Asia’s Power Business Women 2024
Businesswomen in the Asia-Pacific region are stepping up to lead industries that face many challenges. Despite uncertain economic times, these 20 women have been trusted to guide companies, investment firms, and family businesses toward steady growth.
The list includes experienced leaders who were the first women to take on these roles at their companies. Some are leading fast-growing fields like electric vehicles and server hardware production, while others are guiding property development companies through difficult market conditions. This year’s honorees represent a new wave of businesswomen with bold plans, ready to tackle any obstacles. They were selected for their achievements and proven leadership in the business world.
Vicki Brady
CEO and Managing Director, Telstra
Age: 53 • Australia
In her two years leading Telstra, Australia’s largest telecom company, Vicki Brady has focused on connecting people and advancing the company’s goals in artificial intelligence. Under her leadership, Telstra plans to invest up to A$1.6 billion (around $1 billion) by 2027, which includes expanding its national fiber network. U.S. tech company Microsoft has agreed to use this network to boost its AI infrastructure in Australia.
Brady is also working to improve profits, enhance customer service, and digitalize operations. In May, she cut 2,800 jobs—over 10% of Telstra’s workforce—a move expected to save A$350 million by the end of 2025. By next year, she aims to transfer 90% of Telstra’s applications to the public cloud and use AI to streamline major business operations. The company’s net profit fell by 13% to A$1.8 billion in the year ending June 30, partly due to costs related to the layoffs.
Brady joined Telstra in 2016 as a group managing director and became chief financial officer in 2019. Before that, she worked for competitor Optus, its parent company Singapore Telecommunications, and at accounting firm KPMG.
Bonnie Chan
CEO, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
Age: 54 • Hong Kong
Bonnie Chan is the first woman to lead Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which runs Hong Kong’s stock exchange. She is working to revive the exchange, which had a slow start this year with only $610 million raised in IPOs—the lowest amount since 2009.
Under Chan’s leadership, things are improving. In the second quarter, 18 companies went public, up from 12 in the first quarter, raising 79% more in funds. In September, Chinese home appliance company Midea raised $4 billion in Hong Kong’s biggest listing in nearly four years and the world’s second-largest IPO this year, following Lineage’s $5.1 billion IPO in New York. Chan called this a “great prelude for more mega deals to come” on LinkedIn. She also supported a new rule, Chapter 18C, that lets specialized tech companies list with lower profits. The first to benefit was QuantumPharm (also known as XtalPi), an AI-driven drug discovery company that raised $127 million in June.
Chan previously led IPO transactions at HKEX from 2007 to 2010, rejoined as head of listings in 2020, became co-chief operating officer in early 2023, and took on the CEO role in March.
Clara Chan
CEO, Hong Kong Investment Corporation
Age: 44 • Hong Kong
Clara Chan is the first CEO of Hong Kong Investment Corp. (HKIC), where she is tasked with promoting industries that will help keep Hong Kong globally competitive while also making strong returns. A key part of her role is to position Hong Kong as a center for high-tech sectors like AI and green technology. Launched in 2022 with HK$62 billion (about $8 billion), HKIC appointed Chan to lead in late 2023. Its first projects include partnerships with local AI company SmartMore, which plans to open a school to teach AI skills in Hong Kong, and Beijing-based robot maker Galbot, which will establish an R&D lab in the city. “We not only connect funds but also bring together technology, talent, and industry to support the growth of startups,” Chan said in September.
Before joining HKIC, Chan, who is a trained barrister, worked at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Starting as a manager of direct investments in 2010, she rose to become executive director of monetary management in 2020, where she helped negotiate a HK$39 billion deal to support Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s main airline, during the pandemic.
Maggi Chen
Cofounder and Chairman, Chenbro Micom
Age: 68 • Taiwan
Maggi Chen co-founded the Taiwan-listed company Chenbro Micom in 1983 with her husband, Leon Chen, and her brother, Frank. Over the next three decades, she led the company from designing computer chassis—the cases for computer components—to manufacturing them, often specializing in custom orders and expanding operations into China.
Seeing the rising demand for server chassis driven by the growth of AI, 5G, and cloud industries, Chen shifted the company’s focus to server chassis production. Today, Chenbro Micom is one of the world’s largest server chassis manufacturers and counts major companies like chipmaker Nvidia as clients. In the first half of 2024, the company’s revenue rose 53% year-on-year to NT$6.4 billion (about $198 million), with net profit up 176% to NT$833 million.
In 2020, Chen moved some of the company’s manufacturing back to Taiwan, establishing a NT$2.5 billion facility in Chiayi County, near her hometown of Yunlin County. The new plant is designed to look like stacked servers. Chen, who grew up in central Taiwan, served as president of the company until 2013 and became chairman in 2009. She graduated in 1977 from the Department of Money and Banking at National Chengchi University.
Shina Chung
CEO, Kakao
Age: 49 • South Korea
In March, Shina Chung became the first female CEO of Kakao, the South Korean tech giant known for its popular messaging app. She stepped into this role after spending ten years at Kakao’s venture investment arm. Shortly after she started, however, Kakao’s founder and chairman, Kim Beom-su, was arrested in July on charges of manipulating stock prices in connection with Kakao’s acquisition of K-pop company SM Entertainment. Kim and other executives accused of securities violations have denied any wrongdoing. Chung, who was an outside director when the acquisition happened, has not been charged.
Under Chung’s leadership, Kakao’s second-quarter net profit rose 59% to 87 billion won on revenue of 2 trillion won, up 4% from the previous year, driven by growth in its ride-hailing and digital finance services. A former management consultant, Chung plans to streamline Kakao’s operations by selling non-core assets and focusing on AI to boost revenue. Instead of investing in costly AI model research, she aims to develop market-ready products, like a new interactive app for consumers.
Miwako Date
President and CEO, Mori Trust
Age: 53 • Japan
Miwako Date is working to secure the future of Tokyo-based Mori Trust Holdings by expanding its luxury hotel business. Her goal is to make this area as strong as the company’s main businesses—office leasing and property sales. She sees this third area as a way to create more steady, long-term revenue and balance out the ups and downs of their other businesses.
At the same time, Date is growing Mori Trust’s core operations, with plans to add 379,000 square feet of new office space and 800 luxury condos by 2030. Date, now 53, joined the company in 1998, which her father founded. After her two older brothers left, she stepped up as president and CEO in 2016, making her one of the few women leading a major corporation in Japan.
Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso
President, Megaworld
Age: 61 • Philippines
Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso became president of Megaworld in June, taking over from founder Andrew Tan, who built the company into one of the largest landlords for call centers and hotel operators in the Philippines. Her role involves leading a major expansion, as Megaworld plans to invest 350 billion pesos (around $6.1 billion) by 2027 to grow its townships from 31 in May to 35 by the end of 2024. It also aims to expand its hotel portfolio from 8,000 rooms in 19 properties to 12,000 rooms across 27 properties.
Gutierrez-Alfonso faces challenges as interest rates, while easing, still keep borrowing costs high, and competitors are expanding hotels, expecting tourism to rise with new infrastructure projects like airports. Megaworld, largely owned by Tan’s Alliance Global Group, reported an 11% increase in first-half net income to 9.8 billion pesos, with revenue up 22% to 39.1 billion pesos.
A certified public accountant, Gutierrez-Alfonso joined Megaworld in 1990 and has held various roles, including senior executive vice president for finance and administration and, most recently, chief operating officer. Tan, now 72, remains chairman with an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion.
Nyrika Holkar
Executive Director, Godrej Enterprises Group
Age: 42 • India
Nyrika Holkar is seen as the likely successor to her uncle, Jamshyd Godrej, to lead the Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), a 127-year-old conglomerate with businesses in aerospace, appliances, real estate, and security locks. The great-granddaughter of Pirojsha Godrej, the group’s co-founder, Holkar already oversees key areas like branding, legal affairs, and mergers and acquisitions. She is also leading efforts to consolidate customer data across the group’s consumer divisions onto one platform. In April, she played a critical role in negotiations that led to an agreement dividing the family’s business assets between two branches of the Godrej family.
“The really exciting challenge ahead is to engage the digital-first, younger set of customers,” says Holkar, who is also a trained lawyer. She began her career at AZB & Partners in 2009, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, and joined Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing in 2015 as a senior vice president for corporate affairs. She became an executive director in 2017.
Carrie Hurihanganui
Chief Executive, Auckland Airport
Age: 53 • New Zealand
Carrie Hurihanganui, Auckland Airport’s first female CEO, is leading its most extensive expansion since the airport opened in 1966. In September, the company announced a NZ$1.4 billion ($869 million) equity raise to fund its NZ$6.6 billion modernization plan, which is the largest capital raise in New Zealand’s market history. This funding will support a new NZ$2.2 billion domestic terminal set to open by 2029 and help reduce net debt. “Auckland Airport is getting on with building [a] resilient, fit for purpose gateway,” Hurihanganui said in February, two years after taking charge of one of New Zealand’s largest companies by market cap. For fiscal 2024 (ended June 30), Auckland Airport’s revenue jumped 43% to NZ$896 million, driven by a 17% increase in passengers to 18.5 million, though traffic is still below pre-pandemic levels.
Originally from outside Chicago, Hurihanganui moved to New Zealand after a trip to the North Island at age 18. She started her career in sales and marketing, later becoming a flight attendant at Air New Zealand while pursuing a business degree. Over two decades, she held various roles at the airline, becoming chief operating officer in May 2020 as it managed pandemic-related cuts.
Michelle Jablko
CEO, Transurban
Australia
In October 2023, Michelle Jablko became the first woman to lead Transurban, a Melbourne-based company and one of the world’s largest toll-road operators, valued at A$40 billion (about $26 billion). She is overseeing the completion of three major projects by 2026: the A$6.1 billion West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne, the A$589 million M7-M12 Integration highway project in Sydney, and the $333 million extension of the Interstate 495 highway near Washington D.C. For the year ending in June, Transurban reported a net profit of A$376 million, a 312% increase from the previous year, on sales of A$4.1 billion.
Jablko joined Transurban as chief financial officer in 2021, coming from ANZ, an Australian bank, where she was the head of finance. She has a background as a UBS banker and is also a trained lawyer. In addition, Jablko serves on the Australian government’s Takeovers Panel, which deals with corporate takeover disputes. She was the first in her family to attend college, graduating with honors in law and economics from Monash University in Melbourne.
Rishma Kaur
Chairman, Berger Paints India
Age: 52 • India
In August, Rishma Kaur became the chairman of Berger Paints India, which had $1.3 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year. It is the second-largest paint company in India by market share and revenue, following Asian Paints. Kaur, who has been a director for over ten years, succeeded her billionaire father, Kuldip Singh Dhingra, who now holds the title of chairman emeritus. Her uncle, Gurcharan Singh Dhingra, also a billionaire, became vice chairman emeritus, and his son, Kanwardip Singh Dhingra, took over as vice chairman.
“My responsibilities have increased, but I haven’t given up on what I’ve always been passionate about,” Kaur said in a phone interview. She joined Berger Paints as an intern 30 years ago after studying business in the U.K. and took a seven-year break to raise her three children. Kaur has found her niche in product and business development, stating, “I love experimenting.” She highlighted the company’s high-end finishes and heavy-duty waterproof coatings and envisions a future where AI and robots can simplify the painting process.
Berger Paints was a small industrial paint company when the Dhingra brothers bought it in 1991 from former billionaire Vijay Mallya. Today, it operates 29 factories and has a presence in Nepal, Poland, and Russia. In India, it faces competition from well-funded new entrants like Birla Opus Paints, part of billionaire Kumar Birla’s Aditya Birla Group. Kaur believes, “This market is big enough. We have room to grow.”
Stella Li
Executive Vice President, BYD
Age: 55 • China
Stella Li is a key player in the global expansion of BYD, China’s electric vehicle giant. She oversees the company’s operations in the Americas and Europe and is working towards BYD’s goal of increasing international sales from 30% to nearly half of its revenue. In the first half of 2024, BYD generated 301 billion yuan ($43 billion), with a significant portion coming from overseas. So far, Li has opened BYD’s first factory in the U.S., located in Lancaster, California. This factory, launched in 2013, has become one of the largest manufacturers of battery-electric buses in North America. Currently, BYD is also building its first factory in Hungary for the European market and planning a major facility in Mexico that is expected to create about 10,000 jobs.
At a Forbes China event in 2019, Li emphasized the importance of transparency and integrity, saying, “We are a publicly traded, private [sector] company, and carry very high standards for transparency and integrity. That’s how you build a global culture and a global company. Then, it doesn’t matter what will happen. This kind of company can survive.” Li began her career at BYD as a marketing manager in the mid-1990s and later served as the CEO of BYD Electronics before being promoted to her current role.
Stephanie Lo
Vice Chairman, Shui On Land
Age: 42 • Hong Kong
In May, Stephanie Lo became the vice chairman of Shui On Land, the main unit of Shui On Group, which her billionaire father, Vincent Lo, founded in 1971. She has a challenging job ahead, as she is responsible for guiding the developer through a property market crisis that started in 2020 when the Chinese government began cracking down on excessive borrowing by builders.
In the first half of 2024, Shui On Land saw its net profit drop by 88% to 72 million yuan ($10 million), and revenue fell 68% to 2.1 billion yuan, mainly due to fewer residential projects being completed, which led to lower property sales. However, Lo believes the company has a strong foundation to withstand these challenges, as its properties are mainly located in Shanghai, which remains one of the few cities in mainland China still attracting buyers for high-end homes. She also highlights the company’s focus on developing large projects that preserve historic neighborhoods and turn them into retail and entertainment hubs.
Lo joined Shui On Land in 2012 after gaining experience at architecture and design firms in New York. She became the vice chairman of the subsidiary Shui On Xintiandi in 2017 and was appointed executive director of Shui On Land the following year.
Vishakha Mulye
CEO, Aditya Birla Capital
Age: 55 • India
Since veteran banker Vishakha Mulye became the head of Aditya Birla Capital in 2022, she has greatly increased the growth of the company’s lending, insurance, and mutual fund businesses and expanded its digital services. For the six months ending on September 30, the company reported a 17% increase in net profit to 15.8 billion rupees ($189 million), with revenue growing by 29% to 188 billion rupees.
Last year, Aditya Birla Capital raised 30 billion rupees by selling shares to institutional investors like Capital Group and SBI Life Insurance to support its digital growth. In April, Mulye launched Aditya Birla Capital Digital, a platform that offers digital financial services to retail customers, including a mobile app. Since its launch, over 2.5 million customers have signed up, and Mulye aims to add 30 million new users in the next three years. Other new digital services include Udyog Plus, which provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses, and Payments Lounge, a platform for merchants to collect payments.
Mulye is a qualified chartered accountant and spent nearly 30 years at ICICI Group, where she started as a trainee in 1993. She held various leadership roles in banking, insurance, and venture capital, eventually becoming an executive director on ICICI Bank’s board in 2016.
Shania Manoj Punjabi
President Commissioner, MD Entertainment
Age: 50 • Indonesia
Shania Manoj Punjabi is the leader of MD Entertainment, the largest film studio in Indonesia, which had a market value of 30.3 trillion rupiah ($1.9 billion) in mid-October. She co-founded the company in 2002 with her husband, billionaire Manoj Punjabi, and his parents, Dhamoo and Sunita.
Under Punjabi’s leadership, the company has experienced significant growth, including a deal to acquire Indonesian television company Net TV for 1.65 trillion rupiah. MD Entertainment released the horror film KKN Di Desa Penari (KKN, Curse Of The Dancing Village), which set Indonesian records with 10 million theater viewers and generated $25 million in revenue. In the first half of 2024, the company reported a net profit of 77.2 billion rupiah, a 24% increase from the previous year, mainly due to two successful movies: the drama Ipar Adalah Maut and the prequel Badarawuhi: Di Desa Penari (Dancing Village: The Curse Begin).
Punjabi, who focuses on finance and is involved with affiliated companies and subsidiaries, became president commissioner in 2021. Before joining MD Entertainment, she was a partner at A.T. Kearney Management Consultants in Jakarta. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics with a focus on marketing and strategic management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Feny Djoko Susanto
President Commissioner, Sumber Alfaria Trijaya
Age: 47 • Indonesia
Feny Djoko Susanto has been the president commissioner of Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, the minimart empire founded by her father, Djoko Susanto, for over a decade. Under her leadership, the company has achieved significant growth, including overseeing its public listing in 2009 and expanding into the Philippines in 2014 through a joint venture with local retail giant SM Investments, resulting in more than 1,600 Alfamart outlets in the Philippines today.
The group reported 107 trillion rupiah ($6.9 billion) in revenue last year, marking a 12% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2020, along with a net profit of 3.4 trillion rupiah, which represents a CAGR of 39% over the same period. Despite the rise of online shopping and major changes in Indonesia’s retail sector, the group—operating chains such as Alfamart, Alfamidi, Lawson, and Dan+Dan—has expanded from 141 stores nationwide in 2002, when Feny first joined the company as president director, to 22,000 by the end of last year.
To sustain this growth, the company has employed a franchise model and is diversifying into new areas, including beauty products and co-working spaces. Feny holds an MBA from Cleveland State University.
Tan Su Shan
Deputy CEO and CEO-Designate, DBS Group
Age: 57 • Singapore
Veteran banker Tan Su Shan is set to make history as the first woman to lead Singapore-listed DBS Group, Southeast Asia’s largest lender by assets, when she succeeds Piyush Gupta in March 2025. Gupta, who has been at the helm since 2009 after bringing Tan in from Morgan Stanley the following year, has seen her grow through the ranks, overseeing consumer banking and wealth management before becoming deputy CEO and head of institutional banking.
Tan emphasized that leading a bank in today’s landscape involves more than contingency planning; it requires agility and the ability to adapt quickly to changes driven by technology, geopolitical tensions, and economic uncertainties. She acknowledged the challenge of sustaining DBS’s growth, which reported a record S$10.3 billion ($7.9 billion) net profit in 2023, a 26% increase from the previous year. Analysts expect this upward trend to continue, bolstered by wealth management and credit card fees.
Under Gupta’s leadership, DBS has provided significant returns to its shareholders, including state investment firm Temasek. The bank’s shares have appreciated approximately 30% this year, outperforming domestic rivals such as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank. Tan’s leadership will be pivotal in maintaining this momentum and navigating the challenges ahead.
Serena Teo Joo Ling
CEO, CapitaLand Ascott Trust
Age: 50 • Singapore
Serena Teo Joo Ling became CEO of Singapore-listed CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) in July 2022, following a year as deputy CEO. CLAS is the largest lodging trust in Asia Pacific by asset value, managing S$8.5 billion ($6.6 billion) in assets, primarily serviced residences, student accommodations, and hotels, including well-known brands such as Ascott, Citadines, and Somerset. Under Teo’s leadership, the trust has experienced steady growth, with revenue rising 20% to S$745 million in 2023 compared to the previous year, marking an 89% increase since 2021. This growth has allowed for a 25% boost in the dividend payout to S$237 million.
In a strategic move to revamp its portfolio, CLAS divested assets in China and Japan in October and agreed to acquire the service apartment property lyf Funan Singapore for S$263 million, with the deal expected to close this quarter.
Teo’s background includes over ten years at the Singapore Economic Development Board, followed by her tenure at Ascendas-Singbridge Group, which was acquired by CapitaLand. In 2019, she was appointed head of portfolio management for Ascendas Funds Management, further cementing her expertise in the real estate sector.
Mitsuko Tottori
CEO, Japan Airlines
Age: 59 • Japan
Mitsuko Tottori made history as the first woman to lead Japan Airlines (JAL) when she became president in April 2024. Her journey began as a flight attendant for the airline, and she is notable for being the first CEO without a background as a pilot, maintenance engineer, finance officer, or government bureaucrat. Additionally, she is among the few leaders in the industry who did not graduate from the prestigious University of Tokyo.
Under Tottori’s leadership, JAL has seen a significant rebound in traffic, approaching pre-pandemic levels, with a net profit increase of 178% to ¥95.5 billion ($624 million) for the fiscal year ending in March. However, the airline faced challenges with a series of safety issues, resulting in a regulatory reprimand in May. In response, JAL submitted a report to the transport ministry outlining measures to enhance safety protocols.
Despite her concerns about the weight of her new responsibilities, Tottori expressed confidence in her extensive experience, which centers on the two critical facets of airline operations: safety and customer service. After graduating from Nagasaki’s Kwassui Women’s Junior College in 1985 with a degree in English, she began her career with a small airline that JAL later acquired in 2004. Her progression through the ranks included roles as senior director of cabin attendants in 2015, vice president for cabin safety in 2019, senior vice president for customer experience in 2023, and chief customer officer before her appointment as CEO.
Jo Townsend
CEO, Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation
Age: 57 • New Zealand
In April 2024, Jo Townsend was appointed CEO of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which oversees the NZ Super Fund, New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund, now valued at over NZ$80 billion ($48.3 billion). The fund has achieved an impressive average annual return of 10.1% since its inception in 2001, surpassing its benchmark portfolio, which has averaged 8.7%. Notably, the NZ Super Fund was recognized as the best-performing sovereign investor globally from 2013 to 2022 by Global SWF, a firm that monitors public fund performance.
Townsend’s appointment was praised by Guardians chair John Williamson, who highlighted her extensive experience and 30-year career in the Australian investment sector. Prior to joining the Guardians, Townsend was the CEO of Funds SA, an A$40 billion ($27 billion) institutional investor managing public sector funds. There, she spearheaded significant enhancements to the organization’s capabilities. Her previous experience also includes over seven years at Rest Super, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, where she held roles such as acting chief operating officer and general manager of investments.
Published: 5th November 2024
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