SMU ’65
M.A., WESTERN MICHIGAN U. ’82
115. Sam Zell
122. Nancy Walton Laurie
132. Daniel Ziff
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: WAL-MART AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: HENDERSON, NEV.
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 46 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 51 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
B.A., U. OF MEMPHIS ’73
B.A., COLUMBIA ’96
J.D., CORNELL ’92
$5.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 94 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
$5.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$4.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
$4.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
$4.8 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$4.8 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 53 RESIDENCE: NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA. M.B.A., HARVARD ’93
132. Robert Ziff
$4.8 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: $
J.D., U. OF MICHIGAN ’66
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 59
FORBES 400
140. Martha Ingram
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’71
140. Stanley
& family $4.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
Druckenmiller
161. Marianne Liebmann $4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: BOZEMAN, MONT.
$4.7 BILLION S
B.A., MONTANA STATE ’75
B.A., VASSAR ’57
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
161. Igor Olenicoff
140. Gwendolyn
B.A., BOWDOIN ’75
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: LIGHTHOUSE POINT, FLA.
SOURCE: BOOK DISTRIBUTION, TRANSPORTATION AGE: 82 RESIDENCE: NASHVILLE
SELF-MADE SCORE: *
A stock-picking legend, Druckenmiller reportedly executed a 30-year streak of positive returns managing money at George Soros’ Quantum Fund and later at his own family office, Duquesne. So far in 2017, he’s invested in Salesforce, Facebook and Alibaba. Druckenmiller graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College, where he reportedly ran a hot dog stand for extra cash. He has given more than $35 million to colleges, including Bowdoin, Brown and Stanford, since 2014.
Sontheim Meyer $4.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIF.
140. Sheldon Solow
$4.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 89 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
144. Bubba Cathy
$4.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ SOURCE: CHICK-FIL-A AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA B.S., SAMFORD U. ’75
144. Dan Cathy
$4.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ SOURCE: CHICK-FIL-A AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA
B.S., GEORGIA SOUTHERN U. ’73
150. Nick Caporella
$4.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: BEVERAGES AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: PLANTATION, FLA. COLLEGE DROPOUT
156. Jeremy
Jacobs Sr. $4.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: CONCESSIONS AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: EAST AURORA, N.Y.
$4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) M.B.A., USC ’66
161. Walter Scott Jr.
& family $4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: UTILITIES, TELECOM AGE: 86 RESIDENCE: OMAHA B.S., COLORADO STATE ’53
161. Kelcy Warren
$4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
B.S., U. OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON ’78
167. Archie Aldis “Red”
Emmerson & family $4.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: TIMBERLAND, LUMBER MILLS AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: REDDING, CALIF. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
A.S., U. AT BUFFALO
$4.6 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: TIRES AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZ. B.S., EASTERN MICHIGAN U. ’56
150. Rocco Commisso
$4.5 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: TELECOM AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: SADDLE RIVER, N.J. M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’75
156. Jeffrey Skoll
$4.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
SOURCE: EBAY AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF. M.B.A., STANFORD ’95
144. Paul Tudor Jones II
150. Bernard Marcus
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: GREENWICH, CONN.
SOURCE: HOME DEPOT AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA
$4.6 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$4.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) B.S., RUTGERS ’54
B.A., U. OF VIRGINIA ’76
144. Gary Rollins
$4.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: PEST CONTROL AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: SOFTWARE AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: CARY, N.C.
M.A., NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ’73
B.S., U. OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA ’67
156. Russ Weiner
167. J. Christopher
B.A., SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY ’93
$4.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: ENERGY DRINKS AGE: 47 RESIDENCE: DELRAY BEACH, FLA.
160. Terrence Pegula
$4.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: NATURAL GAS AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: BOCA RATON, FLA.
$4.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: PEST CONTROL AGE: 86 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA
150. Leonard Stern
$4.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY M.B.A., NYU ’59
161. Austen Cargill II
$4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: LIVINGSTON, MONT. M.A., U. OF MINNESOTA ’78
150. Marc Benioff
156. Jen-Hsun Huang
$4.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$4.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: BUSINESS SOFTWARE AGE: 53 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
SOURCE: SEMICONDUCTORS AGE: 54 RESIDENCE: LOS ALTOS, CALIF.
B.S., USC ’86
M.S., STANFORD ’92
60 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
SOURCE: COMPUTER SERVICES, REAL ESTATE AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
$4.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
B.S., PENN STATE ’73
144. Randall Rollins
$4.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY ’53
150. John Sall
$4.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
167. H. Ross Perot Sr.
Reyes SOURCE: FOOD DISTRIBUTION AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: HOBE SOUND, FLA. B.S., U. OF MARYLAND ’75
167. Jude Reyes
$4.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: FOOD DISTRIBUTION AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA. B.A., WOFFORD COLLEGE ’77
167. Julian
Robertson Jr. 161. James Cargill II
$4.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: CARGILL AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: BIRCHWOOD, WIS.
$4.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
B.S.B.A., U. OF NORTH CAROLINA ’55
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
144. Bruce Halle
172. Ben Ashkenazy
179. Jerry Speyer
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 48 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 77 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$4 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: * DROPOUT, ADELPHI U.
H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L ’ 5 5
M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’64
172. Stephen Bisciotti $4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: STAFFING, BALTIMORE RAVENS AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: MILLERSVILLE, MD. B.A., SALISBURY STATE ’82
179. Harry Stine
$3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
)
SOURCE: AGRICULTURE AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: ADEL, IOWA
B.A., MCPHERSON COLLEGE ’63
172. James Jannard
$4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: OAKLEY SUNGLASSES AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WASH.
179. Steven Udvar-Hazy $3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: AIRCRAFT LEASING AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
DROPOUT, USC
B.A., UCLA ’68
172. John Morris
186. Arthur Blank
$4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: SPORTING GOODS RETAIL AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: SPRINGFIELD, MO. B.A., DRURY U. ’70
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: HOME DEPOT AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA B.S., BABSON COLLEGE ’63
172. Jeff Sutton
186. Nathan
$4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’81
Blecharczyk $3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: AIRBNB AGE: 34 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO B.A., HARVARD ’05
172. Joan Tisch
$4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: DIVERSIFIED AGE: 90 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., U. OF MICHIGAN ’48
186. Brian Chesky
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: AIRBNB AGE: 36 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO B.F.A., RISD ’04
179. Rick Caruso
$3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: BRENTWOOD, CALIF. J.D., PEPPERDINE ’83
186. Joe Gebbia
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.F.A., RISD ’05
& family $3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: DOLBY LABORATORIES AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO BACH., HEIDELBERG U. ’66
186. Jeff Greene
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, INVESTMENTS AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH M.B.A., HARVARD ’79
179. Isaac Perlmutter
$3.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: MARVEL COMICS AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
172. Clemmie Spangler Jr. $4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: AIRBNB AGE: 36 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
179. Dagmar Dolby
Clemmie Spangler Jr. (right) and his dad C.D. at Harvard Business School.
186. H. Fisk Johnson
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: CLEANING PRODUCTS AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: RACINE, WIS.
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. M.B.A., HARVARD ’56
The owner of the nation’s largest private wallboard producer, National Gypsum, Spangler has been a lifelong advocate for education. He apparently helped a North Carolina district desegregate its school system. His efforts warranted him a role on the state’s board of education. Spangler, who goes by Dick, was chairman from 1982 to 1986. He was president of the University of North Carolina system from 1986 to 1997. According to Spangler, he and his father, who attended an advanced 13-week program at Harvard Business School in 1955, were the first father-son to attend HBS at the same time.
186. S. Curtis Johnson
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: CLEANING PRODUCTS AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: RACINE, WIS. M.B.A., NORTHWESTERN ’83
PH.D., CORNELL ’86
179. Stewart
186. Imogene
& Lynda Resnick $3.9 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: AGRICULTURE, WATER AGES: 78, 74 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS
J.D., UCLA ’62 (STEWART) DROPOUT, LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE (LYNDA)
*
Powers Johnson $3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: CLEANING PRODUCTS AGE: 87 RESIDENCE: RACINE, WIS. B.A., CORNELL ’52
186. Winifred
Johnson-Marquart $3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
@
SOURCE: CLEANING PRODUCTS AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. DROPOUT, CORNELL
186. Helen
Johnson-Leipold $3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: CLEANING PRODUCTS AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: RACINE, WIS. B.A., CORNELL ’78
186. Ronald Lauder
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
%
SOURCE: ESTEE LAUDER AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’65
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 61
FORBES 400
186. Robert McNair
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
206. Edward Johnson IV *
SOURCE: ENERGY, SPORTS AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: BOSTON
B.A., U. OF SOUTH CAROLINA ’58
186. Ira Rennert
$3.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE:
*
M.B.A., NYU ’56
186. Henry Samueli
(
SOURCE: SEMICONDUCTORS AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. PH.D., UCLA ’80
$3.5 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: #
SOURCE: CHEMICALS AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: CHARLESTON, S.C.
219. Jay Robert “J.B.” Pritzker $3.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
B.S., NORTHEASTERN ’93
M.ED., U. OF NORTH FLORIDA ’78
206. Elizabeth Johnson
219. Sid Bass
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 54 RESIDENCE: BOSTON
SOURCE: OIL, INVESTMENTS AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEX.
$3.6 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: !
*
SOURCE: MAPPING SOFTWARE AGE: 72, 71 RESIDENCE: REDLANDS, CALIF.
M.L.A., HARVARD ’69 (JACK) B.S., CAL POLY POMONA ’73 (LAURA)
$3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: CAMAS, WASH. B.S., HUMBOLDT STATE ’72
219. Judy Faulkner
BACH., MIAMI OF OHIO ’78
SOURCE: HEALTH CARE MEDIA AGE: 31 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: HEALTH IT AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: MADISON, WIS.
219. Richard Schulze
M.S., U. OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ’67
SOURCE: BEST BUY AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: BONITA SPRINGS, FLA.
$3.6 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
$3.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$3.4 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: *
219. Peter Kellogg
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: SHORT HILLS, N.J.
226. John Arnold
B.A., CAL STATE ’02
B.S., BABSON ’64
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 43 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: MOVIES AGE: 70 RESIDENCE: PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIF.
$3.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.A., VANDERBILT, ’95
$3.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
219. Anthony Pritzker
DROPOUT, U. OF HOUSTON
SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: RESTAURANTS, CASINOS AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
$3.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: #
226. Neil Bluhm
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
M.B.A., U. OF CHICAGO ’87
$3.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: MANUFACTURING, INVESTMENTS AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: POTOMAC, MD.
$3.6 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
212. Michael Moritz
200. Dan Friedkin
$3.4 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: &
206. Rishi Shah
212. Tilman Fertitta
200. Ken Fisher
219. Mitchell Rales
M.B.A., STANFORD ’68
206. Steven Spielberg
Dangermond
$3.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
B.S., FRANKLIN PIERCE U. ’86
DROPOUT, NORTHWESTERN
200. Jack & Laura $3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
212. Anita Zucker
J.D., NORTHWESTERN ’93
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$3.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
$3.6 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: @
J.D., NORTHWESTERN ’62
UC BERKELEY SENIOR, ‘67
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’78
M.B.A., RICE ’92
212. Rodger Riney
200. Tom Gores
$3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
$3.5 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: & *
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 53 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS
SOURCE: DISCOUNT BROKERAGE AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: ST. LOUIS M.B.A., U. OF MISSOURI ’69
B.S., MICHIGAN STATE ’86
212. Leandro Rizzuto
200. Thomas
& family
Pritzker $3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
$3.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ( $
SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: CONSUMER PRODUCTS AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: SHERIDAN, WYO. DROPOUT, ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY
J.D., U. OF CHICAGO ’76
206. Jimmy Haslam
$3.6 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: #
SOURCE: GAS STATIONS, RETAIL AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: KNOXVILLE, TENN.
212. Bernard Saul II
$3.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: BANKING, REAL ESTATE AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: CHEVY CHASE, MD. L.L.B., U. OF VIRGINIA ’57
B.A., U. OF TENNESSEE ’76
206. Jeffery Hildebrand $3.6 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
212. Donald Sterling
$3.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: OIL AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
M.S., U. OF TEXAS ’85
J.D., SOUTHWESTERN LAW SCHOOL ’60
62 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
Mike Milken (front row, center) pictured with his Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers.
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
200. Michael Milken
$3.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE:
*
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1970
Milken began building his fortune while at Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he led development of the high-yield junk bond market in the 1980s. He spent 22 months in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud in 1990. Banned from trading, Milken shifted his focus to philanthropy and to his Milken Institute think tank. He’s long held leadership roles. At UC Berkeley, he was president of his Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He switched his college major from math and science to business after witnessing the 1965 Watts riot in Los Angeles, with the goal of democratizing access to capital.
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
226. Andrew
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’64
& Peggy Cherng
240. Barry Diller
$3.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: ONLINE MEDIA AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE
SOURCE: RESTAURANTS AGE: 70, 68 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
$3.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PHARMACEUTICALS AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: MIAMI BEACH, FLA.
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
M.D., ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE ’61
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY J.D., BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL ’77
240. Reid Hoffman
$3.2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
226. Mark Cuban
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: ONLINE MEDIA AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
226. Joshua Harris
Trump played basketball at military school.
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
248. Donald Trump
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$3.1 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: WASHINGTON, D.C. B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’68
B.A., U. OF ARIZONA ’72
Trump spent 5 years at New York Military Academy in Cornwall-onHudson, playing basketball, football, soccer and baseball. It was there that he says he found his sweet stroke with the baseball bat. In his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, Trump describes how he won over his strongman coach, an exMarine named Theodore Dobias. “In a way, I finessed him,” Trump wrote. “It helped that I was a great athlete, since he was the baseball coach and I was the captain of the team. But I also learned how to play him.” From there, Trump went on to attend Fordham University for 2 years, then Wharton to learn business. Those institutions helped shape the man who would become president. “I took a lot of finance courses at Wharton,” he told Forbes in 1987. “First they taught you all the rules and regulations. Then they taught you that those rules and regulations are really meant to be broken.”
226. Henry Nicholas III
226. Mark Shoen
SOURCE: CABLE TELEVISION AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: BOSTON M.B.A., HARVARD ’61
226. Randal Kirk
$3.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PHARMACEUTICALS AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: LAKE WORTH, FLA. J.D., U. OF VIRGINIA ’79
226. George Lindemann
& family $3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA. B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’58
226. Mary Alice
Dorrance Malone $3.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: @ SOURCE: CAMPBELL SOUP AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: COATESVILLE, PA.
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: SEMICONDUCTORS AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: NEWPORT COAST, CALIF. PH.D., UCLA ’98
226. Daniel Och
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: SCARSDALE, N.Y. B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’82
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: SHORT HILLS, N.J.
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: U-HAUL AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: PHOENIX
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 54 RESIDENCE: AUSTIN, TEX. M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’94
$3.1 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: HAIR PRODUCTS, TEQUILA AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: AUSTIN, TEX. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
248. Allan Goldman
M.ST., OXFORD U. ’93
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
240. Douglas Leone
$3.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF. M.S., MIT ’88
240. Daniel Loeb
$3.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., COLUMBIA ’83
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ M.B.A., LONG ISLAND U. ’67
248. Jane Goldman
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., MANHATTANVILLE
248. Amy Goldman Fowler $3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
240. Robert Pera
$3.2 BILLION WXSELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: WIRELESS NETWORKING GEAR AGE: 39 RESIDENCE: SAN JOSE, CALIF. M.S., UC SAN DIEGO ’02
240. Haim Saban
$3.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: TV NETWORK, INVESTMENTS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY PH.D., OKLAHOMA STATE ’84
248. Diane Kemper
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 72 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
248. Min Kao & family $3.1 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: LEAWOOD, KANS. PH.D., U. OF TENNESSEE–KNOXVILLE ’77
240. Lynn
Schusterman $3.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: OIL & GAS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: TULSA DROPOUT, U. OF MIAMI
248. Kenneth Langone $3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 82 RESIDENCE: SANDS POINT, N.Y. M.B.A., NYU STERN ’60
248. John Brown
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
248. Marc Rowan
B.S., AUBURN ’57
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: PORTAGE, MICH.
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’85
B.A., COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS ’73
226. Robert Smith
248. John Paul DeJoria
SOURCE: LINKEDIN AGE: 50 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
B.S., INDIANA U. ’81
226. Amos Hostetter Jr.
$3.1 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
240. Phillip Frost
226. Charles Cohen
M.B.A., HARVARD ’90
Cooperman M.B.A., COLUMBIA ’67
M.S., U. OF MISSOURI ’72 (ANDREW) PH.D., U. OF MISSOURI ’74 (PEGGY)
$3.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
248. Leon G.
248. John Catsimatidis $3.1 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
248. Evan Spiegel
DROPOUT, NYU
SOURCE: SNAPCHAT AGE: 27 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: OIL, REAL ESTATE AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * DROPOUT, STANFORD
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 63
FORBES 400
248. Bobby Murphy
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: SNAPCHAT AGE: 29 RESIDENCE: VENICE, CALIF. B.S., STANFORD ’10
248. Pat Stryker
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ! SOURCE: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: FORT COLLINS, COLO.
264. James Leprino
264. Romesh T.
SOURCE: MOZZARELLA CHEESE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: INDIAN HILLS, COLO.
$3 BILLION WXSELF-MADE SCORE: *
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
$3.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: CASINOS, HOTELS AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
$3 BILLION S
SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: TOBACCO AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: BRYN MAWR, PA. M.B.A., HARVARD ’79
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: MIAMI M.S., U. OF MICHIGAN ’76
$3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 51 RESIDENCE: GREENWICH, CONN. PH.D., U. OF CHICAGO ’94
264. Riley Bechtel
& family
264. Don Vultaggio
& family $3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: BEVERAGES AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
264. Meg Whitman
278. Daniel D’Aniello
SOURCE: EBAY AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF.
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: VIENNA, VA.
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
M.B.A., HARVARD ’74
278. Jim Breyer
278. Gerald Ford
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
SOURCE: BANKING AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
278. William Conway Jr. $2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: MCLEAN, VA.
T E N N E S S E E S TAT E S O P H O M O R E , ’ 7 3
B.A., LOYOLA U. CHICAGO ’84
278. Kieu Hoang
$2.9 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: ONLINE RETAIL AGE: 45 RESIDENCE: BRYN MAWR, PA. DROPOUT, VILLANOVA
278. Richard Sands
264. Chuck Bundrant
$2.9 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$3 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: FOOD & BEVERAGE AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: CANANDAIGUA, N.Y.
SOURCE: FISHING AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: SEATTLE
PH.D., U. OF NORTH CAROLINA ’79
COLLEGE DROPOUT
278. Thomas Siebel
264. Scott Cook
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: BUSINESS SOFTWARE AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
SOURCE: SOFTWARE AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIF.
M.S., U. OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN ’85
M.B.A., HARVARD ’76
288. Tom Benson
264. Oprah Winfrey
& family
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: MEDIA AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: MONTECITO, CALIF.
SOURCE: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AGE: 90 RESIDENCE: NEW ORLEANS
B.S., TENNESSEE STATE ’87
Winfrey attended 9 college graduations this year—giving the commencement address at 3—to support the 2017 graduates who attended her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. She opened the academy in 2007 as a boarding school for poor South Africans. The spotlight around Oprah, one of the most popular daytime-TV hosts ever, never fades: She joined 60 Minutes this fall and will appear in a new film, A Wrinkle in Time, next spring.
ASSOC., ALFRED STATE ’62
64 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
SOURCE: POULTRY AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
278. Michael Rubin
M.B.A., STANFORD ’48
SOURCE: PAYROLL SERVICES AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: NAPLES, FLA.
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
COLLEGE DROPOUT
SOURCE: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION AGE: 92 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
278. Joseph Grendys
SOURCE: MEDICAL PRODUCTS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF.
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
264. Tom Golisano
J.D., SMU ’69
M.B.A., U. OF CHICAGO ’74
264. Stephen Bechtel Jr.
M.B.A., U OF PENNSYLVANIA ’79
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
M.B.A., HARVARD ’87
J.D. & M.B.A., STANFORD ’79
SOURCE: AIRLINES AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: MIAMI
$2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
M.B.A., HARVARD ’79
SOURCE: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION AGE: 65 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
264. Rakesh Gangwal
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: BETHESDA, MD. J.D., U. OF CHICAGO ’73
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
$3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
Rubenstein $2.9 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
PH.D., CARNEGIE MELLON ’72
264. Jorge Perez
B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’63
264. Clifford Asness
SOURCE: SOFTWARE AGE: 70 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
264. John Middleton
DROPOUT, U. OF NORTHERN COLORADO
248. Steve Wynn
Wadhwani
278. David
DROPOUT, LOYOLA U.
288. Ray Davis
2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE-SCORE: * SOURCE: PIPELINES AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: DALLAS B.B.A, LETOURNEAU U. ’66
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
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Rico Hizon, Presenter
FORBES 400
288. Edward
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ’77
DeBartolo Jr.
302. Bennett
Dorrance
$2.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$2.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: @
SOURCE: SHOPPING CENTERS AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: TAMPA B.A., NOTRE DAME ’68
SOURCE: CAMPBELL SOUP AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZ.
288. H. Wayne Huizenga
302. Doris Fisher
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.
SOURCE: GAP AGE: 86 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
DROPOUT, CALVIN COLLEGE
B.A., STANFORD ’53
288. Johnelle Hunt
302. John Fisher
SOURCE: TRUCKING AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.
SOURCE: GAP AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @
DROPOUT, U. OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
302. Ty Warner
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, PLUSH TOYS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: OAK BROOK, ILL. DROPOUT, KALAMAZOO COLLEGE
315. Lee Bass
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: OIL, INVESTMENTS AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEX. M.B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’82
315. David Bonderman
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEX. L.L.B., HARVARD ’66
M.B.A., STANFORD ’89
315. Jim Davis
288. Osman Kibar
302. James Irsay
302. Don Hankey
SOURCE: BIOTECH AGE: 46 RESIDENCE: LA JOLLA, CALIF.
SOURCE: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: CARMEL, IND.
SOURCE: AUTO LOANS AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: MALIBU, CALIF.
SOURCE: STAFFING & RECRUITING AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: COCKEYSVILLE, MD.
B.A., USC ’65
B.S., VILLANOVA U. ‘81
302. B. Wayne Hughes
315. Sean Parker
SOURCE: SELF-STORAGE AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: LEXINGTON, KY.
SOURCE: FACEBOOK AGE: 37 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES
$2.8 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: * PH.D., UC SAN DIEGO ’99
288. David Murdock
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: DOLE, REAL ESTATE AGE: 94 RESIDENCE: VENTURA, CALIF. HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT
288. Jeff Rothschild
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
SOURCE: FACEBOOK AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF. M.S., VANDERBILT ’79
288. Robert Sands
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: @ B.F.A., SMU ’82
As a kid, Irsay grew up immersed in his family’s business: the Indianapolis Colts. A Loyola Academy student during the school year, Irsay lived and traveled with the team during summer camp. He played football at SMU, where he earned a broadcast-journalism degree. After college he joined the Colts’ front office, working in everything from ticket sales to public relations. He was named GM in 1984, at age 24. After his father’s death in 1997, Irsay became 100% owner. He also owns the original manuscript of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road plus guitars from such rock legends as Prince, Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia.
$2.8 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: FOOD & BEVERAGE AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. J.D., PACE U. ’84
288. Howard Schultz
288. William Wrigley Jr.
B.S., NORTHERN MICHIGAN U. ’75
288. E. Joe Shoen
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: CHEWING GUM AGE: 54 RESIDENCE: NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA. B.A., DUKE ’85
288. Mortimer
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, MEDIA AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY M.B.A., WHARTON ’61
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
302. Jean (Gigi)
Pritzker $2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO B.A., STANFORD ’84
315. Bob Parsons
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: WEB HOSTING AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. B.S., U. OF BALTIMORE ’75
302. Patrick Ryan
315. Jay Paul
SOURCE: INSURANCE AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: WINNETKA, ILL.
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 70 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.B.A., NORTHWESTERN ’59
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * B.S. BOSTON U. ’71
302. Herbert Simon
315. Penny Pritzker
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
$2.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: (
302. Jon Stryker
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
302. Do Won
& Jin Sook Chang $2.7 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY J.D., HARVARD ’69
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # J.D., M.B.A., STANFORD ’84
B.B.A, CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
M.ARCH., UC BERKELEY ’89
SOURCE: FASHION RETAIL AGE: 58, 61 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
66 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
315. Phil Ruffin
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: CASINOS, REAL ESTATE AGE: 82 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS DROPOUT, WICHITA STATE
302. Frank VanderSloot
315. Peter Thiel
SOURCE: WELLNESS PRODUCTS AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: IDAHO FALLS, ID
SOURCE: FACEBOOK, PALANTIR AGE: 50 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$2.7 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: ) B.S., BRIGHAM YOUNG ’72
$2.6 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: * J.D., STANFORD ’92
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
SETH POPPEL/YEARBOOK LIBRARY
288. Paul Singer
B.S., USC ’57
Zuckerman
SOURCE: U-HAUL AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: PHOENIX J.D., ARIZONA STATE ’81
$2.7 BILLION WXSELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.6 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$2.8 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: #
$2.8 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ) SOURCE: STARBUCKS AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: SEATTLE
$2.7 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
324. Edward Bass
324. Arturo Moreno
324. Jerry Yang
340. Noam Gottesman
SOURCE: OIL, INVESTMENTS AGE: 72 RESIDENCE: FORTH WORTH, TEX.
SOURCE: BILLBOARDS, ANAHEIM ANGELS AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: PHOENIX
SOURCE: YAHOO AGE: 49 RESIDENCE: LOS ALTOS HILLS, CALIF.
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ B.ARCH., YALE ’72
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
$2.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
M.S., STANFORD ’90
B.A., COLUMBIA ’86
324. Denise York
340. Jeffrey Lorberbaum
B.S., U. OF ARIZONA ’73
324. Bert Beveridge
$2.5 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: VODKA AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: AUSTIN, TEX. B.S., U. OF TEXAS-AUSTIN ’84
324. Richard Peery
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIF.
B.S., BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY ’61
324. George Bishop
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AGE: 67 RESIDENCE: YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO B.A., ST. MARY’S COLLEGE AT NOTRE DAME ’72
324. Warren
340. George Argyros
Stephens
& family
324. Norman Braman
SOURCE: INVESTMENT BANKING AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
SOURCE: CAR DEALERSHIPS, ART AGE: 85 RESIDENCE: MIAMI
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ M.B.A, WAKE FOREST ’81
B.S., TEMPLE ’55
324. Mark Walter
324. Kenneth Feld &
SOURCE: FINANCE AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
family $2.5 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: TAMPA
SOURCE: FLOORING AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: CHATTANOOGA, TENN. B.S., U. OF DENVER ’76
SOURCE: OIL & GAS AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: THE WOODLANDS, TEX.
$2.5 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * J.D., NORTHWESTERN ’85
$2.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
340. C. Dean
Metropoulos $2.4 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, INVESTMENTS AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF.
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA.
B.A. CHAPMAN U. ’59
M.B.A., BABSON COLLEGE ’68
340. John Arrillaga
340. John Pritzker
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 80 RESIDENCE: PORTOLA VALLEY, CALIF.
SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
$2.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( B.A., STANFORD ’60
D A R T M O U T H S E N I O R , ’7 7
B.S., BOSTON U. ’70
$2.4 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: # B.S., U. OF DENVER ’77
340. Julio Mario Santo Domingo III
324. Jonathan Gray
$2.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: !
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 47 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
B.A., BOSTON U. ’07
B.A., B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’92
340. Thomas Secunda
SOURCE: BEER AGE: 32 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2.5 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
$2.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: *
324. Bill Gross
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG LP AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF.
M.A., BINGHAMTON U. ’79
M.B.A, UCLA ’71
340. Alexander Spanos & family
324. Bill Haslam
$2.4 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.5 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: # SOURCE: GAS STATIONS, RETAIL AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: KNOXVILLE, TENN.
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS AGE: 94 RESIDENCE: STOCKTON, CALIF.
B.A., EMORY ’80
DROPOUT, U. OF THE PACIFIC
324. John Henry
$2.5 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: SPORTS AGE: 68 RESIDENCE: BOCA RATON, FLA. COLLEGE DROPOUT
324. Stephen Mandel Jr. $2.5 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: GREENWICH, CONN. M.B.A., HARVARD ’82
340. Alan Trefler
$2.4 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: *
350. Peter Buck
$2.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: ^
SOURCE: SOFTWARE AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: BROOKLINE, MASS.
SOURCE: SUBWAY SANDWICH SHOPS AGE: 86 RESIDENCE: DANBURY, CONN.
B.S., DARTMOUTH ’77
PH.D., COLUMBIA ’63
The chess whiz earned a master rating while at Dartmouth and became cochampion of the 1975 World Open Chess Championship. Trefler started customer-engagement software firm Pegasystems in 1983 using $500,000—a mix of an inheritance and loans. He debuted on The Forbes 400 in 1997 with a net worth of $650 million and returns after a 2-decade absence, thanks to Pegasystems’ soaring stock as revenues from cloud services increased.
350. Brad Kelley
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: TOBACCO AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: FRANKLIN, TENN. DROPOUT, WESTERN KENTUCKY U.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 67
FORBES 400
350. Joe Mansueto
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
359. Thomas Lee
H I G H S C H O O L D R O P O U T, ’ 8 4
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: INVESTMENT RESEARCH AGE: 61 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
M.B.A., U. OF CHICAGO ’80
B.A., HARVARD ’65
350. Clayton Mathile
359. Eric Lefkofsky
SOURCE: PET FOOD AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: BROOKVILLE, OHIO
SOURCE: GROUPON AGE: 48 RESIDENCE: CHICAGO
B.A., OHIO NORTHERN U. ’62
J.D., U. OF MICHIGAN ’93
350. Larry Robbins
359. Daniel Pritzker
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 48 RESIDENCE: ALPINE, N.J.
SOURCE: HOTELS, INVESTMENTS AGE: 58 RESIDENCE: MARIN COUNTY, CALIF.
B.S., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’92
J.D., NORTHWESTERN ’86
350. Dan Snyder
359. Stewart Rahr
SOURCE: WASHINGTON REDSKINS AGE: 52 RESIDENCE: POTOMAC, MD.
SOURCE: DRUG DISTRIBUTION AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$2.3 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: !
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2.2 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * DROPOUT, U. OF MARYLAND
B.A., NYU ’67
350. Mark Stevens
359. T. Denny Sanford
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: ATHERTON, CALIF.
SOURCE: BANKING, CREDIT CARDS AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: SIOUX FALLS, S.D.
M.B.A., HARVARD ’89
B.A., U. OF MINNESOTA ’58
350. Glen Taylor
359. Charles Simonyi
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: PRINTING AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: MANKATO, MINN. B.S., MINNESOTA STATE ’62
350. Elaine Wynn
$2.3 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: CASINO, HOTELS AGE: 75 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
B.A., GEORGE WASHINGTON U. ’64
359. Ron Baron
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: MONEY MANAGEMENT AGE: 74 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: ^ SOURCE: MICROSOFT AGE: 69 RESIDENCE: MEDINA, WASH.
374. Todd Christopher
$2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
PH.D., STANFORD ’76
SOURCE: HAIR CARE PRODUCTS AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: CLEARWATER, FLA. HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT
His great-grandfathers in Italy cut hair. So did his grandfather, father and 7 uncles. At age 17, he dropped out of high school to follow family tradition, picking up a pair of scissors at his cousin’s hair salon. (His brother and 6 cousins would all do the same job.) At 22, he opened his first salon, often sleeping there to save money. To avoid eviction from his salon, he sold Redken products to a drugstore across the street. That success led him to sell hair-care products full-time. Over 2 decades, his Vogue International released brands such as FX, Maui and his biggest hit, monochromatic bottles of OGX. He sold a stake in Vogue International to the Carlyle Group in 2014; 2 years later Johnson & Johnson bought the whole company.
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
SOURCE: HEDGE FUND AGE: 42 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., WILLIAMS ’97
$2.2 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: CABLE TELEVISION AGE: 78 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA DROPOUT, BROWN
359. William Young
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PLASTICS AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: YPSILANTI, MICH. B.S., U. OF DETROIT MERCY ’64
B.A., BUCKNELL ’65
359. Chase Coleman III
359. Ted Turner
359. Jack Dorsey
$2.2 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: TWITTER AGE: 40 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO DROPOUT, NYU
359. Reed Hastings
$2.2 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: & SOURCE: NETFLIX AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. M.S., STANFORD ’88
374. S. Daniel Abraham $2.1 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: SLIMFAST AGE: 93 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
359. James Coulter
359. Alec Gores
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2.2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
M.B.A., STANFORD ’86
B.S., WESTERN MICHIGAN U. ’77
359. Stanley Hubbard
$2.2 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: % SOURCE: DIRECTV AGE: 84 RESIDENCE: ST. PAUL
B.A., U. OF MINNESOTA ’55
374. Gordon Getty
$2.1 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: @ SOURCE: GETTY OIL AGE: 83 RESIDENCE: SAN FRANCISCO B.A., U. OF SAN FRANCISCO ’56
68 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: S UP T DOWN WX UNCHANGED Ì NEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE
SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE
374. David Gottesman
374. H. Ross Perot Jr.
388. Christopher Cline
388. Jeffrey Lurie
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 91 RESIDENCE: RYE, N.Y.
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: DALLAS
SOURCE: COAL AGE: 59 RESIDENCE: NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AGE: 66 RESIDENCE: WYNNEWOOD, PA.
$2.1 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: *
$2.1 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: $ B.A., VANDERBILT ’81
M.B.A., HARVARD ’50
374. W. Herbert Hunt
$2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $ SOURCE: OIL AGE: 88 RESIDENCE: DALLAS B.S., WASHINGTON AND LEE ’51
374. Kavitark Ram Shriram $2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL, GOOGLE AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: MENLO PARK, CALIF.
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: $
DROPOUT, MARSHALL U.
PH.D., BRANDEIS ’87
388. Glenn Dubin
388. Peter Peterson
SOURCE: HEDGE FUNDS AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
SOURCE: INVESTMENTS AGE: 91 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: (
$2 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: )
B.A., STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY ’78
M.B.A, U. OF CHICAGO ’51
388. Frank Fertitta III
388. J. Joe Ricketts
SOURCE: CASINOS, MIXED MARTIAL ARTS AGE: 55 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
SOURCE: TD AMERITRADE AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: LITTLE JACKSON HOLE, WYO.
B.COM., U. OF MADRAS ’77
374. Bruce Karsh
$2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES J.D., U. OF VIRGINIA ’80
374. Eric Smidt
$2.1 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: HARDWARE STORES AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: % B.S., USC ’84
$2 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: ) B.A., CREIGHTON ’68
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
388. Lorenzo Fertitta
374. Howard Marks
$2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: PRIVATE EQUITY AGE: 71 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY M.B.A., U. OF CHICAGO ’70
374. David Walentas
$2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: )
SOURCE: REAL ESTATE AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
SOURCE: CASINOS, MIXED MARTIAL ARTS AGE: 48 RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS M.B.A., NYU ’93
SOURCE: VENTURE CAPITAL AGE: 62 RESIDENCE: PORTOLA VALLEY, CALIF. M.B.A., STANFORD ’80
374. Ronald Wanek
Zinterhofer
SOURCE: FURNITURE AGE: 76 RESIDENCE: ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.
SOURCE: ESTEE LAUDER AGE: 47 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
$2.1 BILLION WX SELF-MADE SCORE: &
$2 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: $ B.A., U. OF PENNSYLVANIA ’92
M.B.A., MICHIGAN STATE ’59
388. James Clark
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: (
SOURCE: NETSCAPE, INVESTMENTS AGE: 73 RESIDENCE: PALM BEACH, FLA. PH.D., U. OF UTAH ’74
388. Jon Yarbrough
$2 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: *
SOURCE: VIDEOGAMES AGE: 60 RESIDENCE: FRANKLIN, TENN. B.S., TENNESSEE TECH ’81
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
SOURCE: WAL-MART, LOGISTICS AGE: 81 RESIDENCE: TEMPLE, TEX.
SOURCE: FOOD PROCESSING AGE: 64 RESIDENCE: SPRINGDALE, ARK.
388. Aerin Lauder
374. Drayton McLane Jr. $2.1 BILLION S SELF-MADE SCORE: %
$2 BILLION T SELF-MADE SCORE: % B.B.A., SMU ’75
M.B.A., U. OF VIRGINIA ’64
374. Vinod Khosla
$2.1 BILLION 3 SELF-MADE SCORE: *
388. John Tyson
388. Jane Lauder
$2 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: $
SOURCE: ESTEE LAUDER AGE: 44 RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY B.A., STANFORD ’95
388. David Zalik
$2 BILLION Ì SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: TECHNOLOGY AGE: 43 RESIDENCE: ATLANTA DROPOUT, AUBURN
RULES OF THE HUNT This is the 36th year of the flagship Forbes 400 list. Though we’ve been at it a long time, it’s always a challenge. Our reporters dig deep. This year we started with a list of more than 600 individuals considered strong candidates and got to work. When possible, we met with Forbes 400 members and candidates in person or spoke with them by phone. We also interviewed their employees, handlers, rivals, peers and attorneys. Uncovering their fortunes required us to pore over thousands of SEC documents, court records, probate records, and Web and print stories. We took into account all types of assets: stakes in public and private companies, real estate, art, yachts, planes, ranches, vineyards, jewelry, car collections and more. We factored in debt. Of course, we don’t pretend to know what is listed on each billionaire’s private balance sheet, although some candidates did provide documentation to that effect. Some billionaires presiding over private companies were happy to share their financial figures, but others were less forthcoming. To value these businesses, we couple revenue or profit estimates with prevailing
price-to-revenue or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies and typically apply a 10% discount, more for those who are least transparent. We didn’t include dispersed family fortunes. Those appear on our list of America’s Richest Families. We did include wealth belonging to a member’s immediate relatives if the wealth could be traced to a single living person. In that case you’ll see “& family” on the list. We also include married couples who built fortunes and businesses together. In those instances, we list both names. The Forbes 400 is a list of American citizens who own assets in the U.S. Our estimates are a snapshot of each list member’s wealth as of September 22; we used closing stock prices and currency exchange rates from that day. Some of The Forbes 400 will get richer or poorer within weeks, or even days, of publication. We track those changes online in our Real Time rankings at www.forbes.com/forbes-400. That’s also where you can find more information on list members, including additional photos, videos and coverage of these influential billionaires.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: LW HOSPITALITY ADVISORS; ORBIS BY BUREAU VAN DIJK, REAL CAPITAL ANALYTICS; COSTAR GROUP; PITCHBOOK DATA; AND TREPP. ALL THOSE WHO HELPED US WITH OUR REPORTING AND VALUATIONS: SUSAN ANDERSON, FBR CAPITAL MARKETS & CO; JIM BARRETT, C.L. KING & ASSOCIATES; BEVERAGE MARKETING CORPORATION; MICHAEL BRAUNHOLTZ, PRESTIGE PROPERTY GROUP; DAVID BURGHER, BRIGGS FREEMAN SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY; JORDAN CHALFIN, CREDITSIGHTS; LISA CLIVE, SANFORD C. BERNSTEIN; AURORA D’AMICO, NATIONAL CENTER OF EDUCATION STATISTICS; EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL; FACTSET; RONALD M. GOLD, GOLDAPPRAISAL; ALEXANDRA KAUFMAN, APP ANNIE; DANIEL LESSER, LW HOSPITALITY ADVISORS; MARK LOWHAM, SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY; KIERAN MAGUIRE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL; JONATHAN MILLER, MILLER SAMUEL INC.; MORNINGSTAR; CRAIG MORRIS, ASPEN SNOWMASS SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY; DAVID NITTLER, NITTLER APPRAISAL; MICHAEL PACHTER, WEDBUSH SECURITIES; ROBERT SAMMONS, CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD; ERIC SCHMIDT, BEVERAGE MARKETING CORP.; NICK SETYAN, WEDBUSH SECURITIES; JOHN SHAFFER, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL; SIMEON A. SIEGEL, NOMURA; TOM SNYDER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE; IRWIN STEIN; ALTON STUMP, LONGBOW RESEARCH; SANDELL ASSET MANAGEMENT; BRIAN M. VACCARO, RAYMOND JAMES & ASSOCIATES. NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 69
FORBES 400 NAME WORTH($BIL) PAGE # Abraham, S. Daniel $2.1
68
Chambers, James $8
57
Ford, Gerald $2.9
64
Irsay, James $2.7
66
Acton, Brian $6.4
58
Chang, Do Won & Jin Sook $2.7
66
Frantz, Milane $5.5
58
Jacobs, Jeremy $4.4
60
Adelson, Sheldon $35.4
56
Cherng, Andrew & Peggy $3.3
63
Friedkin, Dan $3.7
62
Jannard, James $4
61
Allen, Paul $20.6
56
Chesky, Brian $3.8
61
Frist, Thomas $8.1
57
Johnson, Abigail $16
56
Anschutz, Philip $12.6
56
Christopher, Todd $2.1
68
Frost, Phillip $3.2
63
Johnson, Charles $6
58
Argyros, George $2.4
67
Clark, James $2
69
Gangwal, Rakesh $3
64
Johnson, Edward III $7.9
57
Arison, Micky $9.4
57
Cline, Christopher $2
69
Gates, Bill $89
54
Johnson, Edward IV $3.6
62
Arnold, John $3.3
62
Cohen, Charles $3.3
63
Gebbia, Joe $3.8
61
Johnson, Elizabeth $3.6
62 61
Arrillaga, John $2.4
67
Cohen, Steve $13
56
Geffen, David $7.8
57
Johnson, H. Fisk $3.8
Ashkenazy, Ben $4
61
Coleman, Chase $2.2
68
Getty, Gordon $2.1
68
Johnson, Imogene Powers $3.8
61
Asness, Clifford $3
64
Commisso, Rocco $4.5
60
Gilbert, Daniel $5.8
58
Johnson, Rupert $5.2
59
Avara, Dannine $5.5
58
Conway, William $2.9
64
Goldman, Allan $3.1
63
Johnson, S. Curtis $3.8
61
Ballmer, Steve $33.6
56
Cook, Carl $7.5
57
Goldman, Jane $3.1
63
Johnson-Leipold, Helen $3.8
61
Baron, Ron $2.2
68
Cook, Scott $3
64
Goldman Fowler, Amy $3.1
63
Johnson-Marquart, Winnie $3.8
61
Bass, Edward $2.5
67
Cooperman, Leon G. $3.1
63
Golisano, Tom $3
64
Jones, Jerry $5.6
58
Bass, Lee $2.6
66
Coulter, James $2.2
68
Goodnight, James $8.9
57
Jones, Paul Tudor $4.6
60
Bass, Robert $4.9
59
Cuban, Mark $3.3
63
Gores, Alec $2.2
68
Kaiser, George $7.5
57
Bass, Sid $3.4
62
Dalio, Ray $17
56
Gores, Tom $3.7
62
Kalanick, Travis $5.1
59
Beal, Andrew $10.9
57
Dangermond, Jack & Laura $3.7
62
Gottesman, David $2.1
69
Kao, Min $3.1
63
Bechtel, Riley $3
64
Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aniello, Daniel $2.9
64
Gottesman, Noam $2.4
67
Karsh, Bruce $2.1
69
Bechtel, Stephen $3
64
Davis, Jim $4.9
59
Gray, Jonathan $2.5
67
Keinath, Pauline MacMillan $7.4
57
Benioff, Marc $4.5
60
Davis, Jim $2.6
66
Green, David $6.4
58
Kelley, Brad $2.3
67
Benson, Tom $2.8
64
Davis, Ray $2.8
64
Greene, Jeff $3.8
61
Kellogg, Peter $3.4
62
Beveridge, Bert $2.5
67
DeBartolo, Edward $2.8
66
Grendys, Joseph $2.9
64
Kemper, Diane $3.1
63 56
Bezos, Jeff $81.5
54
DeJoria, John Paul $3.1
63
Griffin, Ken $8.5
57
Kennedy, Jim $12
Bisciotti, Stephen $4
61
Dell, Michael $23.2
56
Gross, Bill $2.5
67
Khan, Shahid $7.1
57
Bishop, George $2.5
67
DeVos, Richard $5.4
59
Gustavson, Tamara $4.9
59
Khosla, Vinod $2.1
69
Black, Leon $6.4
58
Diller, Barry $3.2
63
Halle, Bruce $4.6
60
Kibar, Osman $2.8
66
Blank, Arthur $3.8
61
Doerr, John $5.8
58
Hamm, Harold $11
57
Kinder, Richard $6.7
58
Blavatnik, Len $19.6
56
Dolan, Charles $5
59
Hankey, Don $2.7
66
Kirk, Randal $3.3
63
Blecharczyk, Nathan $3.8
61
Dolby, Dagmar $3.9
61
Harris, Joshua $3.3
63
Knight, Phil $25.2
56
Bloomberg, Michael $46.8
55
Dorrance, Bennett $2.7
66
Haslam, Bill $2.5
67
Koch, Charles $48.5
55 55
Bluhm, Neil $3.3
62
Dorsey, Jack $2.2
68
Haslam, Jimmy $3.6
62
Koch, David $48.5
Bonderman, David $2.6
66
Druckenmiller, Stanley $4.7
60
Hastings, Reed $2.2
68
Kohler, Herbert $8.5
57
Braman, Norman $2.5
67
Dubin, Glenn $2
69
Hendricks, Diane $4.9
59
Koum, Jan $9.6
57
Bren, Donald $16.3
56
Duffield, David $7.5
57
Henry, John $2.5
67
Kovner, Bruce $5.2
59
Breyer, Jim $2.9
64
Duncan, Scott $5.5
58
Hildebrand, Jeffery $3.6
62
Kraft, Robert $6.2
58
Brin, Sergey $43.4
55
Ellison, Larry $59
55
Hoang, Kieu $2.9
64
Kravis, Henry $5.2
59
Broad, Eli $7.3
57
Emmerson, Archie Aldis $4.1
60
Hoffman, Reid $3.2
63
Kroenke, Ann Walton $5.5
58
Brown, John $3.1
63
Englander, Israel $5.2
59
Hostetter, Amos $3.3
63
Kroenke, Stanley $8.1
57
Buck, Peter $2.3
67
Ergen, Charles $15.8
56
Huang, Jen-Hsun $4.4
60
Langone, Kenneth $3.1
63
Buffett, Warren $78
54
Faulkner, Judy $3.4
62
Hubbard, Stanley $2.2
68
Lauder, Jane $2
69
Bundrant, Chuck $3
64
Feld, Kenneth $2.5
67
Hughes, B. Wayne $2.7
66
Lauder, Leonard $10.6
57
Caporella, Nick $4.5
60
Fertitta, Frank $2
69
Huizenga, H. Wayne $2.8
66
Lauder, Ronald $3.8
61
Cargill, Austen $4.2
60
Fertitta, Lorenzo $2
69
Hunt, Johnelle $2.8
66
Lauder Zinterhofer, Aerin $2
69
Cargill, James $4.2
60
Fertitta, Tilman $3.5
62
Hunt, Ray Lee $4.9
59
Lauren, Ralph $5.8
58
Caruso, Rick $3.9
61
Filo, David $5
59
Hunt, W. Herbert $2.1
69
Laurie, Nancy Walton $4.9
59
Cathy, Bubba $4.6
60
Fisher, Doris $2.7
66
Icahn, Carl $16.7
56
Lee, Thomas $2.2
68
Cathy, Dan $4.6
60
Fisher, John $2.7
66
Ilitch, Marian $5.2
59
Lefkofsky, Eric $2.2
68
Catsimatidis, John $3.1
63
Fisher, Ken $3.7
62
Ingram, Martha $4.7
60
LeFrak, Richard $6.1
58
70 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
NAME WORTH($BIL) PAGE # Leone, Douglas $3.2
63
Parry-Okeden, Blair $12
56
Ryan, Patrick $2.7
66
Stryker, Jon $2.7
66
Leprino, James $3
64
Parsons, Bob $2.6
66
Saban, Haim $3.2
63
Stryker, Pat $3.1
64
Lerner, Ted $4.9
59
Paul, Jay $2.6
66
Sall, John $4.5
60
Stryker, Ronda $4.8
59
Liebmann, Marianne $4.2
60
Paulson, John $7.8
57
Samueli, Henry $3.8
62
Sun, David $6
58
Lindemann, George $3.3
63
Peery, Richard $2.5
67
Sands, Richard $2.9
64
Sutton, Jeff $4
61
Loeb, Daniel $3.2
63
Pegula, Terrence $4.3
60
Sands, Robert $2.8
66
Taylor, Glen $2.3
68
Lorberbaum, Jeffrey $2.4
67
Pera, Robert $3.2
63
Sanford, T. Denny $2.2
68
Taylor, Margaretta $8
57
Love, Tom & Judy $6.2
58
Perelman, Ronald $11.7
56
Santo Domingo, Alejandro $4.8
59
Tepper, David $11
57 66
Lucas, George $5
59
Perez, Jorge $3
64
Santo Domingo, Andres $4.8
59
Thiel, Peter $2.6
Lurie, Jeffrey $2
69
Perlmutter, Isaac $3.9
61
Santo Domingo, Julio Mario $2.4
67
Tisch, Joan $4
61
MacMillan, Whitney $6
58
Perot, H. Ross Jr. $2.1
69
Saul, Bernard $3.5
62
Trefler, Alan N. $2.4
67
Malone, John $8.2
57
Perot, H. Ross Sr. $4.1
60
Schmidt, Eric $12.6
56
Trump, Donald $3.1
63
Malone, Mary Alice Dorrance $3.3
63
Peterffy, Thomas $15.1
56
Schmieding, Reinhold $5
59
Tu, John $6
58
Mandel, Stephen $2.5
67
Peterson, Peter $2
69
Schultz, Howard $2.8
66
Turner, Ted $2.2
68
Mansueto, Joe $2.3
68
Powell Jobs, Laurene $19.4
56
Schulze, Richard $3.4
62
Tyson, John $2
69
Marcus, Bernard $4.5
60
Pritzker, Anthony $3.4
62
Schusterman, Lynn $3.2
63
Udvar-Hazy, Steven $3.9
61
Marks, Howard $2.1
69
Pritzker, Daniel $2.2
68
Schwab, Charles $8.4
57
VanderSloot, Frank $2.7
66
Mars, Jacqueline $25.5
56
Pritzker, Jay Robert (J.B.) $3.4
62
Schwarzman, Stephen $12.6
56
Vultaggio, Don $3
64
Mars, John $25.5
56
Pritzker, Jean (Gigi) $2.7
66
Scott, Walter $4.2
60
Wadhwani, Romesh T. $3
64
Mars, Marijke $6.3
58
Pritzker, John $2.4
67
Secunda, Thomas $2.4
67
Walentas, David $2.1
69
Mars, Pamela $6.3
58
Pritzker, Karen $4.8
59
Shah, Rishi $3.6
62
Walter, Mark $2.5
67
Mars, Valerie $6.3
58
Pritzker, Penny $2.6
66
Shaw, David $5.5
59
Walton, Alice $38.2
56
Mars, Victoria $6.3
58
Pritzker, Thomas $3.7
62
Shoen, E. Joe $2.8
66
Walton, Christy $6.1
58
Mathile, Clayton $2.3
68
Rahr, Stewart $2.2
68
Shoen, Mark $3.3
63
Walton, Jim $38.4
56
McLane, Drayton $2.1
69
Rales, Mitchell $3.4
62
Shriram, Kavitark Ram $2.1
69
Walton, Lukas $13.2
56
McNair, Robert $3.8
62
Rales, Steven $5.5
58
Siebel, Thomas $2.9
64
Walton, S. Robson $38.3
56
Meijer, Hank & Doug $7
57
Rayner, Katharine $8
57
Siegel, David $4.9
59
Wanek, Ronald $2.1
69
Menard, John $9.9
57
Redstone, Sumner $5.1
59
Simon, Herbert $2.7
66
Warner, Ty $2.7
66
Metropoulos, C. Dean $2.4
67
Rees-Jones, Trevor $4.8
59
Simons, James $18.5
56
Warren, Kelcy $4.2
60
Meyer, Gwendolyn Sontheim $4.7
60
Rennert, Ira $3.8
62
Simonyi, Charles $2.2
68
Washington, Dennis $5.7
58
Middleton, John $3
64
Resnick, Stewart & Lynda $3.9
61
Singer, Paul $2.8
66
Weiner, Russ $4.4
60
Milken, Michael $3.7
62
Reyes, J. Christopher $4.1
60
Skoll, Jeffrey $4.4
60
Wexner, Les $5.6
58 64
Moore, Gordon $7.5
57
Reyes, Jude $4.1
60
Smidt, Eric $2.1
69
Whitman, Meg $3
Moreno, Arturo $2.5
67
Rich, Robert $5.5
58
Smith, Frederick $4.9
59
Williams, Randa $5.5
58
Moritz, Michael $3.5
62
Ricketts, J. Joe $2
69
Smith, Robert $3.3
63
Winfrey, Oprah $3
64
Morris, John $4
61
Riney, Rodger $3.5
62
Snyder, Dan $2.3
68
Wrigley, William $2.8
66
Moskovitz, Dustin $13.6
56
Rizzuto, Leandro $3.5
62
Sobrato, John A. $6.5
58
Wynn, Elaine $2.3
68
Murdoch, Rupert $12
56
Robbins, Larry $2.3
68
Solow, Sheldon $4.7
60
Wynn, Steve $3.1
64
Murdock, David $2.8
66
Roberts, George $5.2
59
Soon-Shiong, Patrick $8.3
57
Yang, Jerry $2.5
67
Murphy, Bobby $3.1
64
Robertson, Julian $4.1
60
Soros, George $23
56
Yarbrough, Jon $2
69
Musk, Elon $20.8
56
Rollins, Gary $4.6
60
Spangler, Clemmie $4
61
York, Denise $2.5
67
Newell, Gabe $5.5
58
Rollins, Randall $4.6
60
Spanos, Alexander $2.4
67
Young, William $2.2
68
Newhouse, Donald $12.3
56
Roski, Edward $5.5
58
Speyer, Jerry $3.9
61
Zalik, David $2
69
Nicholas, Henry $3.3
63
Ross, Stephen $7.5
57
Spiegel, Evan $3.1
63
Zell, Sam $5.1
59
Och, Daniel $3.3
63
Rothschild, Jeff $2.8
66
Spielberg, Steven $3.6
62
Ziff, Daniel $4.8
59
Olenicoff, Igor $4.2
60
Rowan, Marc $3.1
63
Stephens, Warren $2.5
67
Ziff, Dirk $4.8
59
Omidyar, Pierre $9.6
57
Rowling, Robert $5.2
59
Sterling, Donald $3.5
62
Ziff, Robert $4.8
59
Overdeck, John $4.9
59
Rubenstein, David $2.9
64
Stern, Leonard $4.5
60
Zucker, Anita $3.5
62
Page, Larry $44.6
55
Rubin, Michael $2.9
64
Stevens, Mark $2.3
68
Zuckerberg, Mark $71
54
Parker, Sean $2.6
66
Ruffin, Phillip $2.6
66
Stine, Harry $3.9
61
Zuckerman, Mortimer $2.8
66
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 71
Australia’s 50 Richest NIGEL AUSTIN
‘Always Selling Clothes’ Nigel Austin built his Cotton On fast-fashion chain at home and in Asia. Now he’s tackling the tough U.S. market. Meet one of the newest billionaires. BY GRACE CHUNG
N
igel Austin was just 18 when he caught the entrepreneurial bug. He was newly enrolled in university but couldn’t fight the itch to swap the classroom for something more lucrative. What he knew was clothes, so he sourced them from local wholesalers, hauled them in his pickup truck to local markets and started a one-man business. “It didn’t go so well at first,” he recalls. But he stayed with it, spending most of that freshman year laboring tirelessly. Then at 19 he took a big risk by dropping out of school and focusing on his business full-time. “[For a year] I didn’t tell my father I dropped out,” says Austin. “I came back after the second year and said, ‘[I have] good news and bad news. The good news is that this retail thing is going really well; the bad news is college isn’t for me.’ I literally was not going. [I was] always selling clothes.” The grit paid off: Nearly 30 years later his Cotton On Group is the darling of Australia’s fast-fashion industry. Headquartered in Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, it boasts nearly 1,500 stores in 19 countries. Around half are in Australia; almost 400 dot
72 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
shopping centers and downtowns in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong. And now it’s focusing on the U.S., where it’s opened 143 locations since venturing into the market in 2009 amid the financial crisis. It is among just a handful of Australian retailers that have successfully expanded overseas on such a scale. The flagship Cotton On stores exude the country’s laid-back sensibility, and they feel like something of a hybrid between U.S.-based Forever 21 and Old Navy and Swedish clothing giant H&M. They’re known for everyday casual clothes, sold at modest prices and geared toward teens and young adults. Austin also takes aim at six other market segments with Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body (lingerie, swim suits and activewear), Rubi Shoes, Factorie (casual streetwear), Typo (stationery and home decor) and Supre (a junior girls brand acquired in 2013). The group commands nearly 20% of Australia’s $1.8 billion fast-fashion industry, bested only by H&M’s 22% share. The company won’t talk about profits, but it does say that global sales for the group, which has 5,600 full-time employees, reached $1.5 billion for the year ended in June, up from $1.1 billion three years earlier.
Austin’s Cotton On Group is the darling of Australia’s fastfashion industry.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 73
Australia’s 50 Richest NIGEL AUSTIN
Austin, 47, owns 90% of the company, and with this year’s list of Australia’s richest, breaks into the billionaire ranks with a net worth that Forbes Asia estimates at $1.36 billion. But after enjoying double-digit growth for five years, the group’s sales rose only 8.2% in Asia and 9% overall in fiscal 2017 as retailers faced headwinds from declining mall traffic and fierce competition from e-commerce. In the U.S., where Amazon is expected to ring up a staggering 43.5% of all e-commerce sales this year, according to eMarketer, the group managed to grow by 16% over the past year. But that was significantly down from a peak in fiscal 2013, when it jumped by 54% (see story on Amazon in Australia, p. 14). The group runs seven ecommerce sites in seven countries, which produce only 5% of overall sales, but it says those sales are growing 40% a year. The U.S. has seen thousands of stores shuttered this year and notable retailers such as Sports Authority, The Limited and 61-year-old Payless ShoeSource have filed for bankruptcy. America’s department stores are also facing what has been dubbed the “retail apocalypse,” with Sears, Macy’s and J.C. Penney together closing hundreds of locations. “The [U.S.] market is starved for a new proposition,” says Austin. “Everyone is looking backwards as opposed to looking forward. They’re more worried about closing stores than fine-tuning their business to the customer.” Adds Cotton On Group chief executive Peter Johnson: “Retailers are realizing that the structure in retail is shifting. They’re looking at their properties and saying, ‘We’ve got too much.’ Our advantage is we came in at the base. We are taking it slower than we normally would because we are reading what’s going on.” Austin, who rarely talks to the press and works to maintain a low profile, recalls his formative years. “I remember from 8 or 9 years old that I always wanted to be in retail,” he says. “My father was a figure that I really looked up to and respected. That’s probably where 74 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
A store in Los Angeles’ Century City: Austin has opened 143 in the U.S. since 2009.
I got my vision and purpose, through him.” His late father, Grant Austin, ran a clothing wholesale and import business called the Austin Group, a once publicly traded company with $45 million in annual revenue during the late 1980s (equal to $130 million today), where, starting at the age of 8, Austin would spend school holidays working. “There was plenty of tough love. My family had a very successful business, but I was limited with resources when I went to college. I was forced to go out there and have a strong work ethic.” In 1991, he set up his first store in a small space behind a butcher shop run by his grandfather and sourced merchandise from his father. “The rent was $110 a week; the philosophy [was to] keep the risk as low as possible,” says Austin. “My goal for the first year was to make $2,000 a week. If I could make [that] then I could make $100,000 a year.” He easily met that goal: First-year sales came in at $380,000. With his cousin Ashley Hardwick, who joined a year later and holds the other 10% stake in Cotton On Group, Austin raised enough money to open the next store
and then the next, largely by leveraging his father’s connections with suppliers to create a direct-sourcing model, essentially cutting out the middleman wholesaler. Many of the suppliers from those days are still with the company today. “Our suppliers grew with us,” he says. It took 15 years for the group to expand to 50 stores throughout Australia, a slow but steady rise that generated profits right from the beginning. The first international market Austin tackled was New Zealand, now the group’s third-largest market outside its home turf—after South Africa and the U.S.—with 139 locations. In Asia the company has 239 stores, with the strongest growth expected to come in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. “Cotton On is one of the few Australian businesses that have done this on a mass scale,” says James Stewart, a partner and retail expert at advisory firm Ferrier Hodgson. “The Austin family has a very, very deep history in direct sourcing. They got first-mover advantage.” One of the company’s strengths is its talent for finding good sites for new stores. Once a location is secured, the group has the agility to add or pull back any of its brands to meet shifting consumer demand. “We can flex anywhere between a 30,000-square-foot store down to 800 square feet with [some] of the brands,” says Michael Hardwick, the chief financial officer and another of Austin’s cousins. The group also keeps marketing costs very low. “[A large part of our marketing] is utilizing our online channels and store footprint to connect directly with our customer. Confident, clear product presentations and customer experiences work to drive traffic,” says the U.S. CEO, Mark Pan. The strategy has produced healthy profits. Its peers report profit margins that average 9% to 10%, but Cotton On is likely enjoying margins well above that, given its strong position back home. When asked about going public, the company responds with a quick and firm no. “It’s more fun this way,” says Hardwick. F
Credit Suisse. Helping entrepreneurs and businesses succeed in $VLD 3DFLĆ&#x;F
Australia’s 50 Richest BY LUCINDA SCHMIDT
Mining for Dollars
Andrew Forrest was up a walloping 255%.
M
ining mogul Gina Rinehart is again the nation’s richest person, after a near doubling of her fortune since our previous Australian wealth list early last year. Then, the iron ore price was $42 a metric ton; now it’s trading around $62. That $20 jump makes a big difference for someone who sells close to 80 million tons a year of the stuff through major stakes in the Roy Hill and Hope Downs mines in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. Also benefiting from iron ore’s resurgence is Fortescue Mining’s Andrew Forrest, up more than $3 billion and 16 spots to No. 6; No. 14 Kerry Stokes; and No. 23 Angela Bennett. Gina Rinehart’s four children, led by elder daugh-
ter Bianca Rinehart, make the list for the first time at No. 5 and round out the mining billionaires (see p. 78). No. 27 Manny Stul, who owns Moose Toys, and No. 33 Richard White, founder of WiseTech Global (see p. 82), also debut as billionaires. They’re 2 of 16 who are new or returning to the ranks of billionaires. Other new entrants are No. 49 Tim Roberts, son of the late Multiplex construction tycoon John Roberts, and No. 50 Chris Thomas, founder of Adelaide-based meat processor Thomas Foods. A total of seven women make the list, one fewer than last year. Gina Rinehart’s $8.1 billion gain is the largest in dollar terms, but the biggest percentage rise—255%—came from Forrest. He was one of 7 to more than double their fortunes. Overall, 40 fortunes rose since our last list, many helped by the Asia-driven real estate boom (see p. 80) and the Australian dollar’s 13.2% appreciation against the U.S. dollar since January 2016. Of the handful of fortunes that fell, No. 30 David Teoh, founder of listed TPG Telecom, took the biggest hit, down 32%, or $630 million. The stock was a darling of the hot telecom sector until it began falling back to earth last year, due to stiffening competition. Last time we combined the wealth of Russell Withers and his sister and 7-Eleven co-owner, Beverley Barlow. With her death in July, he’s now listed alone and comes in at No. 47. Six fell off the list, including Super Retail Group founder Reg Rowe, media mogul Bruce Gordon and vitamin king Marcus Blackmore. Net-worth figures are as of October 20, the day we locked in stock prices and currency-exchange rates. Additional reporting on valuations by Grace Chung, James Dunn, Antoine Gara, Noah Kirsch, Nicole Lindsay, Wendy Pugh and Tim Treadgold.
DANIEL CARSON/GETTY IMAGES
Iron ore fortunes soar, and Asian investment boosts local property wealth.
THE LIST 1 GINA RINEHART $16.6 BILLION S MINING AGE: 63
2 HARRY TRIGUBOFF $9.9 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 84
3 ANTHONY PRATT $5.8 BILLION S MANUFACTURING AGE: 57
4 FRANK LOWY $5.7 BILLION S SHOPPING MALLS AGE: 87
5 BIANCA RINEHART & SIBLINGS $5 BILLION Ì MINING AGE: 40
6 ANDREW FORREST $4.4 BILLION S MINING AGE: 55
7 JOHN GANDEL $4.1 BILLION S SHOPPING MALLS AGE: 83
8 JAMES PACKER $3.7 BILLION CASINOS AGE: 50
9 LINDSAY FOX $3.5 BILLION S LOGISTICS, PROPERTY AGE: 80
10 MIKE CANNON-BROOKES $3.4 BILLION S SOFTWARE AGE: 37
10 SCOTT FARQUHAR $3.4 BILLION S SOFTWARE AGE: 37
12 KARLEEN MINNEY/FAIRFAX MEDIA
TERRY SNOW: FLIGHT PLAN The Canberra native returns to the list after a two-year absence and is a first-time billionaire, thanks to a bumper increase in the value of his property around the capital city’s main airport. No. 38 on the list, he worked as a property developer in the 1980s with his father, Bob, and brother George. After the family business was sold he used his share of the proceeds to buy the 99-year lease on
Canberra Airport, paying just $40 million in 1998. A $310 million revamp of the terminal is almost done, offering new services for international flights. An office park, hotel, shopping center and other properties around the airport offset the fortunes of the airport, which can ebb and flow depending on government spending and travel. He’s a keen yachtsman and owns a new $80 million stud farm.
FIONA GEMINDER $2.9 BILLION S MANUFACTURING AGE: 52
13 JOHN, ALAN & BRUCE WILSON $2.7 BILLION S RETAIL AGES: 79, 76, 71 SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
BIANCA RINEHART & SIBLINGS: WINNING A FORTUNE By a court order in 2015 she replaced her mother, iron ore and cattle tycoon Gina Rinehart—No. 1 on the list—as trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust. It holds 23.4% of the family business, Hancock Prospecting, on behalf of Bianca and her three siblings, and it’s now worth $5 billion. The four—John Hancock, Bianca, Hope Welker and Ginia Rinehart—share the trust equally, making all of them new
billionaires. After a 2005 deal for a Rio Tinto-Hancock joint venture on the Hope Downs iron ore project, Bianca worked there for a time and met her husband, Alexander “Sasha” Serebryakov. Based in Sydney, Bianca has been pursuing litigation against her mother continuously since 2011: The Trust is claiming a much bigger share of Hancock Prospecting’s assets; if she prevails, the four will see their wealth swell.
MELISSA ADAMS/FAIRFAX MEDIA
Australia’s 50 Richest
THE LIST JAMES PACKER
Climbing Back From the Abyss
J
SCOTT BARBOUR/GETTY IMAGES
speaking frontline staff—projected to open in less ust over a year ago, James Packer was on top than four years. “If you don’t get VIPs, how can you of the world. His Crown Resorts, Australia’s turn that [around] to play in a different market?” casino-market leader, held pole position for the asks Peter Klugsberger, managing director of lucrative China market and was developing the Sydney-based casino consultant Ovion Partners. $1.9 billion Crown Sydney to directly challenge rival Star Entertainment’s flagship. Its Melco Crown “It’s make or break for them.” Packer is now moving partnership with Lawrence Ho quickly to right the ship. He has gave Crown exposure to the reclaimed the Crown board seat world’s biggest casino market, he gave up last year to focus on Macau, and Asia’s fastestAlon. In April, he dumped his growing gambling market, the share of RatPac Entertainment, Philippines. After costly false a movie-production partnerstarts in North America, his ship with Hollywood insider $4 billion Alon hotel and casino Brett Ratner; he was reported was taking shape on the Las as saying last month that he Vegas Strip. And he decided lost $80 million on the investthat it was easiest to oversee ment. Crown has sold out of that project from his Los Melco Crown, shelved Alon, Angeles mansion, where he was abandoned a share-restructuring ensconced with fiancée Mariah plan, replaced the top leadCarey, who was flashing her Not much to smile about recently. ership and promoted John $10 million engagement ring. Alexander to executive chairman. As Packer pays A steep slide for Packer and Crown began just down debt, his net worth is recovering—it’s now over a year ago as reports of a breakup with Carey $3.7 billion, up from $3.5 billion early last year and surfaced and China arrested 18 Crown employees, $3 billion in February. (His sister Gretel Packer is including one of its top Australia-based execuworth $1.1 billion, following the 2015 settlement of tives, for violating gambling-promotion rules. All their father’s estate.) were convicted in June, and the last detainees were Word from inside Crown is that Packer, who freed in August, but Crown’s strategy of betting on owns 49.7%, is taking a hands-on, day-to-day role. Chinese high rollers for growth lay in ruins. He fronted last month’s annual meeting for the first Thanks to the devastation to its reputation and time in years, admitting that Crown’s global strategy to its ability to market in China, Crown’s revenue had failed and pledging greater transparency. “My from VIPs fell 49% for the year ended June 30. bet is that they will conceive a new business model, The decline came despite last December’s debut develop new capabilities and systems, and come out of Crown Towers Perth, which is aimed at Asian better in the end,” Klugsberger says, “although, at VIPs. The results are especially chilling with Crown this point, there is no end in sight.” Sydney—which will not have a license for a local —Muhammad Cohen favorite, slot machines, but will feature Mandarin-
14 KERRY STOKES $2.6 BILLION S INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, MEDIA AGE: 77
15 STANLEY PERRON $2.35 BILLION S PROPERTY, RETAIL AGE: 94
16 LANG WALKER $2.31 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 72
17 MICHAEL HINTZE $2.3 BILLION S INVESTMENT AGE: 64
18 HELOISE PRATT $2.2 BILLION S MANUFACTURING, INVESTMENT AGE: 55
19 DAVID HAINS $2.1 BILLION S INVESTMENT AGE: 87
20 MAURICE ALTER $2 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 92
21 TONY & RON PERICH $1.85 BILLION S AGRICULTURE, PROPERTY AGES: 76, 74
22 JACK COWIN $1.8 BILLION S FAST FOOD AGE: 75
23 ANGELA BENNETT $1.7 BILLION S MINING AGE: 73
24 KERR NEILSON $1.62 BILLION T INVESTMENT AGE: 68
25 GERRY HARVEY $1.6 BILLION S RETAIL AGE: 78 SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
Australia’s 50 Richest I N D I A N
Big Money, Big Projects
O C E A N
BY NICOLE LINDSAY
L
ow interest rates and rising immigration are changing the shape of Australian cities, fueling a building boom that is spreading out from downtowns to the suburbs. Apartment towers dominate the activity, but office buildings, hotels and a casino for James Packer’s Crown Resorts are also on tap. As shown on the map, tycoons from Australia and overseas are behind many of the biggest projects. Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean developers have entered the market in the past five years and are now competing with local companies. Wang Jianlin’s Chinabased Dalian Wanda boasts two apartment-and-hotel towers: Jewel in Surfers Paradise and One Circular Quay in the heart of Sydney. In Melbourne, Singaporean Koh Wee Seng’s Aspial Corp. is building a 100-story apartment tower called Australia 108, and ground works are under way for Melbourne Square, developed by Ong Leong Huat’s Malaysianbased OSK Holdings. Foreign investors accounted for 37%, or $6.8 billion, of the total $18.2 billion in deals transacted so far this year. Property analyst Tony Crabb, national director of research for Cushman & Wakefield, says overseas real estate moguls are trying to diversify their risk: “One of the ways to minimize risk is to operate in markets that are asynchronous.” Indeed, property prices are still lower in Australia’s main cities than in major Asian markets, and office yields are higher. Australian developers tend to stay home, with the exception of listed REIT Lendlease and the Lowy family’s mall developer Westfield. “But the Chinese are very adventurous. There’s also a large Chinese diaspora, and they think they’ve got a good chance of selling product to them,” says Crabb. A recent Credit Suisse report shows that 26% of new home purchases in Sydney are made by Chinese investors. However, there is evidence of a retreat as the Chinese government moves to limit overseas investment. Chinese investors have cooled their enthusiasm for commercial property, dropping to second place among foreigners behind Singaporean buyers in the third quarter. And Harry Triguboff, who has an $8 billion pipeline of apartment projects in Sydney, says the Chinese are buying in “much smaller numbers.” He dropped the price of his apartments this year as new units in Sydney reached an average of $900,000. “I always meet the market. The market is king.”
FRAGRANCE Size: $160 million Type: NV Apartments twin towers Koh Wee Meng, No. 30, Singapore
Perth
THE LIST 26
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ONE CIRCULAR QUAY Size: $800 million Type: Apartments Wang Jianlin, No. 1, China
T
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A
BARANGAROO Size: $1.9 billion Type: Casino, hotel, apartments James Packer, No. 8, Australia
L
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SPRINGFIELD Size: $10.6 billion Type: New township built from scratch Maha Sinnathamby, No. 43, Australia
PARRAMATTA SQUARE Size: $1.6 billion Type: Offices Lang Walker, No. 16, Australia
Brisbane
Sydney
AUSTRALIA 108 Size: $800 million Type: Apartments Koh Wee Seng, No. 50, Singapore
MELBOURNE SQUARE Size: $2.2 billion Type: Apartments Ong Leong Huat, No. 47, Malaysia
TAS M A N Melbourne
S E A
MAP: PETER AND MARIA HOEY FOR FORBES; MUNSHI AHMED; HAN HAIDAN/CNSPHOTO/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES; SCOTT BARBOUR/GETTY IMAGES; BRYAN VAN DER BEEK/BLOOMBERG; FAIRFAX MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES; MALAYSIA STAR
JUDITH NEILSON $1.5 BILLION S INVESTMENT AGE: 71
27 MANNY STUL $1.45 BILLION Ì TOYS AGE: 68
28 BOB ELL $1.4 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 72
29 NIGEL AUSTIN $1.36 BILLION S RETAIL AGE: 47
30 DAVID TEOH $1.32 BILLION T TELECOMS AGE: 61
31 SOLOMON LEW $1.3 BILLION S RETAIL AGE: 72
32 LEN AINSWORTH $1.27 BILLION S BETTING MACHINES AGE: 94
33 RICHARD WHITE $1.25 BILLION Ì SOFTWARE AGE: 62
34 BRETT BLUNDY $1.23 BILLION S RETAIL, AGRIBUSINESS AGE: 57
35 JOHN VAN LIESHOUT $1.2 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 71
36 ALAN RYDGE $1.15 BILLION ENTERTAINMENT AGE: 65
37 GRETEL PACKER $1.1 BILLION S CASINOS AGE: 51
38 TERRY SNOW $1.07 BILLION 3 AIRPORTS, PROPERTY AGE: 73 SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
Australia’s 50 Richest
RICHARD WHITE: NEW BILLIONAIRE refrigeration engineer and computer wholesaler, he’s also repaired guitars for top Australian rock bands like AC/DC and The Angels. Now he’s a chief executive and retains a 55% stake. Touted as Australia’s next Atlassian (see No. 10), Sydney-based WiseTech has more than 7,000 customers in 125 countries using its cloud-based logistics platform, CargoWise One, to automate dozens of steps.
SOLOMON LEW: HALL OF FAMER His Premier Investments has taken the spotlight this year with the purchase of a 10.8% stake in struggling Australian department store icon Myer, sparking takeover speculation. Lew family companies are major suppliers to the group, which is midway through a turnaround plan. Elsewhere, Premier’s Smiggle stationery stores, aimed at children and teenagers, are expanding rapidly in the U.K., and growth is planned in Europe. Lew, No. 31 on the list, says he always had an entrepreneurial mindset, working in retail after school and during holidays before opening his first apparel business on his 18th birthday. He was the first Australian to enter the World Retail Hall of Fame, in 2016, when he was inducted along with Jo Malone and Tommy Hilfiger.
LOUIE DOUVIS/FAIRFAX MEDIA (TOP); STUART MCEVOY/NEWSPIX
He founded software company WiseTech Global in 1994 to help logistics companies manage the movement of goods and information across global supply chains. Since he took it public in April of last year, WiseTech’s share price has more than doubled, due to strong organic growth in revenue and profits and ten acquisitions around the world, and he debuts on this year’s list at No. 33. A serial entrepreneur and former musician,
THE LIST ANTHONY PRATT
All in on Donald Trump
A
and Heloise Pratt, at No. 18, hold stakes in Visy ustralia’s cardboard-box kingpin, Anbut not in the U.S. operation.) thony Pratt, wagered $75,000 on AustraTrump called Pratt’s pledge “beautiful.” Vice lian betting markets that Donald Trump President Mike Pence has been a fan for a while, would win the U.S. election last fall, netting him a tidy $350,000. Then, in May, Pratt stepped up to praising Pratt as “a man of his word” when he cut the ribbon at Pratt Industries’ the podium at a New York City Valparaiso, Indiana, paper mill event and made an even bigger in March of last year. bet on America. He pledged The warm feelings are to invest $2 billion in U.S. mutual. Pratt has been regularly manufacturing over the next taking out full-page ads in The decade, creating 5,000 highWall Street Journal to thank paying jobs for Americans in his new friends in the Trump the process. Front-and-center, administration for supporting giving him a standing ovation: U.S. manufacturing and helping Donald Trump. expand American food exports These days Pratt is making (food and beverage companies friends in high places. No are his biggest customers). The surprise, since his Pratt Indusads are complete with photos of tries (the U.S. sister company Pratt holding up a chart of exports of his family’s Melbourneon the rise, glad-handing with based Visy) is perfectly posiU.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny tioned for America’s current Perdue and being applauded by business—and political— Trump. “Thank you President climate. His 100%-recycled Trump, Secretaries Ross and cardboard boxes have found Perdue for getting beef into China major customers in Amazon for the first time since 2003,” one and the U.S. Postal Service, One of Pratt’s Wall ad reads. Another “salutes” the thanks to the rise of online Street Journal ads praising Trump. administration’s “constancy of focus shopping, where everyon exports, deregulation and other key drivers thing comes in a box. Plus his aggressive growth of success for farmers and food processors of plans—he hopes to nearly double his U.S. workAmerica.” force in the coming years—are right on target One reader in particular took notice, sendfor an “America first” commander-in-chief who ing a copy of an ad back to Pratt with a message is hyper-focused on job creation. His net worth scrawled in all caps in a thick, black Sharpie: has jumped by $1.4 billion, to $5.8 billion, since February, making him the third-richest person in “Anthony, thank you—you are great—best wishes, Australia. (His sisters, Fiona Geminder, at No. 12, Donald Trump.” —Chase Peterson-Withorn
FOR THE METHODOLOGY AND ALL BIOS, GO TO FORBES.COM/AUSTRALIA.
39 SAM TARASCIO $1 BILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 73
40 PAUL LITTLE $980 MILLION S LOGISTICS, PROPERTY AGE: 69
41 JOHN KAHLBETZER $950 MILLION S AGRIBUSINESS AGE: 86
42 BRUCE MATHIESON $910 MILLION S HOTELS AGE: 73
43 MAHA SINNATHAMBY $900 MILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 77
44 CON MAKRIS $800 MILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 70
45 RALPH SARICH $780 MILLION S PROPERTY AGE: 78
46 GRAHAM TURNER $770 MILLION S TRAVEL AGE: 68
47 RUSSELL WITHERS $760 MILLION T FOOD & BEVERAGE AGE: 71
48 RICHARD SMITH $750 MILLION S FOOD DISTRIBUTION AGE: 77
49 TIM ROBERTS $710 MILLION Ì CONSTRUCTION & AVIATION AGE: 46
50 CHRIS THOMAS $700 MILLION Ì FOOD PROCESSING AGE: 68 SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10% ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
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Around Asia In Forbes:
FORBES THAILAND OCTOBER FORBES INDIA OCTOBER 27 At age 42, Neville Noronha runs India’s highest-valued retailer, DMart. Since an IPO in March, its parent’s market capitalization has neared $10 billion on big-box sales of near $2 billion. A Hindustan Lever alum, Noronha runs the business on behalf of reclusive billionaire founder Radhakishan Damani. (forbesindia.com)
Prachak Tangkaravakoon is chairman of TOA Paint, Southeast Asia’s leading maker of protective coatings, with eight plants in six countries. The family company, whose name dates to a decades-old Japanese term for East Asia, is nearing $500 million in sales and is pointing toward an IPO soon. (forbesthailand.com)
FORBES VIETNAM OCTOBER Ngo Chi Dung returned to Vietnam in 2010, after an entrepreneurial foray in Eastern Europe, to restructure and chair VPBank, torn by owner conflicts. Now a tech-savvy retail lender, it had a $2.3 billion market cap after a recent IPO and aims higher. (forbesvietnam.com)
FORBES INDONESIA NOVEMBER Ranking minister Darmin Nasution has overseen $72 billion worth of realized Indonesian infrastructure—ports, air terminals, highways—either completed or under construction. (forbesindonesia.com)
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 85
Forbes Life
Artsy Aussies There’s a multimillion-dollar museum boom Down Under. BY OLIVER GILES
T
he world’s greatest cities are nothing without their galleries. London has the Tate Modern, New York the Museum of Modern Art and Paris the Pompidou Centre. But what art spaces do Australian cities have? You may not be able to name a single gallery in Australia, but the country is in the middle of a cultural boom. This year, plans for museums, galleries and other arts spaces have been unveiled in all six Australian states. One of Australia’s most famous art institutions is the Museum of Old & New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania. Since Australian businessman and art collector David Dominic Walsh opened MONA in 2011, more than 1.7 million people have walked through its doors, adding an estimated $100 mil-
86 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
lion to Tasmania’s economy every year. Just as architect Frank Gehry transformed the sleepy Spanish town of Bilbao with his curvaceous Guggenheim Museum, Walsh has rejuvenated the Tasmanian capital with MONA, which houses controversial artworks such as Wim Delvoye’s “Poo Machine,” an installation that converts food into feces. And now Walsh wants to push MONA even further. In July, he unveiled plans for the “next phase” of the museum, an extension called HOMO (which stands for Hotel at MONA). HOMO includes a 172-room, five-star hotel, but it will also feature a library and new spaces for performing arts. The MONA Library inside HOMO will house Walsh’s large collection of rare books and manuscripts and will be accessible to the public and researchers. HOMO is expected to open in 2022.
GALLERY BOOM
Other philanthropists are funding new arts and cultural spaces around the country. Naomi Milgrom, the owner of women’s clothing brands Sportsgirl, Sussan and Suzanne Grae, says private patrons have played a key role in strengthening Australia’s cultural scene. “There are a number of individuals with big ambitions,” Milgrom explains. “Ulrike Klein in South Australia is one. She’s developed the Ukaria Cultural Centre, which is a beautiful performance space for music. There’s also Judith Neilson, who’s created the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney.” Milgrom is too modest to include herself on that list, but she is one of the country’s most prominent patrons of the arts. Through the Naomi Milgrom Foundation she supports art, design and cultural projects in Australia and around the world. Her most famous initiative is the MPavilion, a temporary event and performance space that is installed for four months every year in Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens. The MPavilion hosts everything from fashion shows to lectures by artists to performances by local musicians, all of which are free to the public. It’s estimated that “more than 100,000 people will pass through the current MPavilion,” during its run from October 3, 2017 to February 4, 2018, according to Robert Doyle, Lord Mayor of Melbourne. “With Making a splash: The the MPavilion, MONA in Hobart, Tasmania, is adding I want to dea five-star hotel, liver an inspia library and new performance spaces. rational civic space for Melbourne,” Milgrom says. “People can come and go—there’s no ticketing. It’s a completely free cultural space.” Milgrom commissions a different architect to design the MPavilion every year. For this year’s MPavilion, the fourth, she enlisted the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. With his studio, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Koolhaas created a high-tech amphitheater to accommodate the varied events planned for the building. “Melbourne is a city that’s changing very, very
fast in a country that’s changing very, very fast,” Koolhaas said at the opening. Keen to attract both international and interstate tourists, Australian state governments are also investing in new cultural spaces. The government of New South Wales, for example, is spending almost $200 million to extend the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. Designed by Japanese architectural firm SANAA, the extension includes plans for an elegant new building and the transformation of WWII-era oil tanks buried beneath the museum into cavernous exhibition spaces. It will create more than 4,500 square meters of new gallery space and is expected to boost the number of visitors from 1.2 million people per year to 2 million. More visitors also means more money. In the first 25 years after its completion, the gallery believes the extension will add $800 million to the economy of New South Wales. On the other side of the country, in the far-western city of Perth, the local government has committed over $300 million to fund the New Museum for Western Australia. Like this year’s MPavilion, this megamuseum was designed by OMA. “The New Museum for Western Australia was the first time in Australian history that they organized a tender where only international architects could compete,” says David Gianotten, one of OMA’s managing partners. OMA competed with other major firms, including Jean Nouvel and Foster & Partners. “We’re very used to competing with those firms in Europe, but we very rarely encounter them on the other side of the world,” Gianotten says. “That really shows how the Australian cultural scene is growing.” F
MPavillion, a temporary event space in Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens.
NOVEMBER 2017 FORBES ASIA | 87
THOUGHTS ON
Education & Success “Bryn Mawr had done what a four-year dose of liberal education was designed to do: unfit her for 80% of the useful work of the world.”
“The mind is not a vessel that needs filling but wood that needs igniting.” —PLUTARCH
“IN REAL LIFE, I ASSURE YOU, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ALGEBRA.”
—TONI MORRISON
“WHAT WE HAVE TO LEARN TO DO, WE LEARN BY DOING.”
—FRAN LEBOWITZ
“EDUCATION IS WHAT SURVIVES WHEN WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN.” —B.F. SKINNER
“To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself—that is the first duty of the educator.”
“ ‘CASTING OUT FEAR’ OUGHT TO BE THE MOTTO OVER EVERY SCHOOL DOOR.” —A.S. NEILL
“MAN IS THE ONLY CREATURE THAT MUST BE EDUCATED.”
“STUDY WITHOUT DESIRE SPOILS THE MEMORY, AND IT RETAINS NOTHING THAT IT TAKES IN.”
—IMMANUEL KANT
—LEONARDO DA VINCI
—MARIA MONTESSORI
“In all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” —CONFUCIUS
“One is curious only in proportion to one’s level of education.” —JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
“DOING IS OF SUCH A NATURE AS TO THINKING. “YOU CAN’T DEMAND LEARNING NATURALLY EXPECT A RESULTS.” “EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE GOLDEN DOOR OF FREEDOM.” —GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
BOY TO BE VICIOUS UNTIL HE’S BEEN TO A GOOD SCHOOL.” —SAKI
88 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2017
—JOHN DEWEY
FINAL THOUGHT “How you fill your mind determines very largely how you will fill your pocket.” —B.C. FORBES
“IF THE AX IS DULL AND ITS EDGE UNSHARPENED, MORE STRENGTH IS NEEDED—BUT SKILL WILL BRING SUCCESS.” —ECCLESIASTES 10:10 SOURCES: ON PEDAGOGY, BY IMMANUEL KANT; SONG OF SOLOMON, BY TONI MORRISON; THE TIMES BOOK OF QUOTATIONS; ÉMILE OU DE L’ÉDUCATION, BY JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU; REGINALD IN RUSSIA, BY SAKI; THE PROBLEM CHILD, BY A.S. NEILL; NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, BY ARISTOTLE; MORALIA, BY PLUTARCH.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAVID LEVENSON/GETTY IMAGES; MARINOS KARAFYLLIDIS/ALAMY; EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP; AP; ARCHIV GERSTENBERG/ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES; ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES; E O HOPPE/PICTURES FROM HISTORY/NEWSCOM; ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; YVONNE HEMSEY/GETTY IMAGES
—ARISTOTLE
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