Forbes Asia 09.2021

PHILIPPINES’
50 RICHEST

29. JACINTO NG 49

$580 MILLION THE LIST

Monde Nissin successfully completed the largest IPO in Philippines ASIA UNITED BANK
history and began trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange. AGE: 79

biscuit maker M.Y. San, make their debut with a $410 million fortune shared 30. YAP FAMILY
with their family. The Mars acquired shares in Monde Nissin after they sold
M.Y. San (which is now called Monde M.Y. San) to the noodle maker in two $530 MILLION
tranches—60% in 2001 and the remaining in January, ahead of the IPO.
MANILA BULLETIN PUBLISHING
Monde Nissin plans to use half of the IPO proceeds to expand its alterna-
tive meat brand Quorn in the U.S., after purchasing the British company in 31. MANUEL ZAMORA JR.
2015 for £550 million ($760 million) in what was the company’s biggest-ever
acquisition. Monde Nissin’s shares are up 24% since the listing. While revenue $450 MILLION
flatlined, the company’s net profit plunged 96% year-on-year to 204 million
pesos in the first half of this year, due to exceptional charges from the redemp- NICKEL ASIA
tion of convertible bonds and the rising cost of raw materials such as palm oil AGE: 82
and wheat. First Metro Securities analyst Estella Dhel Villamiel is optimis-
tic earnings will recover this year. “High commodity prices are transitory and 32. LUIS YU JR.
should be mitigated by price increases as well as efficiency programs in place,”
she says by email. $445 MILLION

Ang and Darmono launched Monde Nissin, then a small biscuit factory in 8990 HOLDINGS
Laguna, south of Manila, with 4 million pesos in 1979, expanding to instant AGE: 65
noodles a decade later. After slugging it out with rivals such as Nestle’s Maggi
and Universal Robina’s Nissin Ramen for over three decades, Monde Nissin’s 33. GILBERTO DUAVIT JR.
Lucky Me! brand has carved out a 70% share of the Philippine instant noodle
market, according to Nielsen data. The company also distributes beverages, $440 MILLION
breads, milk products and sauces. —Jonathan Burgos
GMA NETWORK
AGE: 57

34. MENARDO JIMENEZ

$430 MILLION

GMA NETWORK
AGE: 88

35. KENG SUNG
& PETER MAR

$410 MILLION

MONDE NISSIN

36. FELIPE GOZON

$405 MILLION

GMA NETWORK
AGE: 81

PHILIPPINES’ Wealth Creation
50 RICHEST
Growth With Risks

37. DELFIN J. WENCESLAO JR.THE LISTThe Philippines pulled out of a year-long recession in the second quarter with head-
line-grabbing 11.8% GDP growth—the fastest year-on-year quarterly expansion in
$385 MILLION over three decades. The rebound contrasts dramatically with the 17% decline in the
50 D.M. WENCESLAO & ASSOCIATES year-earlier quarter. This quarter’s jump was chalked up to the government’s robust
response through social programs and monetary measures to cushion the pandemic’s
AGE: 77 financial impact. Rising Covid-19 cases and repeated lockdowns, however, have put
the recovery at risk. In mid-August the government lowered its GDP growth target
38. MARIANO TAN JR. to between 4% to 5% from the previous range of 6% to 7%. And despite President
Rodrigo Duterte’s heralded pivot to China, Beijing has yet to fully deliver promised
$375 MILLION billions in investment to help reboot growth. —Rainer Michael Preiss

UNILAB Upswing
AGE: 59
Though the growth forecast for this year was cut amid a spike in Covid-19 cases,
39. OSCAR LOPEZ a solid recovery is expected next year.

$300 MILLION (GDP % CHANGE YEAR-ON-YEAR) 4.8 6.5

ABS-CBN CORP. 10
AGE: 91 6.2 6.1 6.9 6.7 6.3 6.1

40. FREDERICK DY 5

$295 MILLION 0

SECURITY BANK -5
AGE: 66
-10 -9.6
41. TOMAS ALCANTARA
-15 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 *Forecast 2022*
$290 MILLION 2021*
2014
ALSONS CONSOLIDATED
RESOURCES Sources: Philippines Statistics Authority, Bloomberg
AGE: 75
Under Strain
42. JOSE ANTONIO
Household spending is expected to remain lackluster this year, due to unemployment
$265 MILLION hovering at 8% and consumer prices projected to rise 4%.

CENTURY PROPERTIES GROUP CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, Y-ON-Y CHANGE (%) AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT (%)
AGE: 74 *Forecast
12.5
43. CARLOS CHAN
10
$240 MILLION
7.5
OISHI 5
AGE: 80

2.5

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: 0

UP DOWN UNCHANGED 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* 2022*

NEW TO THE LIST RETURNEE Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, Bloomberg

PHILIPPINES’
50 RICHEST

Midmost

The Philippine peso’s decline puts it halfway among those of ASEAN’s major currencies.

(% CHANGE YTD)

Indonesian -2.4 44. WILFRED STEVEN
rupiah UYTENGSU JR.
51
$235 MILLION
Singapore -2.6 THE LIST
dollar ALASKA MILK
AGE: 59
Philippine -4.6
peso 45. PHILIP ANG

Malaysian -4.9 $225 MILLION
ringgit
NICKEL ASIA
Thai -10.5 AGE: 79
baht
46. PHILIPPE JONES
0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12 LHUILLIER
Source: Bloomberg
$220 MILLION
Another Wave
CEBUANA LHUILLIER
Metro Manila was again placed under strict lockdown in early August to stop the spread of AGE: 76
the Delta variant.
47. JORGE ARANETA
100k 5M
Weekly cases Weekly doses administered $215 MILLION

80k 4M ARANETA GROUP
AGE: 85
60k 3M
48. BENEDICTO &
40k 2M TERESITA YUJUICO

20k 1M $210 MILLION

0 0 DDMP REIT

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 49. MARIANO MARTINEZ JR.

Source: John Hopkins University $205 MILLION

8990 HOLDINGS
AGE: 66

50. ALFREDO YAO

$200 MILLION

MACAY HOLDINGS
AGE: 77

FOR MORE INFO, GO TO
FORBES.COM/PHILIPPINES

52

THE INVESTIGATION

Without Ian MacLachlan’s breakthrough delivery system, Moderna
and Pfizer couldn’t safely get their mRNA vaccines into your cells.
So why does hardly anyone acknowledge the Canadian biochemist’s

seminal contributions—or pay a dime in royalties?

FORBES ASIA BY NATHAN VARDI • PHOTOGRAPH BY JENS KRISTIAN BALLE FOR FORBES

SEPTEMBER 2021

53

THE INVESTIGATION54 IN THE Earth that made the required lipid nanoparticles, and
SUMMER Bourla insisted Şahin go with him personally to press
OF 2020, their case.
AS THE
PANDEMIC “The whole mRNA platform is not how to build an
RAGED, mRNA molecule; that’s the easy thing,” Bourla says. “It is
how to make sure the mRNA molecule will go into your
infecting more than 200,000 people a day across the cells and give the instructions.”
globe, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and BioNTech CEO
Uğur Şahin boarded an executive jet en route to the hilly Yet the story of how Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer
countryside of Klosterneuburg, Austria. Their destina- managed to create that vital delivery system has never
tion: a small manufacturing facility located on the west been told. It’s a complicated saga involving 15 years of le-
bank of the Danube River called Polymun Scientific Im- gal battles and accusations of betrayal and deceit. What
munbiologische Forschung. Bourla and Şahin were on a is clear is that when humanity needed a way to deliver
mRNA to human cells to arrest the pandemic, there was
only one reliable method available—and it wasn’t one
originated in-house by Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech or any
of the other major vaccine companies.

A months-long investigation by Forbes reveals that the
scientist most responsible for this critical delivery meth-
od is a little-known 57-year-old Canadian biochemist
named Ian MacLachlan. As chief scientific officer of two
small companies, Protiva Biotherapeutics and Tekmira
Pharmaceuticals, MacLachlan led the team that devel-
oped this crucial technology. Today, though, few people—
and none of the big pharmaceutical companies—openly
acknowledge his groundbreaking work, and MacLachlan
earns nothing from the technology he pioneered.

“I just wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life dealing
with it, but I can’t escape it,” MacLachlan says. “I open my
browser in the morning and look at the news, and 50% of
it is vaccines—it’s everywhere—and I have no doubt the
vaccines are using the technology we developed.”

Moderna Therapeutics vigorously disputes the idea
that its mRNA vaccine uses MacLachlan’s delivery sys-
tem, and BioNTech, the vaccine maker partnered with
Pfizer, talks about it carefully. Legal proceedings are
pending, and big money is at stake.

Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer are on their way to sell-
ing $45 billion worth of vaccines in 2021. They don’t pay
a dime to MacLachlan. Other coronavirus vaccine mak-

“I look at the news, and 50% of it is vaccines—it’s everywhere—and
I have no doubt the vaccines are using the technology we developed.”

mission to get the company to manufacture as many lipid ers, such as Gritstone Oncology, have recently licensed
nanoparticles as possible for their new Covid-19 vaccine, MacLachlan’s Protiva-Tekmira delivery technology for
which was on a fast track to receive emergency authoriza- between 5% and 15% of product sales. MacLachlan no
tion from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. longer has a financial stake in the technology, but a simi-
lar royalty on the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been engineered could yield as much as $6.75 billion in 2021 alone. In an
with messenger RNA technology that instructs the body’s ironic twist of fate, though, President Biden’s proposal to
immune system to combat the coronavirus. But to get it waive Covid-19 vaccine patents would make it unlikely
safely into human cells, the mRNA needed to be wrapped that the intellectual property related to MacLachlan’s ad-
in microscopic fragments of fat known as lipids. The Aus- vances could be a source of riches.
trian manufacturing plant was one of the few places on
SEPTEMBER 2021
FORBES ASIA

55

THE INVESTIGATION

Despite their denials, scientific papers and Acuitas Therapeutics who laid the groundwork for mRNA therapies
regulatory documents filed with the FDA show CEO Thomas Madden, before joining BioNTech in 2013. But Karikó,
that both Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vac- now a frontrunner for a Nobel Prize, is angry
cines use a delivery system strikingly similar to MacLachlan’s that MacLachlan didn’t do more to help her use
what MacLachlan and his team created—a care- scientific rival, in his his delivery system to build her own mRNA com-
fully formulated four-lipid component that en- Vancouver lab. His pany years ago. “[MacLachlan] might be a great
capsulates mRNA in a dense particle through scientist, but he lacked vision,” she says.
a mixing process involving ethanol and a T- company may be
connector apparatus. small and private, but Seven years ago, MacLachlan quit his posi-
tion at Tekmira, walking away from his brilliant
For years, Moderna claimed it was using its own its impact has been discovery and any potential financial rewards.
proprietary delivery system, but when it came enormous. In 2020, Messy legal battles and political infighting with-
time for the company to test its Covid-19 vaccine in the biopharma industry over the delivery sys-
in mice, it used the same four kinds of lipids as its 30 employees tem had taken a toll on him. His emotions are
MacLachlan’s technology, in identical ratios. worked around the complex. He may be overlooked, but he knows
clock on the delivery that he helped save the world.
Moderna insists the preclinical formulation of system for the Pfizer-
the vaccine was not the same as the vaccine itself. “There’s a team of people who gave a great deal
Subsequent regulatory filings by Moderna show BioNTech mRNA of their lives to the development of this technol-
its vaccine uses the same four types of lipids as vaccine. ogy. They gave their heart and soul,” MacLachlan
MacLachlan’s delivery system but with a propri- says. “These people worked like dogs and gave
JAMES MACDONALD/BLOOMBERG; REBECCA MILLER FOR FORBES etary version of one of the lipids and the ratios the best part of themselves to develop it.”
“slightly modified” in a still undisclosed manner.
•••
It’s a similar story for Pfizer and BioNTech.
FDA documents show their vaccine uses the Katalin Karikó’s P erched on a hilltop, Hohentübin-
same four kinds of lipids in nearly the exact ra- research was crucial gen Castle towers above the town
tios that MacLachlan and his team patented to the development of of Tübingen, Germany. In October
years ago, albeit with one of those lipids being a the mRNA vaccines.
new proprietary variation. In October, she could 2013, MacLachlan, then the chief

Not everyone ignores MacLachlan. “A lot of become the 58th scientific officer of Tekmira Phar-
credit goes to Ian MacLachlan for the LNP [lipid woman to win a
nanoparticle],” says Katalin Karikó, the scientist maceuticals, trudged up the hill to the castle to
Nobel Prize.
attend a cocktail party at the first International

mRNA Health Conference. During the evening,

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

THE INVESTIGATION MacLachlan struck up a conversation with Stéphane spin them out in a new company. Thus was born Protiva
Bancel, the CEO of an upstart mRNA company called Biotherapeutics (MacLachlan became chief scientific offi-
Moderna Therapeutics. MacLachlan suggested Tekmira cer), in which Inex retained a minority stake. MacLach-
and Moderna collaborate using his innovative drug de- lan recruited Mark Murray, now 73, a longtime American
livery system. “You are too expensive,” Bancel told him. biotech executive with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, to be CEO.

The exchange gave MacLachlan a bad feeling. So It wasn’t long before two Protiva chemists, Lorne Pal-
did the presence of a former colleague, Thomas Mad- mer and Lloyd Jeffs, made a crucial discovery that led to
56 den, who had been fired by Tekmira five years earlier. By a new mixing method. They put lipids dissolved in etha-
this point MacLachlan had spent more than a decade nol on one side of a physical T-connector apparatus, and,
working on his delivery system, yet people like Bancel on the opposite side, genetic material dissolved in saltwa-
seemed more interested in working with the London- ter, then shot streams of the two solutions at each other.
born Madden. It was the moment they had been hoping for. The colli-
sion resulted in lipids forming a dense nanoparticle that
The rivalry between these two scientists is the root instantly encapsulated the genetic material. The method
of the controversy over the delivery technology that to- was elegantly simple, and it worked.
day’s Covid-19 vaccines rely on. MacLachlan and Mad-
den met 25 years ago, when they worked together at a “The various methods that had been used previously
small Vancouver-based biotech called Inex Pharmaceu- were all highly variable and ineffective,” MacLachlan
ticals. With a Ph.D. in biochemistry, MacLachlan joined says. “Completely unsuitable for manufacturing.”
Inex in 1996, his first job after completing a postdoctor-
al fellowship in a gene lab at the University of Michigan. The team he led quickly went on to develop a new
lipid nanoparticle made of four specific kinds of lipids.
Inex was cofounded by its chief scientific officer, Piet- Though these were among the lipids Inex had also been
er Cullis, now 75, a long-haired physicist who taught at using in its experiments, MacLachlan’s LNP had a dense
the University of British Columbia. From his perch there core that differed significantly from the sac-like lipo-
Cullis started several biotechs, cultivating an elite com- some bubbles developed by Inex. MacLachlan’s team had
munity of scientists that made Vancouver a hotbed of lip- figured out the specific ratios of the four kinds of lipids
id chemistry. that worked best relative to one another. Everything was
dutifully patented.
Inex had a small-molecule chemotherapy drug candi-
date, but Cullis was also interested in gene therapy. His Moderna’s and Pfizer’s Covid vaccines use a type of gene
goal was to deliver large-molecule genetic material, like therapy based on the messenger RNA molecule. Proti-
DNA or RNA, inside a lipid bubble so it could be safely va’s scientists, though, initially gravitated toward a dif-
ferried as medicine to the inside of a cell—something bio- ferent type of gene therapy using RNA interference, or
chemists had dreamed about for decades but had been RNAi. While mRNA instructs the body to create thera-
unable to accomplish. peutic proteins, RNAi aims to silence bad genes before

In the midst of all this furious legal fighting, Hungarian biochemist
Katalin Karikó showed up at MacLachlan’s door. Karikó was early to grasp

that MacLachlan’s delivery system was key to mRNA therapies.

Using a new method that mixed detergent with liq- they cause disease. With MacLachlan’s delivery system
uid, Cullis and his team at Inex successfully encapsulated in hand, Protiva started collaborating with Alnylam, a
small pieces of DNA in microscopic bubbles called lipo- Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech, to make RNAi
somes. Unfortunately, the system could not consistently therapy viable.
deliver bigger molecules, the type needed for gene thera-
py, in medically useful ways. They tried other approaches, Meanwhile, MacLachlan’s old company, Inex, was im-
including using ethanol, but didn’t succeed. ploding after the FDA denied accelerated approval to its
chemotherapy drug. Inex fired most of its staff and then—
“We assembled all the LNP [lipid nanoparticle] despite having spun off Protiva only a few years earlier—
pieces at Inex, but we didn’t get it to work” for genetic looped back to drug delivery. It too started working in
material, Cullis says. partnership with Alnylam. In 2005 Cullis quit, leaving
none other than MacLachlan’s archrival Thomas Mad-
Inex was a business, not a research lab, so it shifted its den to run Inex’s delivery efforts.
emphasis to the more promising chemotherapy drug. The
gene therapy group was largely disbanded. MacLachlan In 2006, Protiva and Alnylam published a landmark
ran what was left of it until, in 2000, he too decided to study in Nature demonstrating the first effective gene si-
quit. Rather than let him completely walk away, Cullis per- lencing in monkeys. The study used the delivery system
suaded MacLachlan to take the firm’s delivery assets and MacLachlan’s team had developed.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

Alnylam went on to develop On- new company was granted a narrow

pattro, an RNAi drug used to treat license to use the MacLachlan de-

nerve damage in adults with a cer- livery system to create new mRNA

tain hereditary condition. The drug products from scratch.

would become the first RNAi med- It was in the midst of all this fu-

icine ever approved by the FDA. rious legal fighting that Hungari-

Regulatory filings show Alnylam an biochemist Katalin Karikó first

used MacLachlan’s delivery system showed up at MacLachlan’s door. 57

for Onpattro—with one exception. Karikó was early to grasp that Mac-

For one of the four kinds of lipids, Lachlan’s delivery system held the THE INVESTIGATION

Alnylam used a modified version it key to unlocking the potential of

developed with Thomas Madden. mRNA therapies. As early as 2006,

••• she began sending letters to Mac-
Lachlan urging him to encase her

I n October 2008, groundbreaking chemically altered
Mark Murray, the mRNA in his four-lipid delivery sys-
CEO MacLachlan had tem. Embroiled in litigation, Mac-

recruited to run Proti- Lachlan passed on her offer.

va, stood in a room at Karikó didn’t give up easily. In

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, a small 2013, she flew to meet with Tekmi-

publicly traded shell company he Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla made $26 billion ra’s executives, offering to relocate
had just taken over. Like Protiva, in revenue this year off the vaccine. to Vancouver and work directly un-

Tekmira had been created by Inex, der MacLachlan. Tekmira passed.

which had finally burned out a year “Moderna, BioNTech and Cure-

earlier, but not before transferring all its remaining assets Vac all wanted me to work for them, but my number one

to Tekmira. Assembled before Murray were some 15 for- choice, Tekmira, didn’t,” says Karikó, who took a job at

mer Inex scientists who had come along in the deal, in- BioNTech in 2013.

cluding Thomas Madden. By this time, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel was

“Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to keep you also trying to solve the delivery puzzle. Bancel held dis-

guys any longer,” Murray told them. cussions with Tekmira about collaborating, but talks

Madden’s firing was one result of a massive legal brawl stalled. At one point, Tekmira indicated it wanted at least

sparked by the fact that both Inex and Protiva had been $100 million upfront, plus royalties, to strike a deal.

working separately with Alnylam on drug delivery. The Instead, Moderna partnered with Madden, who was

dispute would continue for years. In each iteration, Mur- still working with Cullis at their drug delivery company,

ray and MacLachlan would accuse Madden and Cullis of Acuitas Therapeutics.

having improperly taken their ideas. Cullis and Madden, In February 2014, MacLachlan turned 50. His life

offended by the accusations, denied them. Sometimes partner, Karley Seabrook, lured him to Vancouver’s Im-

they sued back, claiming Murray and MacLachlan had perial theater, which was packed with friends and fam-

acted wrongly. ily. She surprised him in a wedding dress, and their

The first round of litigation resulted in a 2008 settle- two children greeted MacLachlan with cards that read

ment that saw Protiva take over Tekmira, with Murray WILL YOU MARRY MOMMY? Seabrook had never

as CEO, MacLachlan as chief scientific officer and Mad- thought it important that they get married, but a brush

den soon fired. Despite the bruising, Madden and Cul- with cancer had altered her perspective—and the wed-

lis founded a new company in 2009 to continue work- ding would alter his.

ing with Alnylam. Tekmira responded by suing Alnylam, For the workaholic scientist, dealing with lawyers and

claiming the Massachusetts biotech conspired with Mad- endless corporate maneuvering had taken its toll. Feeling

den and Cullis to cheaply gain ownership of the deliv- defeated, MacLachlan quit Tekmira in 2014. He sold his

ery system developed by MacLachlan. Alnylam denied stock in the company, purchased a used Winnebago Ad-

wrongdoing and—of course—filed counterclaims, say- venturer for $60,000 and set off with his new wife, two

ing it simply wanted to work with Madden and Cullis, kids and their dog for a 8,370km road trip across Canada.

JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES who had created an improved variation of one of the four “I was exhausted and demoralized,” he says.

kinds of delivery-system lipids. With MacLachlan gone, CEO Murray renamed Tekmi-

That round of the legal brawl was settled in 2012, with ra, calling it Arbutus BioPharma, and decided the com-

Alnylam paying Tekmira $65 million and agreeing to as- pany should focus on creating hepatitis B treatments

sign dozens of its patents back to Tekmira. Those patents with New York drug development company Roivant Sci-

included ones for the improved lipid that Madden had de- ences. Yet he held onto the patents for the four-lipid drug

veloped for Onpattro. Under the deal, Cullis and Madden’s delivery system.

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

Then Madden’s company, Acui- uct” but with a proprietary version

tas, sublicensed the delivery tech- of one of the lipids. Weissman not-

nology to Moderna for the develop- ed both companies were using T-

ment of an mRNA flu vaccine. Mur- junction mixing.

ray was confident Madden had no Thomas Madden worked on the

right to do so, and in 2016 he gave Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine delivery

notice that he intended to termi- system and says he used enhanced

58 nate Acuitas’ licensing agreement. versions of two of the four kinds of

Per custom, two months later, Acui- lipids. Madden says neither Onpat-

tas sued in Vancouver, denying that tro nor the Pfizer-BioNTech vac-
THE INVESTIGATION
it had violated any deal. On cue, cine would have been greenlighted
STEVEN FERDMAN/GETTY IMAGES
Murray countersued, initiating a by the FDA without his team’s im-

fresh round of legal combat. Impor- provements to the lipids.

tantly, though, this batch of lawsuits MacLachlan dismisses the new

directly involved mRNA. variations as “iterative innovation.”

After battling for two more years, In a written statement to Forbes,

the parties settled. Murray termi- Ray Jordan, Moderna’s corporate

nated Thomas Madden’s license to affairs chief, stated, “I can confirm

MacLachlan’s delivery technology that we did take a license to Tekmi-

for any future medicines other than ra’s IP for certain of our older prod-

four products Moderna had already Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel first became ucts. But our newer products (in-
begun to develop (Murray also lost a billionaire last April thanks to the vaccine. cluding the Covid vaccine) have
the rights to some of Madden’s tech- moved on with new technology.”
nology). Murray and Roivant then Moderna’s market cap is now higher than
General Motors’ or Boeing’s—and Bancel BioNTech declined to comment.

is worth some $11.9 billion.

created another company, Gene- Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s chief sci-

vant Sciences, specifically to house entific officer, says the Pfizer-BioN-

the intellectual property related to the four-lipid delivery Tech vaccine is fully covered by patents and that in creat-

system and commercialize it. ing the first authorized mRNA product, Pfizer modified

Some companies were quick to come onboard. With- the delivery system to produce 3 billion doses annually.

in a few months BioNTech CEO Şahin struck a deal “It’s different to have a process that may work for a very

with Genevant to use the delivery system for five of Bio- small scale than a large scale, and some of the assump-

NTech’s existing mRNA cancer programs. The compa- tions that may look similar are based on how the scien-

nies also agreed to work together on five other mRNA tific field evolved and [on] contributions from many dif-

programs targeting rare diseases. There was no provi- ferent sources,” Dolsten says. “One needs to be careful in

sion in the agreement about using the delivery technol- assuming that [if] things have similar names and similar

ogy for something completely unforeseen—something molar ratios, it means it’s the same thing.”

like Covid-19. Genevant declined to comment, but it could be fight-

Feeling defeated, MacLachlan quit Tekmira. He sold his stock, purchased a
used Winnebago Adventurer for $60,000, and set off with his wife, two kids
and their dog for a 8,370km road trip. “I was exhausted and demoralized.”

Moderna pursued a different strategy. It filed law- ing an uphill battle. In May, the Biden administra-
suits with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking tion backed waiving intellectual property protection on
to nullify a series of patents related to MacLachlan’s de- Covid-19 vaccines. Ironically, such a move might bene-
livery system, now controlled by Genevant. But in July fit, not hurt, Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer by prevent-
2020, as Moderna was pushing its vaccine through clin- ing Genevant from making any claims on their gigantic
ical trials, an adjudicative body largely upheld the most vaccine cash pile.
important patent claims. (Moderna is appealing.)
That’s just as well for Ian MacLachlan, whose role in
After the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines what may be the most important medical advance in a
were authorized, Drew Weissman, a prominent mRNA century has been all but erased by the biotech industry.
researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, conclud- “I definitely feel I made a contribution,” he says. “I have
ed in a peer-reviewed journal that both use delivery sys- mixed feelings because of the way it’s being character-
tems that are “similar to the Alnylam Onpattro prod- ized, and I know the genesis of the technology.”

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

PROMOTION

ASIA ACCELERATES
DIGITALIZATION AMID PANDEMIC

Governments and businesses step up digital transformation efforts as Covid-19 pandemic disrupts Asian economies.

With the Covid-19 outbreak wreaking billion worth of digital investments to byproduct of doing business but must be
havoc across industries and the global boost the contribution of digital prod- engineered from the ground up.
supply chain, governments and busi- ucts and services to the country’s GDP to
nesses around the world accelerated 22.6% by 2025 from 19.1% currently. To do so effectively, organizations must
their digital transformation. Such initia- conduct a comprehensive audit, identify
tives have taken front seat in Asia—home Focus On Cyber Security the weak spots and work with experts who
to the world’s factories—with the region can implement automated solutions to deal
stepping up investments on technologi- To coordinate and manage new digital with cyber security threats and breaches.
cal innovations needed to power the new investments, the Malaysian Digital Econ-
normal post the pandemic. omy Corp. (MDEC) has teamed up with ASEAN Cooperation
the Malaysian Investment Development
China—a regional leader in adopting Authority to set up the Digital Invest- Throughout its history, the ASEAN has
cutting-edge artificial intelligence, block- ment Office (DIO). Initiatives run by the been resilient against economic and
chain and cloud computing technolo- DIO will be guided by MDEC’s “Digital geopolitical crisis that has affected
gies—seeks to speed up the roll out of Investments Future5” strategy. member countries in the past and more
laws on protecting personal information so now that the group is battling the
as data analytics becomes prevalent in A key initiative in Malaysia’s digital trans- challenges of the lingering Covid-19
the country’s pursuit of smart nation sta- formation strategy calls for the fortification pandemic. To recover and thrive again,
tus. The new regulations are embodied of the country’s cyber security defences. the region would need to strengthen
in its 14th five-year plan, which runs from This is important given the growing threat their cooperation.
2021 to 2025. of ransomware attacks—where cyber
criminals steal data, encrypt and hold the “The digital economy is critical,” Lim
South Korea has pledged to invest digital infrastructure hostage until organi- Jock Hoi, ASEAN secretary general,
US$94 million in 2021 to support the tech zations pay the ransom, according to U.S.- said at a webinar organized by the CIMB
industry in AI and 5G networks as part of based FireEye Mandiant. Asean Research Institute in July 2020. “As
its “Digital New Deal” initiative. Japan’s you know, the pandemic has forced a lot
Growth Strategy Council has drafted a The security specialist warns that gov- of people to use digital technology and it
plan calling for the stimulation of innova- ernments and businesses urgently need to is very refreshing to see that every one of
tion that involves digital transformation take prompt and preventive action to safe- us has adapted. In future, the economic
and grooming a greener society. guard their critical infrastructure against driver will very much be in this area. We
cyberattacks. Organizations can no lon- are looking at how best to use this as part
Countries across southeast Asia have ger treat cyber security as an inconvenient of our post-pandemic recovery plan.”
launched their respective digitalization
initiatives after the Association of South-
east Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted
the “Asean Digital Masterplan 2025”—a
roadmap for the group’s digital coopera-
tion from 2021 to 2025—in January.

In Indonesia, the “Making Indonesia 4.0”
roadmap is helping the country’s industrial
sector create new business models using
digital technologies. Singapore’s plan is
embodied in its Digital Government Blue-
print, which aims to better leverage data
and harness new technologies. In Thai-
land, the government has introduced the
“Thailand 4.0” economic model, which uti-
lizes digitalization to enhance the quality
of life in the country.

Malaysia’s MyDIGITAL, which was
launched in February, aims to transform
the country into a regional leader in the
digital economy. Under the blueprint,
the government aims to attract US$16.5

Technology 1

PROMOTION

MALAYSIA

HEART OF DIGITAL ASEAN

The country is capitalizing on its regional connectivity, diversity of population and talent to
attract digital investments and be the springboard for technology exports in the ASEAN region.

For over 500 years, Malaysia has been

recognized as a trading powerhouse.

Thanks to its strategic location along the

Straits of Malacca and at the heart of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN) region, its trading credentials

today continue to flourish, with foreign

investments continuing to make its way

into the country.

Approved foreign investments in man-

ufacturing, services, and other sectors

surged 95.6% to US$19 billion in the first

quarter, according to the Malaysian Invest-

ment and Development Authority (MIDA).

“Malaysia has always been a trading

nation,” says Raymond Siva, Senior Vice

President of Investment and Brand, and

Chief Marketing Officer at the Malaysia

Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Raymond Siva, Senior Vice President of Investment and Brand,

“We are not only the center of the ASEAN and Chief Marketing Officer at the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)

region, we are multicultural, multilingual,

have a digitally-skilled talent pool, ready information investors can rely on to dis- are aiming at a refresh,” Siva says. “We have

infrastruc ture and mature ecosystem cover how they can invest in Malaysia. always been a prime mover as the heart of

investors can rely on.” Since its inception in April this year, ASEAN for trade, so the logical next step is

Even as Malaysia continues to record MDEC and MIDA have commit ted to to become the heart of digital ASEAN.”

strong investments, the country isn’t rest- promote quality investments, in line with

ing on its laurels. Instead, MDEC is ensur- the government’s aspiration to attract Strategy To Spur Growth

ing that it does not only attract traditional US$16.5 billion worth of digital invest- Underpinning MDEC’s emphasis on digi-

investments into Malaysia but more impor- ments that could boost the contribution tal investment is its “Digital Investments

tantly, digital investments too. of digital products and services to Malay- Future5” (DIF5) strategy. The five-year

plan that runs from 2021 to 2025 focuses

“We have always been a prime mover as the heart on five key thrusts aimed at attracting
high-quality investments to boost Malay-

of ASEAN for trade, so the logical next step is to sia’s digital economy. These thrusts are:
become the heart of digital ASEAN.” 1. Attracting investments of RM50 billion

(US$11.8 billion) in the digital economy;

— Raymond Siva, Senior Vice President of Investment and Brand, and 2. Zooming in on five key industries, five

Chief Marketing Officer at the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) focus and emerging technologies

and the growth of digital global busi-

ness services;

Siva says this is why MDEC has teamed sia’s GDP to 22.6% by 2025 from 19.1% 3. Attracting 50 globally renowned tech

up with MIDA to form the Digital Invest- currently. companies to land and expand in Malaysia;

ment Office (DIO) as a single window to Siva says the DIO and “Heart of Digital 4. Establishing five unicorn startups in

ensure that investors can quickly gain ASEAN” portal are a natural evolution of Malaysia; and

investment approvals through a more Malaysia’s traditional trading strengths, 5. Creating 50,000 high-value jobs in the

streamlined process. as it has always been at the forefront of Multimedia Super Corridor.

Complementing the establishment of leveraging digital technologies as a cata- The five key industries that have been

the DIO, the two agencies have jointly lyst for growth. identified are: agriculture tech, health

launched a portal called “Malaysia Heart “MDEC is celebrating its 25th anniversary tech, Islamic digital economy and fintech,

of Digital ASEAN,” a single repository of this year and after a quarter of a century, we clean energy tech and education tech.

2 Technology

PROMOTION

Siva says the digitalization of these says Siva. “By doing so, they will be able Other global technology firms with oper-
industries is expected to significantly to collaborate with local ecosystem play- ations in Malaysia include NTT, Hitachi
impact Malaysia’s investments and jobs ers and take advantage of Malaysia being Sunway Information Systems, transcosmos
growth and contribute directly to Malay- the heart of digital ASEAN. From here, we and DKSH CSSC, all of whom continue to
sia’s GDP. It will also draw large corpora- believe they can export their technolo- show confidence in the country by increas-
tions to form partnerships with local com- gies, products and services to other coun- ing investments in Malaysia.
panies, which will result in knowledge and tries in the ASEAN region.”
technology transfer. “We are witnessing an unprecedented
MDEC will establish more centers of growth in the digital economy and invest-
The five focus technologies MDEC has expertise, which will enable the Malaysian ment into this sector, but we want to do
identified are cloud computing, data workforce to move up the value chain and better,” says Siva. “With the establishment
center, artificial intelligence, cybersecu- form the next generation of tech talents of the DIO, Heart of Digital ASEAN portal
rity and digital content tools. Comple- in the country’s digital economy, he adds. and the successful execution of the DIF5
menting these are five emerging tech- strategy, we will definitely increase our
nologies: blockchain, drone technology, Increasing Investments digital economy needle forward.”
edge computing, extended reality and
advanced robotics. Malaysia continues to attract new invest- To find out more
ments this year, according to Siva. For heartofdigitalasean.my
“All of the above technologies will example, data analytics company Clarivate
increase the economic complexity of the recently established its global business
nation and help develop new and existing center in Penang, creating between 150
economic clusters,” says Siva. “This will and 200 new jobs for Malaysians.
create high value job opportunities and
extend domestic economic linkages.” Global real estate technology group
Juwai IQI recently made Kuala Lumpur
To further bolster Malaysia’s digital invest- its headquarters for global research and
ments, Siva says MDEC will also increase development. This would eventually lead
efforts to grow its digital global business to the creation of a data and technology
services sector by encouraging the use of team comprising 1,000 employees.
robotic process automation, data analytics
and knowledge engineering. In August, German industrial manufac-
turer Schott established its new IT com-
“We are inviting investors to look at petence center to coordinate IT activities
Malaysia because we are very focused on across 45 production plants and seven
these five key sectors and technologies,” business units worldwide.

Technology 3

PROMOTION

FIREEYE MANDIANT

COPING WITH THE GROWING THREAT OF RANSOMWARE

Businesses urgently need to take prompt and preventive action to safeguard
their critical infrastructure against cyberattacks.

Amid the challenges posed by the global Eric Hoh, President, Asia Pacific, FireEye Mandiant
pandemic, businesses over the past 18
months had to deal with a rise in ransom- organization, resulting in regulatory and take place on remote home networks,”
ware attacks on their digital infrastruc- legal consequences and potentially repu- Hoh explains.
ture. The threat has been heightened by tational damage.
hackers exploiting loopholes in hastily However, he noted that most organiza-
adopted work-from-home arrangements “Attackers will coerce and shame vic- tions in Asia Pacific are well aware of the
in response to Covid-19 restrictions. tims, by contacting their customers, heightened risks and have used solutions
partners or even competitors,” says Hoh. such as “Remote Security Assessments” to
The high-profile cyberattack on Colonial “Many organizations hear ‘ransomware’ assess and mitigate the threats.
Pipeline in the U.S. earlier this year has and think of a malware that encrypts
proven to be a wake-up call for the global files. The reality though today is that The pandemic has also created new tar-
supply chain. Reflecting the extent of the these attacks can have far greater conse- gets for cyberattacks in the form of orga-
problem, the Ransomware Task Force quences than just being locked out from nizations that are trying to fight the spread
declared in April that ransomware “has accessing your data.” of coronavirus. In the past year there have
become a serious security threat.” been attacks on agencies that regulate
Pandemic Boosts Cyber Risk vaccines as well as attempts to gain access
“Cybersecurity has become more prom- to Covid-19 research.
inent in political discourse and countries The global pandemic is also making it
are looking at how to combat the problem easier for threat actors to penetrate secure Room For Improvement
at a national and international level,” says systems. With more people working from
Eric Hoh, President for Asia Pacific at Fire- home, workers who were previously pro- The good news is that organizations are
Eye Mandiant, a U.S.-based cybersecurity tected by enterprise grade security in their getting better at defending themselves,
specialist. “Companies are being extorted office networks are now only shielded by capable of finding and containing adver-
for tens of millions of dollars as a result of consumer grade security at home. saries faster than in previous years. A
cyber intrusions. The daily headlines alone metric known as “dwell time”—which
showcase the significance and the growth “Work from home arrangements have measures the time between the moment
of this problem in recent years.” resulted in the attack surface growing of cyber intrusion to its discovery—has
significantly, and it has become harder been reduced from over one year in 2011
Multifaceted Extortion for security operations teams to investi- to under one month in 2020, according
gate potential security incidents if they to FireEye.
In the past year, there has been a notable
shift by financially motivated cyber actors
towards ransomware. The M-Trends 2021
report by FireEye Mandiant showed that
25% of Mandiant’s incident response
engagements in 2020 involved ransom-
ware, up from 14% in the previous year.
However, ransomware is only one part of
a bigger problem.

“Ransomware is a single aspect of the
multifaceted extortion that cyber crimi-
nals are levying against their victims,”
says Hoh. “It’s no longer about just being
denied access to your files and data. Now
attackers are stealing the data before they
encrypt it. That data could be intellectual
property, customer data, HR files, or any
other sensitive data.”

Threat actors employ a variety of other
extortion tactics to coerce victims into
complying with demands. For instance,
they can threaten to publish sensitive
material that they have stolen from an

4 Technology

PROMOTION

“It’s a dramatic improvement but one of attack makes headlines and manage- automating security processes and start-
month is still far too long to have an ment is asking: ‘Are we vulnerable?’ It’s ing to automate security analysis.
undetected intruder in your network, often hard to get a definitive answer to
so there’s still plenty of room for further that question,” says Hoh. “Security valida- While this is a harder outcome to achieve,
improvement,” says Hoh. “APAC organ- tion provides a way to get those answers there are new offerings which complement
isations sometimes feel that their country and assurances.” SOAR and provide automated analysis
might not be a target, or that their indus- such as the Mandiant Automated Defense.
try might be one that is excluded from Companies should also hire an “external
cyberattacks, or that if a cyberattack hap- red team” to assess if their tools, people “Having automated analysis that works
pens it will only impact their IT systems and processes can defend the network at machine speed, never gets tired, never
and not their business. All of these are and prevent the worst-case scenario fol- suffers from alert fatigue and can work 24
bad assumptions.” lowing a ransomware attack. x 7 x 365 is a different type of automation
that helps to counterbalance the chal-
Identifying Security Gaps “If you think your security program is lenges organizations face from the short-
in order and operating well, do this real- age of available human talent,” says Hoh.
Indeed, while the average organization ity check as a first step,” says Hoh. “It’s
has between 30 to 50 layers of security easier said than done, there will be resis- Beyond Technology
controls and may pass audits and regu- tance internally. No one wants to be put in
latory compliance, many victims still fall a position where they might fail. This isn’t However, technology alone will not
prey to attackers based on incorrect about winning or losing, it’s about spar- effectively mitigate cyber risks. Cyber-
assumptions. As such, businesses today ring to build muscle.” security services should also be part of
are looking for a way to quantify and mea- the overall approach.
sure security effectiveness, rather than Advanced Automated Solutions
rely on assumptions. “Planning for an event that you’ve not
Automation is emerging as a cutting- previously experienced can be quite chal-
“Security validation” which goes beyond edge solution against cyberattacks. While lenging, but not if you get help from those
traditional auditing and provides risk cybersecurity automation has existed for who have the experience,” says Hoh. “A
assurance, is a new tool cybersecurity some time in the form of Security Orches- ransomware defense assessment won’t
experts are employing. “When a new type tration Automation and Response (SOAR), add to your technology stack, but it goes
organizations are now going beyond a long way in making you cyber resilient.”

Looking ahead, Hoh expects ransom-
ware and cyberattacks to increase in the
coming years, as businesses aggressively
drive digital transformation.

“Dependence on digital services will
grow as these services become founda-
tional instead of just convenient and the
cost we pay when something goes wrong
increases proportionally,” says Hoh. “In
the future, the arms race will continue
between attackers and defenders as the
stakes get higher.”

To find out more 5
www.fireeye.com

Technology

The fortunes of America’s richestAMERICA’S MOST
self-made women in our seventhTWOHE LIST • UM.S. RICEHESTNSELF–MADE WOMEN SUCCE SSFUL
annual ranking soared 31% toENTREPRENEURS
$118 billion amid a stock-market
boom. A record 26 are now billionaires, ILLUSTRATIONS BY VIKTOR MILLER-GAUSA FOR FORBES
including pop-star mogul Rihanna and
64 23andMe’s Anne Wojcicki. Two-thirds
of the 100 founded or cofounded a
company; 26 are CEOs. Fifteen are
newcomers, including singer and
investor Dolly Parton and former
model Cindy Crawford. The cutoff
for admission climbed to $225 million,
up from $150 million last year.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

1. DIANE HENDRICKS 65

$11 billion © U.S. RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN

(From left) Rihanna, Anne SOURCE: Roofing
Wojcicki, Neha Narkhede AGE: 74 • RESIDENCE: Afton, WI

SELF-MADE SCORE: v

Hendricks is the first self-made woman
in America to boast an 11-figure fortune
thanks to a $3 billion uptick in her net
worth since last year; she runs and owns
roofing distributor ABC Supply, which
reeled in a record $12.1 billion in revenue
in 2020. The Wisconsin native, who co-
founded ABC in 1982, is turning an old
Coca-Cola plant in Indianapolis into the
Bottleworks District, a $300 million
project that includes a food hall, boutique
hotel and movie theater.

2. JUDY FAULKNER

$6.5 billion ©

SOURCE: Health IT
AGE: 77 • RESIDENCE: Madison, WI

SELF-MADE SCORE: u

Her medical records company, Epic Sys-
tems, booked $3.3 billion in 2020 revenue
despite giving away some $500 million
worth of Covid-related software to custom-
ers during the pandemic. Faulkner owns
47% of the Verona, Wisconsin, business that
she founded in a basement in 1979. Her
family foundation, Roots & Wings, plans to
double its giving this year to $30 million.

3. MEG WHITMAN

$6.3 billion ©

SOURCE: eBay
AGE: 64 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles

SELF-MADE SCORE: s

Whitman’s latest venture, short-form
streaming platform Quibi, flamed out last
year after only six months in operation. Still,
the Silicon Valley veteran’s fortune contin-
ues to grow thanks to stakes in eBay and
PayPal, which are up 34% and 61%, respec-
tively, since September. While she has yet
to take on a new executive role, Whitman
joined General Motors’ board in March.

4. JUDY LOVE

$5.2 billion ©

SOURCE: Retail, gas stations
AGE: 84 • RESIDENCE: Oklahoma City

SELF-MADE SCORE: v

She and her husband, Tom, started truck-
stop chain Love’s Travel Stops & Country
Stores in 1964. The two ran the company
until 1975, when Judy returned to college
to complete her interior-design degree.
The $20 billion (estimated revenue)
business, which is run by two of her
children, opened 38 stores in 2020 and
another 20 in the first six months of 2021.

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

THE LIST 5. MARIAN ILITCH

$4.4 billion ©

SOURCE: Little Caesars

AGE: 88 • RESIDENCE: Bingham Farms, MI

SELF-MADE SCORE: v

Stay-at-home orders were a boon for pizza
makers like Ilitch’s Little Caesars. Mrs. I,
66 as she’s known, cofounded the chain with
her husband, Mike (d. 2017), in 1959; sales
hit a record $4.5 billion last year. In April,
Ilitch inked a deal to buy an Atlantic City
casino; the family also owns MotorCity
Casino and the Red Wings hockey team.

6. JOHNELLE HUNT

$4.1 billion ©

SOURCE: Trucking
AGE: 89 • RESIDENCE: Fayetteville, AR

SELF-MADE SCORE: t

Hunt gave $5 million to a 25-hectare
nature center bearing her family’s name
that opened in December in her native
Arkansas. The state’s richest woman,
Hunt owns 17% of J.B. Hunt Transport
Services, the $9.6 billion (2020 revenue)
trucking company she cofounded in 1969
with her late husband, J.B. (d. 2006).

6. THAI LEE Oprah 10. ALICE SCHWARTZ
Winfrey
$4.1 billion © $2.9 billion ©
9. GAIL MILLER
SOURCE: IT provider SOURCE: Biotech
AGE: 62 $3.2 billion © AGE: 95 • RESIDENCE: El Cerrito, CA
RESIDENCE: Austin, TX
SOURCE: Car dealerships SELF-MADE SCORE: u
SELF-MADE SCORE: v AGE: 77 • RESIDENCE: Salt Lake City
With $720 in savings, Schwartz and her
Her $11 billion (2020 sales) IT provider, SELF-MADE SCORE: t husband, David (d. 2012), launched Bio-
SHI International, is cashing in on in- Rad Laboratories in 1952. In the years
creased demand for remote-work technol- Last fall, Miller and her family sold a ma- since, Bio-Rad has flourished by selling
ogy, with sales up 4% year to year. A South jority stake in U.S. basketball team Utah chemicals and components that are
Korean immigrant, Lee cofounded SHI in Jazz for nearly $1.7 billion to tech billion- instrumental to lab research. At age 95,
1989 with her now ex-husband after pur- aire Ryan Smith but retained a minority in- Schwartz still sits on Bio-Rad’s board
chasing a struggling software reseller for terest. Miller still runs the Larry H. Miller and has an 11% stake in the $2.5 billion
less than $1 million. She remains CEO of Group, which she cofounded with husband (2020 sales) company run by her son
SHI and has a minority stake in biophar- Larry (d. 2009) in 1979. It owns more than Norman Schwartz.
maceutical developer VBL Therapeutics. 60 car dealerships and 16 movie theaters;
in January, it acquired nursing home chain 12. OPRAH WINFREY
8. LYNDA RESNICK Advanced Health Care Corporation for an
undisclosed sum. $2.7 billion ©
$4 billion ©
10. DORIS FISHER SOURCE: Television shows
SOURCE: Agriculture AGE: 67 • RESIDENCE: Montecito, CA
AGE: 78 • RESIDENCE: Beverly Hills, CA $2.9 billion ©
SELF-MADE SCORE: w
SELF-MADE SCORE: u SOURCE: Gap
AGE: 89 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco The richest woman in entertainment’s
Drought-ridden California land continues blockbuster sit-down with Prince Har-
to produce pistachios, almonds and SELF-MADE SCORE: t ry and Meghan Markle captivated more
pomegranates for the nearly $5 billion than 70 million people around the globe
(estimated sales) Wonderful Company, Fisher cofounded Gap (short for “genera- in March. She’s also making moves off-
cofounded and co-owned by Resnick and tion gap”) with her late husband, Don camera: In December, she sold 20.5% of
her husband, Stewart. Lynda leads mar- (d. 2009), 52 years ago after the couple her Oprah Winfrey Network to Discovery
keting and also spends her time on phi- struggled to find jeans that fit him. In July, in exchange for $35 million worth of Dis-
lanthropy and health programs for Won- Gap announced it would permanently covery stock; she continues to own 5% of
derful’s workforce. In 2019, the couple close all its stores in the U.K. and Ireland. the network.
pledged $750 million to Caltech for The retailer launched its much-anticipated
climate-change research, the largest gift collaboration with Kanye West’s Yeezy line
in the university’s history. in June to rave reviews.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

13. ELAINE WYNN 16. JAYSHREE ULLAL 21. WEILI DAI 67

$2.2 billion © $1.7 billion © $1.3 billion © U.S. RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN

SOURCE: Casinos, hotels SOURCE: Computer SOURCE: Semiconductors
AGE: 79 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas networking AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas

SELF-MADE SCORE: u AGE: 60 SELF-MADE SCORE: u
RESIDENCE: Saratoga, CA
The largest individual shareholder of A native of Shanghai, Dai started
Wynn Resorts is up $400 million since SELF-MADE SCORE: s semiconductor company Marvell Tech-
last year, thanks to its stock having surged nology with her husband, Sehat Sutard-
48% as the gambling industry gradual- Shares of Arista Networks, the cloud net- ja, in 1995. She was president until 2016,
ly recovered from the pandemic. She co- working company she’s led as CEO since when she and Sutardja were forced out
founded the company in 2002 with her 2008, are up nearly 80% since last year’s due to an internal accounting investiga-
ex-husband, Steve Wynn, who resigned list amid strong earnings. Born in London tion—though no evidence of fraud was
amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2018. and raised in India, Ullal spent 15 years found. In 2018, Dai cofounded artificial
(He denied the allegations.) at Cisco before taking the helm at Arista. intelligence startup MeetKai, which re-
She sits on the board of cloud computing leased an AI-based assistant in May.
14. PEGGY CHERNG company Snowflake, which went public in
September 2020. 21. ROBYN JONES
$2 billion ©
18. SAFRA CATZ $1.3 billion ©
SOURCE: Fast food
AGE: 73 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas $1.6 billion © SOURCE: Insurance
AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Fort Worth, TX
SELF-MADE SCORE: v SOURCE: Software
SELF-MADE SCORE: v
Cherng and her husband, Andrew, AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Redwood City, CA
founded Panda Express, their 2,200- Shares of Texas-based Goosehead Insur-
location fast food chain, in 1982 after SELF-MADE SCORE: s ance, the firm she cofounded with her
immigrating to the U.S. from China. husband, Mark, in 2003, are up 28% since
She and her husband are co-CEOs. Last In 2020, Catz moved the headquarters of September, boosting the fortune of this
year the couple donated $5 million to the software giant Oracle from Redwood City, stay-at-home mom turned startup found-
University of Nevada, Las Vegas to establish California, to Austin, Texas. The Israeli er who serves as Goosehead’s vice chair-
the nation’s first academic program in fast- native has been sole CEO since 2019, man. She and Mark, the CEO, own 42%
casual restaurant management in the U.S. having become co-CEO in 2014. Prior to of the business, which nearly doubled its
Oracle, Catz covered the software industry net profit to $19 million on $117 million in
15. SHERYL SANDBERG on Wall Street for 14 years. sales in 2020.

$1.9 billion © 19. JENNY JUST NEW 21. WHITNEY WOLFE HERD

SOURCE: Facebook $1.5 billion $1.3 billion ©
AGE: 51 • RESIDENCE: Menlo Park, CA
SOURCE: Fintech SOURCE: Dating app
SELF-MADE SCORE: s AGE: 32 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX
AGE: 53 • RESIDENCE: Winnetka, IL
According to a new book, the Facebook SELF-MADE SCORE: u
chief operating officer’s relationship with SELF-MADE SCORE: u
Mark Zuckerberg has been strained by The founder of dating app Bumble be-
disagreements over the social media The first-time billionaire started out as an came, at age 31, the world’s youngest self-
company’s role in policing the platform’s options trader in Chicago, then cofounded made female billionaire in February after
content. Not that the alleged rift, which options trading firm Peak6 with the man taking the women-focused app public. She
Facebook denies, is hurting business. who later became her husband. They have founded Bumble in 2014 with financing
Revenue hit a record $86 billion in since funneled the profits from trading from Russian billionaire Andrey Andreev,
2020—powered by the ad business that into more than a dozen businesses. The who launched Europe-based dating site
Sandberg oversees. star investment: Apex Clearing, which Badoo in 2006. Andreev sold his Bumble
handles the back-end trading and technol- stake to Blackstone Group in 2019 after a
16. RIHANNA ogy for fintechs such as SoFi and Ally. It’s Forbes investigation revealed a toxic work-
slated to go public in a SPAC merger that place at Badoo (which Andreev denied).
$1.7 billion© values the firm at $4.7 billion.
24. KIM KARDASHIAN WEST
SOURCE: Cosmetics, music 20. EREN OZMEN
AGE: 33 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles $1.2 billion ©
$1.4 billion ©
SELF-MADE SCORE: w SOURCE: Cosmetics, reality TV
SOURCE: Aerospace AGE: 40 • RESIDENCE: Hidden Hills, CA
New information on her 50% stake in AGE: 62 • RESIDENCE: Reno, NV
Fenty Beauty—her cosmetics line co- SELF-MADE SCORE: t
owned with French luxury-goods giant SELF-MADE SCORE: v
LVMH—puts Rihanna into the billionaire The reality TV star turned influencer
ranks. In July 2020, she launched Fenty The Turkish immigrant co-owns aero- turned beauty mogul’s latest headline-grab-
Skin with LVMH. In February her lingerie space and defense contractor Sierra Ne- bing venture: shapewear and loungewear
line, Savage x Fenty, raised $115 million vada Corp. with her husband, Fatih. Their label Skims. In April, the two-year-old com-
in funding at a $1 billion valuation. Dream Chaser spacecraft has a contract pany raised money at a $1.6 billion valua-
Her high-fashion joint venture with with NASA for at least seven missions to tion, and in June it became the official un-
LVMH—Fenty—didn’t do as well, halting deliver cargo to the International Space dergarments supplier for female members
operations in February. Station. In April, the Ozmens spun off their of Team USA at the Olympics in Tokyo.
space operations into a stand-alone compa-
ny, Sierra Space, with ambitions to build a
new commercial space station in five years.

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

30. JACQUELINE RESES NEW

$920 million

SOURCE: Payments

AGE: 51

RESIDENCE: Woodside, CA

SELF-MADE SCORE: s

Reses left payments firm Square last yearTHE LIST
68 after five years leading Square Capital,

its small-business loan division. During
the pandemic, Square Capital facilitated
$850 million in Paycheck Protection Pro-
gram loans to 80,000 businesses across
the country. Reses owns 0.4% of Square’s
stock. Earlier in her career, she spent a
decade working at private equity investor
Apax Partners and also worked as chief
development officer at Yahoo.

Michelle 31. TORY BURCH
Zatlyn
$900 million ©
25. ANNE WOJCICKI tification technology. A former hedge
fund manager, she and a colleague bought SOURCE: Fashion
$1.1 billion © Clear’s predecessor out of bankruptcy in AGE: 55 • RESIDENCE: New York City
2010 for $5.9 million; it is now in 38 air-
SOURCE: DNA testing ports and 26 venues in the U.S. She owns SELF-MADE SCORE: t
AGE: 48 • RESIDENCE: Los Altos, CA 20% of the $230 million (sales) company,
which she took public in June. The fashion icon is opening a new flagship
SELF-MADE SCORE: t store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood,
28. MICHELLE ZATLYN NEW plus 15 new shops in China. An art histo-
Wojcicki moves up from No. 49 last year. ry graduate, Burch worked for Ralph Lau-
The reason: 23andMe, the genetic-testing $980 million ren and Vera Wang before launching her
company she cofounded and leads, went own boutique in 2004. It’s expected to sell
public in June in a merger with a SPAC SOURCE: Cybersecurity an estimated $1.5 billion worth of preppy-
sponsored by U.K. billionaire Richard chic apparel, footwear, watches, accesso-
Branson’s Virgin Group. The deal made AGE: 42 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco ries and fragrances this year.
Wojcicki a billionaire. Next step: to turn
the loss-making company profitable. SELF-MADE SCORE: u 32. CLAIRE HUGHES JOHNSON

26. NEERJA SETHI Zatlyn cofounded web infrastructure and $860 million ©
security company Cloudflare in 2009 and
$1 billion §¨ helped take it public a decade later. Today, SOURCE: Payments software
the firm says it blocks 70 billion cyber- AGE: 48 • RESIDENCE: Milton, MA
SOURCE: IT consulting, outsourcing threats a day for more than 4 million cus-
tomers. With the stock near record highs, SELF-MADE SCORE: s
AGE: 66 • RESIDENCE: Fisher Island, FL Zatlyn, who owns 5% of the company,
briefly became a billionaire in early July. Hughes Johnson joined Stripe in 2014
SELF-MADE SCORE: u after a decade-long stint at Google. Her
29. NEHA NARKHEDE fortune more than doubled from last year,
Sethi and husband Bharat Desai cofoun- thanks to a March funding round that
ded IT consulting and outsourcing firm $925 million © valued the payments firm at $95 billion,
Syntel in 1980 from their apartment in making it the most valuable venture-
Troy, Michigan. In 2018, the couple sold it SOURCE: Software backed company in the U.S. Hughes
to French IT firm Atos SE for $3.4 billion. AGE: 36 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA Johnson is also an active angel investor in
Sethi did not join Atos after the acquisi- enterprise tech startups, such as software
tion and has kept a low profile since. SELF-MADE SCORE: u firms Coda, ChartHop and Humaans.

27. CARYN SEIDMAN-BECKER NEW A former LinkedIn software engineer, 33. ANNE DINNING
Narkhede left in 2014 to cofound Con-
$990 million fluent, a cloud company that helps orga- $850 million ©
nizations process large amounts of data.
SOURCE: Airport security Confluent debuted on the Nasdaq in June SOURCE: Hedge funds
AGE: 48 at a $9.1 billion valuation. Narkhede AGE: 58 • RESIDENCE: New York City
RESIDENCE: New York City stepped down from her roles as chief
technology and product officer in 2019 SELF-MADE SCORE: s
SELF-MADE SCORE: u but still serves on Confluent’s board.
Dinning joined quantitative hedge fund
Seidman-Becker is chairman and CEO of firm D.E. Shaw after getting her doctorate
at New York University in 1990. The Seat-
Clear Secure, which helps people speed tle native is now part of a six-person com-
mittee that jointly runs D.E. Shaw. Din-
through security checkpoints using iden- ning sits on the boards of New York City
anti-poverty charity Robin Hood and edu-
cation nonprofit Math for America.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

New episodes available now on CNN International
edition.cnn.com

34. SUSAN WOJCICKI 37. KATRINA LAKE

$815 million © $760 million ©

SOURCE: Google SOURCE: Online retail

AGE: 53 • RESIDENCE: Los Altos, CA AGE: 38 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco

SELF-MADE SCORE: s SELF-MADE SCORE: u

She joined Google in 1999 as employee The founder of online personal-shopping

number 16 and became CEO of subsidiary service Stitch Fix, which sent curated

70 YouTube in 2014. YouTube’s revenue soared outfits to more than 3.5 million custom-

30% in 2020, but the video platform also ers last year, briefly became a billionaire

faced criticism over hosting election misin- in January after shares of the $1.7 billion

THE LISTformation. After the January 6 U.S. Capitol (2020 revenue) company nearly tripled

SOARE: TIMOTHY ARCHIBALDriot, Wojcicki suspended Donald Trump’s in three months. In April, Stitch Fix an-

YouTube channel and vowed to uphold the nounced, in a surprise move, that Lake

ban until the threat of violence decreased. would step down as CEO in August and

Her sister is Anne Wojcicki (No. 25). become executive chair.

35. MARISSA MAYER 39. SARA BLAKELY Katrina
Lake
$800 million © $750 million ©

SOURCE: Google, Yahoo SOURCE: Spanx
AGE: 46 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA AGE: 50 • RESIDENCE: Atlanta

SELF-MADE SCORE: s SELF-MADE SCORE: u

Mayer was one of Google’s earliest employ- Her Spanx pioneered the shapewear mar-
ees but made a name for herself when she ket but now faces fierce competition from
left the search giant in 2012 to become the upstarts like No. 24 Kim Kardashian West’s
CEO of Yahoo. She stepped down shortly Skims. The pandemic, which led to the can-
after Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017. Now cellation of formal events around the world,
her efforts are focused on Sunshine, her dealt another blow to the business. Once
startup—formerly known as Lumi Labs— the world’s youngest self-made female bil-
which released an address-book app called lionaire, Blakely is reportedly exploring a
Sunshine Contacts late last year. potential sale of her Atlanta-based firm.

35. KENDRA SCOTT 39. SHEILA JOHNSON 42. ANASTASIA SOARE

$800 million © $750 million ª $730 million ©

SOURCE: Jewelry SOURCE: Cable TV SOURCE: Cosmetics
AGE: 47 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX AGE: 72 • RESIDENCE: The Plains, VA AGE: 63
RESIDENCE: Beverly Hills, CA
SELF-MADE SCORE: t SELF-MADE SCORE: v
SELF-MADE SCORE: v
In February, Scott stepped down as CEO The Black Entertainment Television co-
of her eponymous jewelry business, which founder is breaking ground on 49 luxu- A Romanian immigrant, Soare launched
she launched out of a spare bedroom in ry homes near her Salamander Resort & her cosmetics line, Anastasia Beverly Hills,
2002. She remains executive chairwoman Spa in Middleburg, Virginia—one of five in 2000. She is known as the eyebrow sculp-
of the company, which has more than 100 properties she operates in Virginia, South tor to the stars, but the popularity of her
stores. During the pandemic, stores shut Carolina, Jamaica and Florida. Since sell- products has fallen in recent years. While
down temporarily, but online sales helped ing BET to Viacom in 2001 for $3 billion, Fitch Ratings warned for the second year
compensate. Revenue in 2020 was an Johnson has also poured some money into in a row that the company’s capital struc-
estimated $360 million. U.S. basketball teams Washington Mystics ture—with $635 million in debt and lagging
and Washington Wizards, and hockey team growth—is unsustainable, analysts predicted
37. APRIL ANTHONY Washington Capitals. rebounding sales in 2021 and 2022.

$760 million © 39. RESHMA SHETTY 43. KIT CRAWFORD

SOURCE: Health care $750 million © $725 million ©
AGE: 54 • RESIDENCE: Dallas
SOURCE: Biotechnology SOURCE: Clif Bar
SELF-MADE SCORE: u AGE: 41 • RESIDENCE: Boston AGE: 62 • RESIDENCE: St. Helena, CA

Anthony stepped down in April as CEO SELF-MADE SCORE: u SELF-MADE SCORE: u
of the health-and-hospice division of En-
compass Health. She built the business She cofounded Ginkgo Bioworks, one of Crawford and her husband, Gary Erick-
by scooping up 17 distressed home-health- the earliest synthetic biology startups, with son, stepped down as co-CEOs of Clif Bar
care providers for under $500,000 be- a professor and three fellow MIT Ph.D.s in 2020, but still serve as board members
tween 1998 and 2001, then sold it for including her husband, Barry Canton. and own an estimated 80% of the energy
$750 million in 2014 to publicly traded Ginkgo’s goal was to create tools to help bar maker. Today, Crawford is focused on
medical provider HealthSouth, which took scientists work faster and easier. In May, running the Clif Family Winery in Napa
the Encompass name. The move comes it agreed to go public in a $17.5 billion deal Valley and venture capital firm White
amid Encompass’ potential spinoff of the with a SPAC founded by former Hollywood Road Investments, which invests in sus-
division into a separate company. exec Harry Sloan; the pact has yet to close. tainable and active-lifestyle companies.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

43. PAMELA M. LOPKER NEW residents, staff and visitors at affordable The net worths of the dermatologist duo
senior housing complexes. behind the Rodan + Fields skincare line
$725 million have dropped by more than half since
46. DONNA CARPENTER peaking at $1.5 billion apiece in 2019.
SOURCE: Software The army of independent sales consul-
$700 million © tants hawking Rodan + Fields goods has
AGE: 71 • RESIDENCE: Carpinteria, CA dropped 15% since 2018, and revenue
SOURCE: Snowboards fell from $1.6 billion in 2017 to less than
SELF-MADE SCORE: u AGE: 57 • RESIDENCE: Stowe, VT $1.1 billion last year. The company says
ongoing class-action lawsuits against it in-
Lopker founded software company QAD SELF-MADE SCORE: u volving hit eyelash product Lash Boost are
near resolution, but its insurer filed suit
Inc. in 1979. She debuted on The Forbes Carpenter is the owner of Burton, the in July, seeking to avoid paying out claims. 71
400 list 25 years ago as America’s richest snowboarding gear and apparel giant she Rodan + Fields will soon respond in court.
self-made woman. A year later, she took cofounded in 1977 alongside her husband,
Jake Burton Carpenter (d. 2019). The
her company public and soon fell out Burlington, Vermont–based company U.S. RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN
of the ranking. Since September 2020, has estimated revenue of $300 million,
QAD shares have doubled in value, and nearly 1,000 employees—and more than
30% of the global snowboarding market.
in June, private equity firm Thoma Bravo Carpenter stepped down as co-CEO 49. THERESE TUCKER
announced plans to acquire QAD for in 2020 and now chairs the company.
$2 billion, a 10% premium to its value. $670 million ©
47. KATHY FIELDS
43. NANCY ZIMMERMAN SOURCE: Software
$675 million ª AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles
$725 million ©
SOURCE: Skin care SELF-MADE SCORE: u
SOURCE: Hedge funds AGE: 63 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco
AGE: 58 • RESIDENCE: Boston Tucker stepped down in January as CEO
SELF-MADE SCORE: u of BlackLine, the accounting-automation
SELF-MADE SCORE: u software company she founded in 2001,
47. KATIE RODAN and transitioned to executive chair. She
A pioneer of absolute return investing, sold a majority stake to private equity
Zimmerman is the cofounder of Boston- $675 million ª investors in 2013. She still owns just
based hedge fund manager Bracebridge under 8% of the $352 million (2020
Capital. The firm manages some $12 bil- SOURCE: Skin care sales) company.
lion in net assets for endowments, founda- AGE: 66 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco
tions and family offices. During the pan- 50. HEATHER HASSON
demic, the Goldman Sachs alum helped SELF-MADE SCORE: u
fund a pilot program to expand testing for $625 million

SOURCE: Health care apparel NEW

Pamela M. Lopker AGE: 39 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas

SELF-MADE SCORE: u

After failing to find comfortable and
stylish scrubs for a friend at a medical
supply store, the former handbag designer
set out to develop some herself. Founded
in 2013 with Trina Spear (No. 52), Figs
saw its revenue more than double to
$263 million in 2020 as its customers—
essential workers—found themselves on
the frontlines of the pandemic. Hasson is
co-CEO and owns 10% of Figs, which the
duo took public in May.

51. KYLIE JENNER

$620 million ª

SOURCE: Cosmetics
AGE: 23 • RESIDENCE: Hidden Hills, CA

SELF-MADE SCORE: t

Declining sales due to the pandemic and
a break with her former manufacturer—
which sued her company and its partner,
Coty, in a dispute over trade secrets in a
suit that is being settled—dented Jenner’s
beauty line over the past year. Kylie
Cosmetics relaunched in July with new
formulas that are vegan and free of para-
bens and gluten. Jenner launched the line
in 2015 and sold a 51% stake to Coty in
2020 for $600 million.

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA





56. MARTINE ROTHBLATT

$585 million ©

SOURCE: Pharmaceuticals

AGE: 66 • RESIDENCE: Satellite Beach, FL

SELF-MADE SCORE: u

Rothblatt founded United Therapeutics in
1996 after her daughter was diagnosed with
74 a deadly blood pressure disease. Six years
later, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
approved United Therapeutics’ first drug
against the disease, saving her daughter’s
life. In the years since, her company has got-
ten four more drugs approved to treat pulmo-
nary arterial hypertension and pediatric neu-
roblastoma. Before becoming a biotech CEO,
Rothblatt cofounded Sirius Satellite Radio.
THE LIST
57. ALYSSA HENRY NEW
SWIFT: NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES
$555 million

SOURCE: Payments

AGE: 50

RESIDENCE: Piedmont, CA

SELF-MADE SCORE: s

Trina Spear (left) and After seven years as an executive at Ama-
Heather Hasson zon Web Services, the tech giant’s cloud
services provider, Henry joined payments
52. THERESIA GOUW 52. LISA SU processor Square in 2014 and quickly rose
to lead its Seller division. She has trans-
$600 million §¨ $600 million © formed the product from a piece of hard-
ware—the ubiquitous “little white reader”
SOURCE: Venture capital SOURCE: Semiconductors many businesses use—into a system with
AGE: 49 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA AGE: 52 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX software to help businesses manage pay-
roll, loyalty programs and marketing.
SELF-MADE SCORE: v SELF-MADE SCORE: s
58. MADONNA
Gouw, a longtime venture capitalist, A Taiwanese immigrant, Su got an
helps run Acrew Capital, the multigenera- electrical engineering Ph.D. from MIT, $550 million §¨
tional firm she cofounded in 2019. She got where she first fell in love with semicon-
her start as the first female investor at ductors. She joined chipmaker Advanced SOURCE: Music
Palo Alto–based Accel Partners in the Micro Devices in 2012, becoming CEO
1990s. From there, she cofounded Aspect two years later. Since taking the top job, AGE: 62 • RESIDENCE: New York, NY
Ventures in 2014. Early bets that have paid she has led the Santa Clara, California–
off include investments in security firm headquartered firm to a dramatic turn- SELF-MADE SCORE: v
Cato Networks and HotelTonight, now around—with shares surging more than
part of Airbnb. 25-fold to a market capitalization of over The Queen of Pop hasn’t released a new
$130 billion. album in two years and was forced to
cancel the end of her “Madame X” tour
52. MARY WEST last spring. A film version of the show will
still debut on ViacomCBS’s Paramount+
$600 million © this October.

52. TRINA SPEAR NEW SOURCE: Telemarketing 58. TAYLOR SWIFT
AGE: 75 • RESIDENCE: San Diego
$600 million $550 million ©
SELF-MADE SCORE: u
SOURCE: Health care apparel SOURCE: Music
She founded telecom business West Corp. AGE: 31
AGE: 37 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles in 1986. Husband Gary joined the next RESIDENCE: Nashville, TN
year; they sold most of their stake in 2006
SELF-MADE SCORE: u for $1.4 billion. They have since given SELF-MADE SCORE: u
more than $400 million to help improve
When Spear met Heather Hasson (No. health care for seniors through nonprofits When music mogul Scooter Braun sold the
50) through a mutual friend in 2012, including their own West Health. During master recordings of Swift’s first six albums
she wasn’t planning on leaving her the pandemic, West Health funded food in October for a reported $300 million, she
successful asset-management job at delivery to low-income seniors and PPE didn’t get a dime. But the singer-songwriter,
Blackstone. But days later, she flew to for frontline health care workers. who owns composition rights for her work,
Los Angeles to discuss Hasson’s idea is rerecording her old songs and owns the
for a fashion-focused, functional line of masters to her three latest albums, includ-
scrubs, and less than six months later, ing two released in the past year, Folklore
she liquidated her 401(k) to cofound the and Evermore. Her publishing catalog alone
business. She is co-CEO of Figs, which is worth an estimated $200 million.
went public in May.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

60. VICTORIA ZOELLNER 61. VERA WANG 68. DONNA KARAN 75

$510 million ª $500 million © $475 million © U.S. RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN

SOURCE: Hedge funds SOURCE: Fashion design SOURCE: Fashion
AGE: 78 • RESIDENCE: Alpine, NJ AGE: 72 • RESIDENCE: New York City AGE: 72 • RESIDENCE: New York City

SELF-MADE SCORE: u SELF-MADE SCORE: t SELF-MADE SCORE: u

A former Wall Street portfolio analyst, The iconic designer, known for her bridal- Karan sold her namesake fashion label
Zoellner cofounded New Jersey–based wear, has dressed celebrities including to luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH for
hedge fund Alpine Associates Manage- Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian West $195 million in 2000. Since then, she’s
ment in 1976 with her late husband, Rob- and, more recently, Ariana Grande for focused on her lifestyle brand, Urban Zen,
ert Zoellner (d. 2014). Alpine now manag- her secret wedding to luxury realtor Dal- which combines fashion, philanthropy
es $2.2 billion in net assets and retains ton Gomez. This year, Wang is partner- and art. This year, Karan also cofound-
its original investors from 45 years ago; ing with bridal brand Pronovias to launch ed Urban Zen Integrative Therapy, a com-
Zoellner, who no longer oversees the day- an affordable line of wedding dresses. She pany that will integrate Eastern self-care
to-day operations, is chairwoman. is also tiptoeing into the alcohol business, practices with Western medicine.
debuting a Vera Wang Vodka and a Vera
61. JAMIE KERN LIMA Wang Prosecco. 69. CELINE DION

$500 million © 65. HUDA KATTAN $460 million ©

SOURCE: Cosmetics $490 million ª SOURCE: Music
AGE: 44 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles AGE: 53 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas
SOURCE: Cosmetics
SELF-MADE SCORE: v AGE: 37 • RESIDENCE: Dubai, U.A.E. SELF-MADE SCORE: u

The former IT Cosmetics founder and SELF-MADE SCORE: v The pandemic forced Dion to reschedule
co-CEO sold the business to L’Oréal in a her world tour, which now is slated to kick
$1.2 billion deal in 2016. She has invest- The chairwoman of $200 million (estima- off in March 2022. The Quebecois song-
ed some of the estimated $400 million ted 2020 revenue) Huda Beauty, which stress will also return to Las Vegas in
proceeds into 15 mostly women-led start- introduced a new skincare line in 2020, November, two years after her lucrative
ups. A former morning news anchor and is now seeding other startups through a residency at Caesar’s Palace ended, for a
Big Brother contestant, Kern Lima’s 2021 venture arm. In 2017, she sold a minority new 21-show residency at Resorts World.
memoir, Believe IT, was a New York Times stake in Huda Beauty to private equity
bestseller for nine weeks. firm TSG Consumer Partners in a deal 69. JUDY SHEINDLIN
that valued the business at $1.2 billion.
61. RACHEL CARLSON NEW $460 million ©
66. KATHLEEN HILDRETH
$500 million SOURCE: TV
$480 million © AGE: 78
SOURCE: Education RESIDENCE: Naples, FL
SOURCE: Airplane maintenance
AGE: 32 AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Aubrey, TX SELF-MADE SCORE: u

RESIDENCE: Denver SELF-MADE SCORE: u After 25 years presiding over cable’s most-
watched courtroom—and more than
SELF-MADE SCORE: u West Point grad Hildreth was deployed 12,500 cases—Judge Judy is going digi-
around the world as a helicopter and tal. Her new series, Judy Justice, will be
In the struggle to attract and retain front- maintenance test pilot. As a service- streamed exclusively on Amazon’s free
line workers, companies like Chipotle and disabled Army veteran, she cofounded service IMDb TV next year. A longtime
Walmart rely on Guild Education, which defense contractor M1 Support Services family-court judge, Sheindlin didn’t make
Carlson founded in 2015, to create ben- in 2003 and helps run the company, her debut on television until she was 53.
efit programs to help employees get free which maintains military fighter jets
degrees. In its latest funding round this such as F-15s. Revenue grew about 10% 69. GWYNNE SHOTWELL
spring, the company’s valuation tripled to in 2020 to $1.1 billion.
$3.75 billion. It was also a win for Guild’s $460 million ©
more than 1,000 employees, all of whom 66. SUSAN WAGNER
own shares (half of them have stakes SOURCE: SpaceX
worth at least $100,000). $480 million © AGE: 57
RESIDENCE: Jonesboro, TX
SHOTWELL : JOHN SCIULLI/GETTY IMAGES 61. YOUNG SOHN SOURCE: Money management
AGE: 60 • RESIDENCE: Mount Kisco, NY SELF-MADE SCORE: s
$500 million ª
SELF-MADE SCORE: u Employee No. 11 at Elon Musk’s SpaceX,
SOURCE: Software Shotwell is president and chief operating
AGE: 63 • RESIDENCE: New York City The longtime BlackRock executive, who officer of the commercial space exploration
helped cofound the investment behemoth company. SpaceX raised $1.1 billion earlier
SELF-MADE SCORE: u in 1988, retired as vice chairman of the this year, bringing its valuation to over
firm in 2012 but still sits on its board. $74 billion, to fund the development of
Software veteran Sohn was a cofounder She’s also on the boards of Apple, Swiss its Starship spacecraft and its internet ser-
and served as a board member of life- Re, health-tech startup Color Health and vice, Starlink, which it reportedly began
sciences software firm Veeva Systems Samsara, a Cloud 100 startup (see page 58) beta testing in October 2020. SpaceX will
until 2014. She helped found cloud soft- backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger deliver billionaire Jared Isaacman and three
ware firm Vlocity and was on its board Global Management that makes sensors crew members to orbit Earth possibly as
until it was acquired by Salesforce for and software to manage commercial fleets soon as this September. Shotwell is estima-
$1.3 billion in 2020. Her estimated net and industrial operations. ted to own less than 1% of SpaceX.
worth is lower this year due to new infor-
mation about her Veeva Systems stake.

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

72. ADI TATARKO 76. KELLY STECKELBERG 80. DANIELLE STEEL

$455 million © $415 million © $390 million ©

SOURCE: Home design SOURCE: Zoom Video Communications SOURCE: Books

AGE: 48 AGE: 54 • RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA AGE: 73 • RESIDENCE: San Francisco

RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA SELF-MADE SCORE: s SELF-MADE SCORE: t

SELF-MADE SCORE: u The net worth of Zoom’s chief financial of- Steel, the most prolific romance novel-

Tatarko cofounded Houzz, a home goods ficer has jumped by $160 million since last ist after Nora Roberts (No. 78), published

76 and interior-design website, with her year’s list, thanks largely to several well- six novels in the past 10 months, making

husband, Alon Cohen, in 2009. The compa- timed stock sales as shares of the video- an estimated $18 million before taxes and

ny was forced to lay off 155 employees conferencing firm briefly soared above the management fees. Her earnings are boos-

THE LISTin April 2020 amid the pandemic. But$400 mark in September. She also joined ted by her popularity overseas; she was

TATARKO: ETHAN PINESdemand for home remodels has since re-the board of Utah-based cloud computing the 15th-top-selling author in the U.K. in

bounded, with user outreach to home pro- outfit Qualtrics in February after it was 2020, according to Nielsen Book Research.

fessionals on the site increasing by more spun off by German software giant SAP.

than 50% compared to pre-Covid-19 levels. 81. LIZ ELTING

73. BEYONCÉ KNOWLES 76. BARBRA STREISAND $380 million ©

$440 million © $415 million © SOURCE: Translation services

SOURCE: Music SOURCE: Music AGE: 55 • RESIDENCE: New York City

AGE: 79 • RESIDENCE: Malibu, CA SELF-MADE SCORE: u

AGE: 39 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles SELF-MADE SCORE: w Elting cofounded translation company
TransPerfect in 1992. She left in 2018
SELF-MADE SCORE: u Six decades in show business as a perfor-

It has been five years since Knowles re- mer, writer and director have made Strei- after selling her stake for $385 million

leased her most recent solo album, but sand a fortune, but she also made a shrewd (pretax), ending a long-running battle

she’s still racking up accolades. She took real estate purchase. Forbes estimates that with Phil Shawe, her cofounder and

home Grammys this year for her perfor- her sprawling Malibu complex—which has ex-fiancé. In May, Elting provided seed

mance of “Black Parade” and the music quintupled in value since she bought it in capital to a second group of life-sciences

video for “Brown Skin Girl.” Her collabo- 1995—is worth nearly $100 million as real and deep-tech ventures as part of a $2 mil-

ration with Adidas launched its first swim- estate prices in the area have skyrocketed lion gift to New York University’s Endless

wear line this summer. during the pandemic. Frontier Labs program, an incubator for

74. JANICE BRYANT HOWROYD promising startups.

$435 million © 78. NORA ROBERTS 82. ELLEN DEGENERES

$410 million ©

SOURCE: Staffing SOURCE: Books $370 million §¨
AGE: 68 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas AGE: 70 • RESIDENCE: Boonsboro, MD
SOURCE: Television
SELF-MADE SCORE: v SELF-MADE SCORE: u
AGE: 63 • RESIDENCE: Santa Barbara, CA

The founder and CEO of staffing firm Act- Romance and crime novelist Roberts has SELF-MADE SCORE: u

One Group voiced support in June for rep- published four new books since September The comedian and talk show host an-

arations to the descendants of slaves in 2020, and her sales are as robust as ever. nounced she would walk away from her

America, saying diversity initiatives should She pulled in an estimated $26 million eponymous program after its upcoming

carve out resources for Black people. Act- in pretax earnings over the past year, 19th season. While she claimed to be leav-

One, her four-decade-old multinational, making her one of the highest-earning ing because she wants a new challenge, the

was dealt a blow by the pandemic as tempo- authors in the world. decision came after allegations that she

rary staffing needs contracted. Revenue in presided over a toxic workplace. A drop in

2020 was down 11% to an estimated $890 79. CATHIE WOOD ratings and ad revenue followed; they are

million—better than analysts anticipated. $400 million © down about 13% and 20%, respectively.

SOURCE: Money management

75. NICHOLE MUSTARD AGE: 65 • RESIDENCE: Wilton, CT 82. SONIA GARDNER

$430 million © SELF-MADE SCORE: u $370 million ©

SOURCE: Personal finance Wood founded $60 billion (assets) Ark SOURCE: Finance
Invest—one of Wall Street’s fastest-grow-
AGE: 48 • RESIDENCE: Orinda, CA ing investment firms—in 2014 with the AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: New York City

SELF-MADE SCORE: v SELF-MADE SCORE: u

A former financial planner, Mustard co- idea of packaging active investing inside A former attorney, Gardner cofounded

founded Credit Karma in 2007 with two exchange-traded funds. Her novel ETFs investment firm Avenue Capital Group in

others in an office above a San Francisco invest in genomics, robotics, AI, fintech 1995 with her brother Marc Lasry, the

bar. Last December, tax planning giant and technology; in mid-2019 she upped billionaire co-owner of U.S. National

Intuit paid $8.1 billion in cash and stock her bet on Tesla before its stock soared Basketball Association champion Milwau-

for the business. The site—which offers more than tenfold. Ark has also filed to kee Bucks. She’s president of the $11.6 bil-

consumers access to credit scores and create a Bitcoin ETF. Wood’s $23 billion lion (assets) distressed-debt enterprise. In

boasts more than 100 million members— flagship Ark Innovation ETF has returned November, the Morocco-born entrepre-

operates as an independent brand under an average of 46% annually over the past neur was named a goodwill ambassador

Intuit. Mustard continues to serve as its five years, nearly triple that of the S&P to the U.N.’s capital development fund, fo-

chief revenue officer. 500 Index. cused on gender equality in finance.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw



84. BELINDA JOHNSON 87. LYNDA WEINMAN 91. INDRA NOOYI NEW

$355 million © $325 million © $290 million

SOURCE: Airbnb SOURCE: Online education SOURCE: PepsiCo

AGE: 54 AGE: 66 • RESIDENCE: Montecito, CA AGE: 65 • RESIDENCE: Greenwich, CT

RESIDENCE: Redwood City, CA SELF-MADE SCORE: u SELF-MADE SCORE: s

SELF-MADE SCORE: s Web-design teacher Weinman sold The India-born executive served as CEO

Back in 2011, Johnson was the first ex- Lynda.com, an online-learning website, and chair of PepsiCo for 12 years before

78 ecutive hire at Airbnb. This past Decem- to LinkedIn in 2015 for $1.5 billion in cash stepping down as CEO in 2018 and chair

ber, nine months after she stepped down and stock—and left before Microsoft pur- in 2019; her fortune stems from stock she

as chief operating officer—a post she had chased LinkedIn the following year. She was granted while working there. During

THE LISTheld for two years—the home-rental com- has co-produced more than 20 indepen- her tenure, she thwarted a bid to break

JURICH: ERIC MILLETTE FOR FORBESpany went public. Johnson owns 0.3%dent films, including the 2020 Netflix doc- up the company, nearly doubled sales to

of Airbnb’s stock and still sits on the umentary The Social Dilemma, about the $65 billion and introduced healthier prod-

company’s board, as well as Paypal’s. dangers of social media. Weinman’s latest ucts and environmentally friendly practices.

84. PLEASANT ROWLAND endeavor is 3D-printed pottery. She joined Amazon’s board in 2019.

$355 million © 89. RUTH PORAT 93. SARAH FRIAR

SOURCE: American Girl dolls $310 million © $265 million ©
AGE: 80 • RESIDENCE: Madison, WI
SOURCE: Google SOURCE: Mobile payments
SELF-MADE SCORE: u
AGE: 63 AGE: 48 • RESIDENCE: Ross, CA

The American Girl dolls creator is notori- RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA SELF-MADE SCORE: s
ously press-shy, especially since her name-
SELF-MADE SCORE: s Friar is taking Nextdoor public in a SPAC

sake Pleasant Company was snapped up After a 27-year career at Morgan Stanley, merger expected to value the neighbor-

by Mattel for $700 million more than two Porat joined Google in mid-2015, shortly hood social network at $4.3 billion. Next-

decades ago. Rowland was inducted into before it created its parent company, door isn’t profitable, but revenue has more

the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in October. Alphabet, where she serves as chief finan- than doubled during her time as CEO. To

Early this year, she donated $14 million cial officer. During the pandemic, Porat address ongoing issues with racial profil-

to a charter school and $10 million to a has become a proponent of hybrid offices. ing, the company introduced an anti-racism

hospital for a new transplant clinic, both She recently endorsed U.S. President Joe notification in April that warns users when

in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Biden’s plan for higher taxes on high earn- their post might be discriminatory.

ers, saying, “We need to do our part.”

86. DOLLY PARTON NEW 90. KARISSA BODNAR 94. TONI KO

$350 million $260 million ©

SOURCE: Music $300 million ª SOURCE: Cosmetics
AGE: 75 • RESIDENCE: Nashville, TN AGE: 48 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles
SOURCE: Cosmetics

SELF-MADE SCORE: w AGE: 32 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles SELF-MADE SCORE: v

In a year when most of the music indus- SELF-MADE SCORE: v Ko made waves in the beauty industry

try slowed down, the country singer and Direct-to-consumer cosmetics company when she sold her affordable-makeup com-

co-owner of amusement park Dollywood Thrive Causemetics was better equipped pany, NYX Cosmetics, to L’Oréal for $500

was busier than ever: She wrote a song in- than most to weather the worst of the million in 2014. A serial entrepreneur, she

spired by her experience during the pan- pandemic. Now Bodnar, who previously founded Bespoke Beauty Brands in 2019. It

demic, released her first holiday album worked at L’Oréal before leaving to launch helps influencers and celebrities create their

in 30 years and starred in a Netflix film, Thrive in 2015, is reportedly shopping own makeup lines. Bespoke partnered with

Christmas on the Square. Arguably her around for a sale. designer Jason Wu to develop Jason Wu

most important contribution: a $1 million Beauty, which launched earlier this year.

donation that helped fund Moderna’s 91. JESSICA ICLISOY

coronavirus vaccine research. $290 million §¨ 95. LYNN JURICH NEW

87. PATRICIA MILLER SOURCE: Baby products $250 million
AGE: 55 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles
$325 million © SOURCE: Residential
SELF-MADE SCORE: u solar energy
SOURCE: Accessories
AGE: 82 • RESIDENCE: Fort Wayne, IN California Baby’s hand sanitizer and soap, AGE: 42
made in Iclisoy’s plant in Los Angeles, RESIDENCE: San Francisco
SELF-MADE SCORE: u sold quickly during the height of the
pandemic. She founded the company in SELF-MADE SCORE: u
Miller is the cofounder of colorful acces- 1995 as a shampoo and bath brand with
sories brand Vera Bradley, known for its products that are free of harsh chemicals, Jurich cofounded residential solar pioneer
quilted cotton handbags. She retired as dyes and synthetic fragrances and not Sunrun in 2007 at age 27 with Stanford
president in 2019 and stepped down from tested on animals. She later expanded to business school classmate Ed Fenster. She
the board; her husband, Michael Miller, produce sunscreens and lotions made with is CEO and owns roughly 2% of Sunrun,
retired as a board member in June. Since Calendula from her 40-hectare farm in which went public in 2015. The stock more
last year, the couple have sold roughly Santa Barbara. Iclisoy owns 100% of the than doubled in the past year due to soar-
$23 million worth of the company’s stock, $100 million (estimated sales) business. ing demand for solar panels. Her husband,
reducing their stake from 16% to 9%. Brad Murray, cofounded a cosmetics
company that Unilever acquired in 2019.

FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2021

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN §¨UNCHANGED • SELF-MADE SCORE: stuvw

95. THERESA PAN 79

$250 million §¨ U.S. RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN

SOURCE: Fiber optics
AGE: 75 • RESIDENCE: Milpitas, CA

SELF-MADE SCORE: u

Pan and her then-husband, Jing Jong Pan,
became billionaires when her fiber-optic
components firm, E-Tek Dynamic—which
she cofounded in 1983—was acquired by
fiber-optics company JDS Uniphase in
a $15 billion transaction in 2000. They
dropped out of the three-comma club by
2001 as JDS shares declined. Pan heads
a foundation that builds and renovates
rural schools in China.

97. GAIL BECKER NEW

$245 million

SOURCE: Specialty foods

AGE: 57

RESIDENCE: Los Angeles

SELF-MADE SCORE: u

The pioneer of the cauliflower pizza crust

craze, Becker originally took to the kitch-
en to make gluten-free versions of her
kids’ favorite foods after they were di-

agnosed with celiac disease. A longtime
public-relations executive, she founded
Caulipower in 2016 and got early funding

from venture firm Boulder Food Group. Cindy Crawford
Caulipower has estimated revenue of
$100 million, with products in 25,000

stores including Walmart and Target.

98. SERENA WILLIAMS High Stadium and the Colorado Conven- Editors: Kerry A. Dolan, Chase Peterson-Withorn
tion Center. She and her husband have and Jennifer Wang
$240 million © funneled the profits into more than 250
fast-food franchises—mostly Taco Bells— Reporters: Maria Abreu, Margherita Beale,
SOURCE: Tennis, investments in seven states. In 1991 she received a mi- Madeline Berg, Isabelle Bousquette, Kenrick Cai,
AGE: 39 • RESIDENCE: Jupiter, FL nority stake in Major League Baseball’s Deniz Çam, Isabel Contreras, Matt Durot, Amy
Colorado Rockies, whose Coors Field was Feldman, Abigail Freeman, Antoine Gara, Eliza
SELF-MADE SCORE: v the site of this year’s All-Star game. Haverstock, John Hyatt, Katie Jennings, Sergei
Klebnikov, Alex Knapp, Brett Knight, Katherine
The tennis star has been stuck on 23 100. CINDY CRAWFORD NEW Love, Andrea Murphy, Aayushi Pratap, Leah
Grand Slam singles titles since 2017 Rosenbaum, Rachel Sandler, Ariel Shapiro,
but remains a draw for advertisers, with $225 million Chloe Sorvino, Kristin Stoller, Giacomo Tognini,
nearly 20 corporate partners. She’s much Hank Tucker, Lisette Voytko, Alexandra Wilson,
more than a pitchwoman: In the last eight SOURCE: Skin care Nina Wolpow and Will Yakowicz. Research: Susan
months, she has signed a first-look TV Radlauer. Database manager: Dmitri Slavinsky
deal with Amazon Studios and picked AGE: 55 • RESIDENCE: Malibu, CA
up a board seat with a SPAC now taking M E T H O D O L O G Y: To compile net worths, we
3D-printing company Velo3D public. SELF-MADE SCORE: u valued individual assets including stakes in public
She also has investments in 66 startups. companies using stock prices from July 2, 2021.
After making her name as a supermodel We valued private companies by consulting with
ALVARADO: THEO STROOMER FOR FORBES 99. LINDA ALVARADO NEW during the 1980s and ’90s, when she ap- outside experts and conservatively comparing
peared on more than 1,000 magazine them with public companies. To be eligible for the
$230 million covers and shilled for a number of brands list, women have to have substantially made their
including Revlon and Pepsi, Crawford de- own fortunes in the U.S. and/or be U.S. citizens or
SOURCE: Construction, cided to be the face of her own product. The permanent residents. While none inherited their
franchises model turned entrepreneur founded the wealth, some climbed farther and overcame
anti-aging skin-care company Meaningful more obstacles to get into the ranks. To measure
AGE: 70 Beauty in 2004. The direct-to-consumer just how far some have come, women are given
line generates more than $100 million in a self-made score of 6 (hired hand) to 10 (rags-
RESIDENCE: Denver annual revenue, thanks in part to info- to-riches entrepreneur). We attempted to vet
mercial marketing and Crawford’s famous numbers with all list entrants. Some cooperated,
SELF-MADE SCORE: w face. Crawford, who Forbes recently con- others didn’t. Ages are as of August 5, 2021. For
firmed owns half the company, launched more information, including details on the self-
Alvarado has spent more than four Meaningful Beauty hair care in June. made scores, see forbes.com/self-made-women.
decades in construction. Her Denver-
based firm, Alvarado Construction, which A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S : AlphaSense;
she founded in 1976, led the building of Matt Bittick, CBRE; John Gafford, The Simply
U.S. football team Denver Broncos’ Mile Group; MRC Data; The NPD Group; Joel Paige,
Kingsmill Resort; PitchBook; Jack Plunkett,
Plunkett Research

SEPTEMBER 2021 FORBES ASIA

THOUGHTS ON

Honor

80

“The respect that is only “Honor has not to be won; it
bought by gold is not worth must only not be lost.”
much.”
—Arthur Schopenhauer
—George Colman
“Let the honor of thy fellow be
“A man has honor if he holds as dear to thee as thine own.”
himself to an ideal of conduct
though it is inconvenient, —Talmud
unprofitable, or dangerous to
do so.” “The reward of a thing well
done is to have done it.”
—Walter Lippman
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
“No man should break his
word of honor.” “Honor wears different coats
to different eyes.”
—Mikhail Bulgakov
—Barbara W. Tuchman
“Honor is easier kept than
recovered.” “Bullfighting is the only art in
which the artist is in danger
—Saying of death, and in which the
degree of brilliance in the
“The louder he talked of his performance is left to the
honor, the faster we counted fighter’s honor.”
our spoons.”
—Ernest Hemingway
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Riches are for spending;
“The more cost, the more and spending for honor and
honor.” good actions.”

—Scottish proverb —Francis Bacon

“He that desires honor is not Store of Value “You can’t build a reputation
worthy.” on what you are going to do.”
March 2, 2009
—English proverb —Henry Ford
In 2009, Tadashi Yanai had seen his net worth jump
“Who sows virtue reaps honor.” to $6.1 billion from $4.4 billion in 2006, despite a FINAL THOUGHT
severe global recession hitting other tycoons that
—Leonardo Da Vinci year. That figure made him Japan’s richest man at “Honors are easier had
the time. Yanai, the founder of Japan’s Fast Retailing, than honor.”
“War, he sung, is toil and which operates the global retailer Uniqlo, had actually
trouble; Honor, but an benefitted from the worldwide downturn as consumers —Malcolm Forbes
empty bubble.” pinched pennies buying Uniqlo’s more affordable, but
still fashionable, duds. A similar cost-cutting trend is SEPTEMBER 2021
—John Dryden also helping Yanai during the current pandemic. Back
in 2009, Yanai was hoping to hit $7 billion revenue—
“I hope I shall always possess it’s now expected to reach $19.5 billion in fiscal 2021.
firmness and virtue enough to His net worth stands at $33.7 billion—up more than
maintain. . . the most enviable fivefold in a dozen years, and once again making him
of all titles, the character of an Japan’s richest man, according to Forbes’ real-time
‘Honest Man.’”
wealth ranking on Sept. 1.
—George Washington
EXCERPTS EDITED BY LYDIA FORBES.
“Honor lies in honest toil.”

—Grover Cleveland

“For I remembered your
old Roman axiom, the more
the danger, still the more
the honor.”

—John Fletcher

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