END OF AN ERA
July 24, 2000
Our most famous find, Jack Ma, is soon retiring from his Alibaba creation.
See the original story: B2B For The Little Guys
KIM MOVES ON
May 13, 2002
Our story on Michael B. Kim, then head of Asia at the Carlyle Group, signaled a turn in South Korea’s chaebol economy by chronicling the firm’s purchase of distressed KorAm Bank, jointly held by the Samsung and Daewoo conglomerates and Bank of America. Pushing the $450 million deal through ten months of bureaucratic drag paid off with a gain of $500 million in a year’s time and acceptance of more market-driven Western practices. Today Kim heads his own private equity firm, MBK Partners, which he founded with five Carlyle executives two years after our story ran and now has $15 billion under management. Focusing exclusively on greater China, Japan and Korea, MBK clinched Korea’s biggest private equity deal with its $6.1 billion takeover of Tesco’s Korean arm, Homeplus, and bought Japan’s biggest golf course operator, Accordia Golf, last year. In June, he ranked as Korea’s 43rd richest with a billion-dollar fortune.–Grace Chung
See the original story: Deal Glow
OPEN GATES FOR GATES
February 17, 2003
We observed an early shift in Microsoft’s China strategy. Embattled by rampant piracy (suing didn’t help) in an all but hostile market, the American firm opted for a plan for long-term insinuation–investing in research and joint ventures and chasing after government contracts, when China’s IT industry was still in its early stages. Fast-forward 15 years, as other U.S. tech giants are struggling for access to China, the country is estimated to be Microsoft’s second-largest source of revenue. Its search engine, Bing, fares better in China than in its native U.S. Microsoft Azure, the first foreign cloud service to operate in China, just tripled its cloud capacity there, citing surging demand. Perhaps a reissue of Bill Gates’ 1995 book, The Road Ahead, should include a “Belt” in the title.–Alex Fang
See the original story: (Microsoft’s) Long March
FORMER FRENEMIES UNITE
February 17, 2003
Our correspondent found a clash of civilizations in the Russian Far East, as increasing numbers of Chinese migrated there–or, in a historical sense, returned–in pursuit of farming and other opportunities. Although the story correctly saw a growing advantage for China in the relative might of the two national economies and may have accurately captured sentiment on the ground, official relations between the two onetime Communist frenemies have since grown tighter. Not only are they frequently aligned diplomatically against the U.S., their trade is balanced and up. Meantime, China’s major-grains harvest resumed climbing. So they’re unlikely to be crossing swords anytime soon–in fact, they held joint military exercises in September.–Ed.
See the original story: When Worlds Collide
DIGGING DEEP
October 13, 2003
Our 2003 story featured Sany Heavy Industry, the Chinese construction-equipment maker poised to compete against its state-owned peers and foreign counterparts–at home and abroad. Six years after the article was written, Sany’s excavators surpassed Caterpillar in market share in China. By 2011, Chairman Liang Wengen was (briefly) the richest man in the country. Exports, which only accounted for a single-digit sliver of its $118 million revenue in 2003, made up 30% of the company’s $5.6 billion sales in 2017. Unsurprisingly, Sany has become a poster child for Beijing’s “Made in China 2025″ initiative, which seeks to, among other things, uplift the country’s advanced manufacturing sector.–A.F.
See the original story: In Deere’s Tracks
CHINA WEARS THE PANTS
November 24, 2003
Tadahiro Yoshida sat atop the zipper universe when our story ran 15 years ago. Thanks to an early move into overseas markets, his clan’s YKK empire accounted for half of such fasteners worldwide. An aluminum building subsidiary was also a critical play, making up better than half of the group’s sales and profits. That subsidiary–now called Architecture Products–makes up 55% of YKK’s sales of $6.5 billion, supplying windows, doors and exterior fixtures, and handling property design and construction. Leadership in zippers, meantime, is challenged by China’s SBS, founded nearly 50 years after YKK. With 71-year-old Yoshida now a director, YKK tries to keep the higher-end business as the two firms split half the world’s clothing demand. Smaller Chinese outfits have much of the rest.–G.C.
See the original story: Zipping Up The World
SAFE HARBORS
March 13, 2006
Our 2006 book excerpt delivered the history and scope of Asia’s emergence as the locus of global shipping, and the past decade has only made it more so. Despite a trade lull after the world financial crisis, total container volume has risen 54% to 753 million TEUs (boxes). Asia’s ports, meantime, have solidified their hold, beginning with clear No. 1 Shanghai, up 142% through 2016. Only Dubai is an outlier in the top ten; Rotterdam fell out and now trails No. 11 Port Klang, Malaysia. Of the top 20 harbors, 15 are in Asia and 10 in greater China alone.–Ed.
See the original story: The Box That Changed Asia and The World
AMOREPACIFIC’S MAKEOVER
May 8, 2006
“This is our investment period,” said Suh Kyung-Bae, the chairman of AmorePacific, when we profiled him 12 years ago. At the time, South Korea’s beauty giant wasn’t making any money abroad, ranked a mere No. 25 worldwide in the industry and got virtually all of its sales at home, in what was already a saturated market. It plowed profits into R&D, innovating with “cushion compact” offerings that combined sunscreen, skincare and foundation in a portable compact that sold at a rate of one per second. Industry leader L’Oréal quickly followed suit. AmorePacific also benefited from the Hallyu Wave, centering its marketing on the prominent faces of Korea’s pop culture. Today it ranks No. 12 worldwide, according to trade publication WWD, collecting 30% of sales from the rest of Asia. Suh ranked No. 4 with a net worth of $7.6 billion in our June list of Korea’s richest. –G.C.
See the original story: Pacific Quests
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
December 11, 2006
Twelve years ago, Infosys was India’s software bellwether, and its cofounder and then CEO, Nandan Nilekani, was our Businessman of the Year for 2006. With its “destructive business model,” Infosys, with annual revenue of $2.1 billion, was unstoppable, snatching clients from legacy players and reporting double-digit growth in revenue and net profit year after year. Nilekani left the firm on a high note in 2009 for a five-year government gig to create identity numbers for all Indian residents. But after his departure, growth at Infosys faltered, and in 2014 it sought an outsider CEO for the first time to rev things up. Amid a revival, it was hit when a public battle broke out between retired cofounder N.R. Narayana Murthy and the board over management practices. Though the company denied wrongdoing, the CEO suddenly quit in August 2017, causing shares to tank. Nilekani, 63, who had earlier vowed never to return to Infosys and was busy backing various startups and charity causes, had to come back as nonexecutive chairman to help steady the ship. For the fiscal year ending in March, Infosys reported net profit of $2.5 billion on revenue of $10.9 billion, and its market cap is up more than 50% in the past 14 months.–Naazneen Karmali
See the original story: Insourcing From America
BUILDING BIOTECH IN CHINA
May 21, 2007
When Samantha Du made the cover, she was in her sixth year as cofounder and R&D head at Li Ka-shing-backed Chi-Med, having given up a career at Pfizer to return to China. Within a few years she moved on again, and in 2014 founded her own biotech firm, Zai Lab. It went public on Nasdaq last year and completed a $150 million secondary offering in September. Du, 53, is one of many returnee entrepreneurs building and shaping the biotech sector in China; it’s been expanding at a double-digit rate thanks to the country’s massive demand for healthcare. Regulation is becoming more favorable as well. In recent years China’s FDA has acted to accelerate its drug approval process. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange also reformed its listing rules earlier this year, allowing pre-revenue biotech companies easier access to capital.–A. F.
See the original story: Ancient Secrets
SETTING SUN
September 3, 2007
Japan’s Kyocera held the No. 3 spot in solar panel manufacturing when our story ran ten years ago. Amid fierce competition, the head of Kyocera’s solar panel unit, Tatsumi Maeda, assured suppliers that when the solar boom was over, others would disappear as Kyocera remained. Maeda, 65, is now a director at the Kyoto company, but as solar and other “renewable” energy investment had a developing-world takeoff in the decade since, especially in China, Kyocera’s global presence in the sector has waned. Its Life & Environment segment (primarily in solar energy) saw a 50% decline in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 from the same period five years ago. It is no longer in the top ten, a ranking dominated by China, with seven outfits, and JinkoSolar at No. 1.–G.C.
See the original stories: Crystal Craving; China’s Bright Light; Sunny Optimist; A Trick of the Light; Light and Heat
FLUID SUCCESSION
September 1, 2008
When we profiled Bhavarlal Jain, India’s micro-irrigation pioneer, a decade ago, his listed Jain Irrigation had survived a series of disastrous diversifications to become the world’s second-biggest maker of farm-watering systems. A staunch Gandhian who dreamed of a better future for India’s poorest tillers, the patriarch had handed over operations to his four sons in his lifetime. His death in 2016 saw a seamless transition with eldest son, Ashok, becoming chairman and son Anil, vice chairman and managing director. Today the company has annual revenue of $1.2 billion and 33 plants around the world, 19 of them abroad. Domestically, Jain has secured large-scale micro-irrigation projects from various state governments. It has expanded into related sectors such as processed foods, plastic pipes and renewable energy. The siblings, who have started to groom the third generation, are reportedly planning to list the Jain Farm Fresh Foods unit.–N.K.
See the original story: Drop by Drop
WONG BROTHERS MARCH ON
May 11, 2009
In under a decade, Singapore’s women’s shoes and accessories brand Charles & Keith has rapidly expanded its footprint across the globe. In our earlier feature, the company, run by the Wong brothers–Charles, Keith and Kelvin–had 177 shops in 21 markets. Today it has more than 550 stores in 37 markets, including far-flung places like Armenia, Egypt, Kazakhstan and Libya. Since 2008, annual sales have jumped fourfold to $388.9 million. Its global expansion has seen some partners come and go. In 2011, L Capital Asia (now called L Catterton Asia), the private equity arm of luxury group LVMH, picked up a 20% stake in Charles & Keith for a reported sum of more than S$30 million. The company has confirmed with Forbes Asia that the Wong brothers have since reacquired the stake for an undisclosed sum, and the family now owns 100% of the company. In late 2016 the brand shut its stores in Japan, where it was operating in partnership with another company, only to relaunch in Nagoya this month. Two more stores in Tokyo will open their doors next month.–Jessica Tan
See the original story: The World At Their Feet
FANCY FISH
October 2010
Ten years after making headlines with sales of showy, high-priced dragonfish to luck-seeking tycoons all over East Asia, Singapore’s Kenny Yap is poised to leap into a less frivolous segment of the farm-raised fish market. Climate change, according to the CEO of Qian Hu, has compromised the world’s wild fisheries. Healthy, sustainably raised, antibiotic-free fish from new farms in China, he says, will eventually make up most of the sales ($61 million in 2017) for the 21-year-old company.
Yap had already parlayed his fish business into several related enterprises, partly because sales of the Red Arowana peaked in 2014 as the infatuation with its so-called magical properties subsided. He sells aquarium supplies and plastic wrappings and has a chain of pet shops and ever-more exotic lines of ornamental fish that give his company an 8% share of the world market. And Yap has been part of a bizarre craze in which dragonfish are subjected to plastic surgery. Yap uses simple procedures to give them dramatic features such as a bulbous nose or eyes with a menacing, gunslinger droop. Such cosmetically altered fish can sell for upwards of $30,000.
But it’s science that gives his 800-employee company its edge. Research into the DNA of prize species lets Qian Hu breed fish for desired attributes, while study of piscine metabolism tells it how to fight disease with natural, organic medicines–fancy stuff for a family that got into this business so they could somehow reuse their obsolete concrete pigpens.–Donald Frazier
See the original story: Swimming Upstream
BUSY BROTHERS
December 2011
Seven years ago we chronicled the rise of the Dagvardorj brothers, who had assembled a sweeping industrial, retail, construction and development network in Mongolia, which was just emerging from the shadows of its Soviet past. Their love of Thoroughbred racehorses (they have 700 of them now) led them to a win in America’s Breeders Cup race in 2015. “Our business operation has also extended during this period,” says brother Tserenjigmed. They have upgraded their milk-processing operation, the nation’s largest, and imported 300 dairy cows from Europe, bringing the head count over 700. Already owners of the Ramada Hotel, they’ve built a Holiday Inn under the Intercontinental Hotel Group and expanded their exclusive Burger King franchise to a dozen branches in Ulaanbaatar. They’ve completed a crude-oil transport road for Chinese oil giant CNPC and expanded their mining operations. The brothers are also dabbling in Mongolian politics, brother Ganbaatar having been elected chairman of the community council of Gobi-Altai province, where he initiated the planting of 30,000 trees. And Tserenjigmed was elected president of the Mongolian builder’s association in a nation that continues to expand furiously. Mongolia, whose output growth this year is a projected 6.4%, remains deeply dependent on its mining and commodities exports to China and even more economically challenged Russia.–David A. Andelman
See the original story: Two Brothers Conquer Mongolia’s Free-Market Wild West
UPS AND DOWNS
February 2014
Chang Kuo-wei (“K.W.”), who was chairman of Taiwan’s EVA Airways when we profiled him in 2014, is no stranger to turmoil. The young heir was once ousted from his father’s Evergreen Group (parent of EVA Air) when Dad, Chang Yung-fa, disapproved of K.W.’s divorce and remarriage (our story noted that the patriarch was “chronically short on praise for his children”). But they reconciled, and Dad reinstated him in 2009.
Not only did they patch up their differences, but the shipping mogul, who died in 2016, even named K.W. in his will as group successor and sole inheritor of his estate, which is allegedly worth over $650 million. Dad’s dying wishes, however, ignited a succession battle, in which K.W. (one of four sons) ended up being stripped of all positions by his three elder stepbrothers with larger stakes. An ongoing legal battle may further challenge K.W.’s eligibility as the sole inheritor of his father’s estate, a portion of which is stipulated by laws to be retained for all heirs.
Refusing to be defeated, the 48-year-old aviation veteran launched his own air travel business, Starlux Airlines, in May and has inked a deal to acquire 17 Airbus A350 aircraft for a list price of $6 billion. Starlux is slated to begin operations in 2020, vying for high-end travelers in Asia. “I will live up to my father’s expectations and build Starlux into a world-class airline,” he says.–Joyce Huang
See original story: Evergreen Heir K.W. Chang Earns His Stripes
Reporting by: Tim Ferguson (Editor), David A. Andelman, Grace Chung, Alex Fang, Donald Frazier, Joyce Huang, Naazneen Karmali, Jessica Tan
