The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Luis Leoncio
The Lee family of South Korea that controls the Samsung Group, tops the list of Asia’s richest, with a combined wealth of $26.6 billion, Forbes Asia said during the launch of its inaugural ranking of the top 50 Asian business dynasties.
The Philippines contributed three families to the list.
The family of Filipino mall tycoon Henry Sy was at No.13, with a net worth of $12.3 billion. Sy worked at a young age for his family’s convenience store. He later started a small shoe store in Manila and built it into SM Prime, the country’s largest mall developer, Forbes said.
The family’s interests now range from banking to retail, and growth plans involve building “micro cities” around some of its existing mall property.
The family also has a stake in privately owned electricity firm National Grid Corp.
The Zobel de Ayala family landed at No. 35, with a net worth of $4.2 billion and the Aboitizes came in at No 44, valued at $3.6 billion.
This inaugural list recognizes that family is at the core of Asia’s biggest conglomerates and some of its best-known brands.
The Lee family of Samsung Group is a good illustration; the group’s 2014 revenues were equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Forbes said that while few dominate to such an extent, many business dynasties hold wide regional sway with their sprawling, cross-border empires.
The latest Forbes list recognized this prominence, and the succession and operational challenges inherent in family businesses.
Forbes said that to qualify, a family’s wealth and participation in building that fortune has to extend to at least three generations.
The Lee family’s wealth dates back to 1938 when founder Lee Byung-Chull, son of a wealthy landowner, founded a small trading company in Daegu.
His son, Lee Kun-Hee succeeded him as chairman in 1987 before Samsung spun off into four entities in the 1990s.
Today, Samsung Group, CJ Group, Shinsegae Group and Hansol Group, are all run by second- and third-generation Lees. At least 15 relatives run more than 55 businesses, with total sales of $335 billion.
The second on the list is the Lee family of Henderson Land Development from Hong Kong, with a combined wealth of $24.1 billion. Founder Lee Shau Kee moved to Hong Kong from China’s Guangdong province in 1948 and initially traded in precious metals and currencies. He later co-founded Sun Hung Kai with Kwok Tak-Seng (No. 5) and Fung King Hey before setting up Henderson Development in 1973. His children Peter, Martin and Margaret, play active roles in the business while a third generation is being groomed for management.
The Ambani family ranks No. 3 on the list, with a fortune of $21.5 billion that includes the wealth of brothers Mukesh and Anil, both of whom inherited most of their father’s fortune on his death in 2002 but opted for doing business separately. Mukesh’s twins, son Akash and daughter Isha, work at and occupy board seats at telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail Anil’s son, Jai Anmol, works at Reliance Capital. Thailand’s Chearavanont family is ranked fourth on the list with a fortune of $19.9 billion, and runs the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group. Today the group is led by co-founder Chia Ek Chor’s son, Dhanin, and the clan’s wealth is shared with his three brothers and other relatives.
Dhanin’s three sons are active in the business and are expected to succeed him.t Ranked No. 5 on the list is the Kwok family from Hong Kong, with a combined net wealth of $19.5 billion. The Kwok property empire extends from skyscrapers in Hong Kong to more than 80 million square feet of pieces of property across mainland China. Kwok TakSeng cofounded Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd in 1969. By 1972, he expanded into Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited. His sons, Walter, Thomas and Raymond, took over after his death, and today, Raymond is the group’s sole chairman. Grandsons, Ho-Lai and Kai-Fai are also involved in the family business. Another notable family on the list is the Kwek/Quek family from Singapore and Malaysia that ranks No, 6 on the list, with a combined wealth of $18.9 billion. The Kweks of Singapore and their cousins, the Queks of Malaysia own and manage the Hong Leong Group founded by Kwek Hong Png and his three brothers. Today the globally diversified conglomerate has assets of $28 billion, with interests in hotels, financial services, consumer and industrial-goods trading.
Kwek’s eldest son, Kwek Leng Beng, oversees the Singapore operations. Across the border, his cousin Quek Leng Chan is chairman of its Malaysia business. Grandsons Sherman and Eik Sheng are part of the senior management team at group companies.
Some of the region’s richest tycoons like Hong Kong’s Li Ka-shing, are absent in this inaugural ranking as he has no grandchildren who have taken serious roles in the family business.
While most of the families on the list have kept their flock together over generations, the 50 families also include some who have gone separate ways in business or are entirely estranged.
Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese descent, but none of them is based in mainland China, where conglomerates are young and run by first generations.
Families from India hold 14 of the 50 spots, easily the most from any jurisdiction. Many of the family businesses on the list are publicly traded entities, and although the families may retain control, they are still answerable to outside shareholders.
India’s Burman family (No. 30, $5.5 billion) that is featured on the cover of the magazine has brought in professional managers to ensure the continuity of the business and family.
Anand Burman, the 63-year-old, fifth-generation scion and non-executive chairman of the family-owned Dabur has seen net profits grow 24-fold, and market cap soar 40-fold since 1998. Dabur boasts of a portfolio of 400 products—ranging from skin-care bleaches and ayurvedic shampoos to natural fruit juices—selling through nearly six million outlets across India. The family’s 68-percent holding is valued at $5 billion.
Tim Ferguson, editor of Forbes Asia, said: “Just as a family business brings its useful product to market and evolves from there, this inaugural ranking opens the door to new discoveries in future years.” The minimum combined net wealth to qualify for the list was $2.9 billion.