Steve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media.

The company’s flagship publication, Forbes, is the nation’s leading business magazine, with a circulation of more than 900,000. Forbes combined with Forbes Asia, Forbes Europe, and the company’s licensee editions together reach a worldwide audience of more than 5 million readers.

Forbes.com has become one of the world’s most influential websites, with more than 80 million unique visitors a month.

Mr. Forbes writes editorials for Forbes under the heading of “Fact and Comment.” A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times. The prize was formerly given by U.S. Steel Corporation to the financial journalist whose economic forecasts for the coming year proved most accurate.

In both 1996 and 2000, Mr. Forbes campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense. Mr. Forbes continues to energetically promote this agenda.

Mr. Forbes’ new book: Reviving America: How Repealing Obamacare, Replacing the Tax Code and Reforming the Fed will Restore Hope and Prosperity, co-authored by Elizabeth Ames (McGraw-Hill Professional), came out in December, 2015.

His other books include Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy – and What We Can Do About It, co-authored by Elizabeth Ames (McGraw-Hill Professional); Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets are Moral and Big Government Isn’t, co-authored by Elizabeth Ames (Crown Business, August 2012); How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today’s Economy, co-authored by Elizabeth Ames (Crown Business, November 2009); and Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today…and the Lessons You Can Learn, co-authored by John Prevas (Crown Business, June 2009). He also wrote: Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS (Regnery, 2005); and A New Birth of Freedom (Regnery, 1999), a book of bold ideas for the new millennium.

In 1985, President Reagan names Mr. Forbes Chairman of the bi-partisan Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). In this position, he oversaw the operations of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were praised by Poland’s Lech Walesa as being critical to the struggle against communism. Mr. Forbes was reappointed to his post by President George H. W. Bush and served until 1993.

Steve Forbes was born on July 18, 1947, in Morristown, New Jersey. He received a B.A. in history from Princeton in 1970.

Mr. Forbes serves on the boards of The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the Heritage Foundation and The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He is on the Board of Overseers of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and on the Board of Visitors for the School of Public Policy of Pepperdine University. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of Princeton University for ten years.

Joseph C. TSAI joined our company in 1999 as a member of the Alibaba founding team and has served as our executive vice chairman since May 2013. He has been a non-executive director of Alibaba Health since September 2015. Joe previously served as our chief financial officer and has been a member of our board of directors since our formation.

From 1995 to 1999, Joe worked in Hong Kong with Investor AB, the main investment vehicle of Sweden's Wallenberg family, where he was responsible for Asian private equity investments. Prior to that, he was vice president and general counsel of Rosecliff, Inc., a management buyout firm based in New York. From 1990 to 1993, Joe was an associate attorney in the tax group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, a New York-based international law firm. Joe serves on the boards of directors of several of our investee companies.

Joe is qualified to practice law in the State of New York. He received his bachelor's degree in Economics and East Asian Studies from Yale College and a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School.

Neil Shen is Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China. He is also Co-Founder of Ctrip.com and Home Inns.

He is in the Forbes Midas List from 2012 to 2016 as the highest ranking investor from China, and has topped Forbes China ranking of “Best Venture Capital Investors" for five years since 2010. He has won numerous awards including the “Top Investors in China” by Chinaventure.cn and Financial Times and 2016, “50 Most Influential Business Leaders in China” and “30 Most Influential Investors in China” by Fortune Magazine in 2015 and also 2016, “Top 100 Venture Capitalists” by CB Insights partnered with The New York Times in 2016, “Figure of the Year” by “Figure” Magazine in 2015, “25 Most Influential Business Leaders” by China Entrepreneur Magazine from 2014 to 2016, “The Best Business Leaders in China: New Economy Hero of the Year” by China Business Network in 2016, "Venture Capital Professional of the Year" by AVCJ in 2010 and 2015, and “Top Ten Economic Figures of the Year” by CCTV in 2006.

He is the Board Chairman of Yale Leadership Center in China, Director of Yabuli China Entrepreneur Forum (CEF), Vice Chairman of VC Funds Committee of Asset Management Association of China, Member of Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, Trustee of Brookings Institution, Trustee of Asia Society, Rotating President of Future Forum in 2016, and Trustee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

He received Master's degree from Yale University and Bachelor's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Founded in 1993, the kathy ireland® Worldwide brand, celebrates a lifestyle. The initial mission of “...solutions for families, especially busy moms™,” evolved simply to “…solutions”, which translate to all kiWW® collections, including: fashion, fine jewelry, intimate apparel, skincare, accessories, weddings, home, office and more.  kiWW’s unique capability to design and translate fashion trends for all markets and price points allows it to develop product for a wide variety of customer tastes.

Listed as one of the most powerful brands globally by License Global Magazine, with merchandise sales of over $2.6 billion, according to Forbes Magazine, the success of kathy ireland® Worldwide is the result of teamwork and dedication.

According to Fairchild Publications, Kathy Ireland is one of the 50 most influential people in fashion. Kathy has graced the cover of Forbes Magazine twice (2012, 2016) and in December 2016 was listed by the same publication as one of the 20 most successful celebrities in the U.S. 

Kathy and kiWW® support many non-profits including: YWCA Greater Los Angeles for which she is an Ambassador, Dream Foundation, Providence Educational Foundation, 911 for Kids/AEF, and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Kathy was recently named an Ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

George Yeo is the Chairman of Kerry Logistics Network Limited (a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with stock code 636). He is also a director of Kerry Holdings Limited (a subsidiary of Kerry Group Limited).

From 1988 to 2011, Mr Yeo served for 23 years in the Singapore Government, as Minister of State for Finance, then as Minister for Information and the Arts, Health, Trade and Industry, and Foreign Affairs. Prior to 1988, Mr Yeo served in various capacities in the Singapore Army, Republic of Singapore Air Force and Defence Ministry, including Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff and Director of Joint Operations and Planning in the Defence Ministry, attaining the rank of Brigadier-General.

Mr Yeo was a member of the Mentor Group and Governing Board of Nalanda University and its Second Chancellor. Mr Yeo is a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum, the Berggruen Institute on Governance, the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors, the International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, the International Advisory Panel of Peking University, the International Advisory Council of Eco Forum Global Guiyang, the Economic Development Commission of Hong Kong, the International Advisory Committee of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and the International Advisory Committee of Mitsubishi Corporation (a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with stock code 80580).

Mr Yeo was a member of the Vatican Council Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See and became a member of the Vatican Council for the Economy from February 2014.

Mr Yeo is an independent non-executive director of AIA Group Limited (a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with stock code 1299) and a non-independent non-executive director of Wilmar International Limited (a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with stock code F34).

Mr Yeo was awarded Philippines’ Order of Sikatuna, India’s Padma Bhushan and Australia’s Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.

Mr Yeo graduated from Cambridge University with a double first in engineering and also obtained a master of business administration degree (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School. Mr Yeo is a visiting scholar at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of National University of Singapore.

C. Dean Metropoulos is Chairman and CEO of Metropoulos & Co., a boutique acquisition and management firm.  Mr. Metropoulos has spent the past 30 years building, restructuring and growing numerous businesses in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.  Many of these were subsequently taken public or sold to strategic corporations. 

Some of the “buy-build” private equity transactions led by Mr. Metropoulos include:

• Stella Foods (the #1 specialty cheese company in the U.S. & Canada)

• The Morningstar Group, Inc. (traded on the NASDAQ at the time)

• International Home Foods, Inc. (Chef Boyardee, Pam Cooking Spray, Gulden’s Mustard & Bumble Bee Tuna) – traded on the NYSE at the time

• Ghirardelli Chocolate Co.

• Mumm and Perrier Jouet Champagnes (France)

• Hillsdown Holdings, PLC (Premier International Foods, Burtons Biscuits, & Christie Tyler – UK/Europe)

• Pinnacle Foods Group, Inc. (Swanson/Hungry-Man, Vlasic Pickles, Open Pit Barbeque Sauce, Duncan Hines, Log Cabin Syrup, Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup, Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast, Mrs. Paul’s Seafood, Van De Kamp’s Seafood, Celeste Pizza, & Lender’s Bagels)

• National Waterworks

• Solar Marine (a private international dry cargo shipping company)

• Pabst Brewing Company

• EPAQ (an integrated oil drilling company)

• Hostess Brands, LLC

• Utz Quality Foods, Inc. (one of the oldest east coast salty snack companies)

• Golden Flake Snack Foods  (salty snacks)

Mr. Metropoulos has been involved in more than 81 acquisitions in many parts of the world over the past 30 years, and has earned some of the most attractive returns on Wall Street.  Highly respected for his integrity and commitment, Mr. Metropoulos is a sought after partner by many of the major private equity firms.

Mr. Metropoulos holds a Bachelors and MBA from Babson College and worked toward his Ph.D. at Columbia University for two years. 

Mr. Metropoulos and his wife, Marianne, of 40 years, have two sons, Evan and Daren, who have been involved and an integral part of Dean’s business for many years.

The Cultural Entrepreneur behind New World Development and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, the world’s largest jeweller with over 2,300 stores in greater China, Adrian Cheng is the fourth-generation leader of one of the world’s most prominent families and its business empire (#58 on Forbes 2016). The Harvard-graduate is also the brain behind The Artisanal Movement, a new creative undertone of New World Development’s culture. With his international background, together with a passion for arts and culture, he’s leading a cultural change for the new generation.

The Artisanal Movement curates a bespoke and contemporary lifestyle for the millennials, injecting a dash of creativity in their everyday life, as Adrian believes that innately everyone is an artisan, that everyone can appreciate art, design, architecture, as well as every fine detail that elevates life. The motto of the Movement – We Create, We are Artisans – is evident in all of Adrian’s projects. From K11, the world’s first museum-retail lifestyle concept, to wabi sabi-themed residential project The Pavilia Hill, to Luxba Group, his fledging fashion establishment in China, projects led by Adrian have in recent years firmly established the visionary as a global cultural entrepreneur in creative disciplines and enterprises. Recently, he is named the Creative Advisor of NOWNESS, a digital video channel created by LVMH.

Adrian injects zest into the family business empire, instilling innovation, art and culture into all businesses. In 2016, he introduced Chow Tai Fook’s first art jewellery collection, Le Labyrinth Artistique, a visually arresting collection inspired by exoticism and masterpieces of famous abstract artists. The exclusive collection, of which Adrian acted as Creative Director, marked a new milestone for the 88-year-old jeweller.

He also founded the K11 Art Foundation, the first non-profit and non-state-owned art foundation in China to incubate emerging contemporary Chinese artists and curators, and to promote public art education. His contribution to arts and cultural development propelled him to No. 54 in the 2016 ArtReview Power 100 list.

Anthony Tan is the Group CEO, and Co-Founder of Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading mobile technology company focused on bringing transport freedom and financial inclusion to the region. Under his leadership, the company has expanded into more than 500 cities and towns in seven countries across Southeast Asia.

Grab's core product platform includes commuting solutions for drivers and passengers with an emphasis on convenience, safety, and reliability, as well as its proprietary mobile payments platform, GrabPay.

By focusing on a hyperlocal business strategy and building strategic partnerships, Anthony and his team successfully transformed Grab from a taxi booking app to the market leading ride-hailing app that offers the most diversified portfolio of transport services in Southeast Asia.

Anthony’s roots in the automotive industry run deep – his great grandfather was a taxi driver. Before founding Grab, Anthony was the Head of Supply Chain and Marketing at Tan Chong Group, where he drove logistics and created brand affinity for the automotive brands under the group.

Anthony graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Chicago and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Honors from Harvard Business School.

Anthony has a hands-on leadership style and travels obsessively within Southeast Asia to inspire and fight with his team on the ground.

Miwako Date is President and Chief Executive Officer at Mori Trust Co., Ltd., one of the foremost major developers in Japan, which works with a wide variety of high-class hotels originating from outside Japan. She’s the third generation of leaders hailing from one of the foremost business-owning families in Japan.

Her grandfather, Taikichiro Mori (who Forbes ranked number one on its World’s Billionaires List in 1991 and 1992) founded the Mori Group, the precursor to the Mori Trust Group, which was later formed by Taikichiro’s third son, Akira Mori (who is consistently ranked on the Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List since taking over the business in 1993 and was ranked as Japan’s richest person in 2008). Akira Mori is Miwako’s father and serves as Chairman of the Board at Mori Trust Group. Miwako Date took over the business in June 2016.

With a primary focus on the real-estate and hotel & resort businesses, Mori Trust Group is also involved in a wide range of investment businesses (such as overseas investing and M&A).

Even before taking over the company as President and CEO, Miwako expanded upon its business. She took on ventures such as the supervision of numerous large mixed-use development projects in major cities across Japan, projects purposed with attracting to Japan various luxury hotels originating abroad, and has been personally involved in operations.

In Mori Trust’s mid-to-long term vision, released at the same time Miwako assumed her post, the company expressed its readiness to spend more than JPY 800 billion on new investments by 2027. In the year since assuming her post, Miwako has aimed for the creation of an international business base in Tokyo and given shape to the Tokyo World Gate plan (a large mixed-use development project in the heart of Tokyo spanning a total floor space of around 200,000 square meters), and the Akasaka 2-Chome Project (tentative name; scheduled for completion in FY 2022). Furthermore, she actualized investments into two large buildings found at choice locations in Boston in the US, as well as the listing of a REIT specialized in hotels (which has been evaluated as top-class within Japan). As she moves forward with the acquisition of new sites, she’s also been vigorously moving business forward, which is evident by occurrences such as the July 2017 announcement of the company’s success in attracting EDITION (a luxury lifestyle hotel that’s enthralled celebrities from across the globe) to Tokyo’s Toranomon and Ginza districts.

Miwako is currently looking ahead beyond the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to 2030 and aiming for the creation of luxury destinations in Japan. As the leader of luxury hotel development in Japan, she has deployed various projects not bound by precedent, such as those entailing the opening of 10 new luxury hotels featuring 1,000 rooms by around 2023.

Miwako has been recognized for many achievements such as these and despite her young age, she currently serves as Permanent Secretary at Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), Secretary at the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and as Director at the Japan Hotel Association. What’s more, Miwako has been invited to give recommendations as a member of numerous expert panels hosted by entities such as the governments of Tokyo and Japan, thereby contributing significantly to the development of Japan’s business world and tourism industry.

Jeongdo Hong is the President and CEO of JoongAng Media Network (JMnet), the largest media group in South Korea with 23 subsidiary companies and 24 brands including newspapers, TV channels, magazines, a multiplex cinema chain, and leisure resorts. Mr. Hong is also the President and CEO of JTBC, the fastest growing general programming channel in Korea since he founded it in December 2011. He is concurrently the President and CEO of the JoongAng Ilbo, a major national newspaper in Korea.

Since Mr. Hong joined the JoongAng media group in 2005 as a member of the Strategic Planning Office, he has developed overall corporate strategies for the group. He played a crucial role in one of JMnet’s most important projects, which also marked a key chapter in Korea’s recent media history. It was the regaining of broadcasting rights for TBC (Tongyang Broadcasting Company), Korea’s most popular channel in the 1960s and 70s, which was confiscated from the JoongAng media group by a military government in 1980. After years of work and preparation, the nationwide TV channel JTBC was finally launched in December 2011.

JTBC has been growing rapidly since its launch. The channel, which offers news, documentaries, dramas and a variety of entertainment programs, has been named in a viewer survey as the most balanced and informative channel for two consecutive years. It is setting new standards for dramas and entertainment programs. Popular JTBC programs such as “Non-Summit” and “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” are broadcast around the world through the sale of broadcast rights to overseas networks.

Mr. Hong has also led a sub-branding strategy to strengthen JTBC’s brand, creating synergies as a result. In addition to JTBC, the flagship general programming channel, there is also JTBC2, the entertainment channel formerly known as QTV, and JTBC3 Fox Sports, a partnership with Fox International Channels Asia. J Golf was relaunched as JTBC Golf in 2015.

Another highlight of Mr. Hong’s work was in 2009, when he led the JoongAng Ilbo’s ambitious project to switch the paper’s printing format to Berliner, the first such innovative change in all of Asia. In 2011, Mr. Hong headed the successful merger and acquisition of two major movie theater franchises, Megabox and Cinus. The M&A strengthened JMnet’s position in the entertainment industry.

Mr. Hong is a member of the WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers) Asia Pacific Committee. He was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2010. Mr. Hong studied history at Yonsei University in Seoul before earning his BA in Economics from Wesleyan University and his MBA from Stanford University.

Enrique K. Razon Jr. is Chairman of the Board and President of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), a Philippine-based company involved in the management and operation of 27 ports and terminals in 17 countries.  He is also Chairman of Bloomberry Resorts Corp. (BRC), owner of Solaire Resort and Casino, an integrated resort complex in the Philippines’ Entertainment City.  ICTSI and BRC are both listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Mr. Razon belongs to the third generation of a family involved in the business of marine cargo handling.  The Razon Group has a long-standing reputation of being pioneers and innovators in the management and development of ports, terminals and related facilities.  The group’s proven track record stems from over 90 years’ experience in integrated cargo handling, stevedoring and other port services in the Philippines and abroad. 

In 1987, the Razon Group and the Soriano Group incorporated ICTSI, initially to bid for the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in the Philippines. After winning the MICT contract 1988, Mr. Razon spearheaded the MICT’s development program.  The MICT today is the country’s premier international gateway.  ICTSI also operates seven other terminals in the Philippines.

After consolidating and strengthening its base and flagship operation at the MICT, ICTSI launched an international and domestic expansion program in 1994.  ICTSI is recognized today as a leading operator, innovator and pioneer in the field of port management with a track record that confirms its ability to rapidly adapt to different operating environments, and to add substantial value to its operated terminals by enhancing their efficiency at every level.  The company continues to pursue prospects in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Europe.

Mr. Razon sits on the board of most ICTSI subsidiaries worldwide and of several leading foreign and Philippine corporations.  His other investments are in real estate, power, mining, oil and gas exploration, and leisure facilities including a golf course in the Philippines.  Mr. Razon also chairs the ICTSI Foundation, Inc., which oversees the ICTSI Group’s corporate social responsibility advocacies. 

Mr. Razon is a member of the Management Association of the Philippines, the US Philippines Society, the ASEAN Business Club and Philippines, Inc.

NBA Legend DIKEMBE MUTOMBO was born in the capital city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mutombo is the seventh of ten children born to the late Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo. He arrived in the United States in 1987 on an academic scholarship to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In his second year, legendary basketball coach John Thompson invited the 7'2" Mutombo to try out for the university's renowned basketball team. After joining the team, Mutombo re-directed his pre-med ambitions and graduated from Georgetown with dual degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy. Mutombo is fluent in nine languages, including five African languages. He played professional basketball in the NBA for 18 years before retiring from the Houston Rockets in 2009. 

Giving back has always been a trademark of Mutombo ever since he entered the NBA in 1991. As a former spokesman for CARE, the international relief agency, Mutombo visited the Somali refugee camps in Northern Kenya in 1993 and traveled with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Georgetown colleagues Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning to Cape Town and Johannesburg.

In 1996, Mutombo paid for the Congo’s women’s basketball team’s trip to Atlanta for the Summer Olympics games and also picked up the tab for the track team’s uniforms and expenses. He is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and he also served on the Advisory Board for the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.

Mutombo presently serves on the boards of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Constitution Center, Special Olympics International and on the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Mutombo has been named ABC’s Person of the Week, Essence Magazine’s 2001 Achiever, and Sporting News’ No. 1 Good Guy. He has been featured in Europe’s TIME magazine, Sports Illustrated for Kids, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Houston Chronicle and Forbes magazine.

In 2009, then NBA Commissioner David Stern appointed Mutombo to the newly created position of NBA Global Ambassador where he continues to work to grow and celebrate the game of basketball through international sporting events while working with NBA Cares to bring attention to important social issues.

Honors and awards:

• 2017 Trumpet Humanitarian Award – Trumpet Foundation
• 2016 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award
• 2016 Professional Honoree ­ Boys Scouts of America/Atlanta Chapter
• 2015 Naismith Memorial Basketball ​– Hall of Fame
• 2015 Caring Award ­ The Caring Institute
• 2014 Global Leadership Award – Upwardly Global 
• 2014 Global Leadership Award – French­American Chamber of  Commerce
• 2014 Chairman’s Award – 100 Black Men of America
• 2014 Trailblazer Award  – 100 Black Men of America
• 2014 Humanitarian of the Year - FOCOS

• 2013 Congressional Humanitarian Award
• 2013 Legacy Award – Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta
• 2013 Gateway Award for Excellence in Humanitarian Service – Washington Adventist University
• 2011 Goodermote Humanitarian Award – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• 2011 Public Service Award – Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City
• 2010 Laureus World Sports Award
• 2010 B.C. Forbes Peopling of America Award for Sports – Ellis Island Foundation
• 2010 Miracle Corners of the World Award
• January 2010, President Barack Obama served as a surprise guest at the eighth annual "Let Freedom Ring!" event celebrating of the life and legacy of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and honoring NBA great and philanthropist Dikembe Mutombo who received the John Thompson, Jr. Legacy of a Dream award.
• 2010 Humanitarian in Sport Award during the Beyond Sport Summit, which was attended by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
• 2010 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy awarded to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• 2007 - Mutombo was recognized by President George W. Bush during his State of the Union address
• 2003 – Helen Hayes MacArthur Award
• 2000 - The President's Service Award awarded by President Bill Clinton
• World Economic Forum - Young Global Leader
• Wilt Chamberlain Award - Operation Smile
• Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters – SUNY/Cortland
• Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters – Georgetown University
• Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters – Haverford College
• NAACP Phoenix Award
• The Henry Iba Citizen Athlete Award
• J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award - NBA
• Ernie Davis Humanitarian Award
• The Samuel J. Halsey Award - Georgetown University
• Constituency for Africa's Trailblazer Award

Dikembe Mutombo is the Chairman and President of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation which he created in 1997. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia the Foundation’s mission is to improve the health, education and quality of life for the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One major project of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation was the construction of a new general hospital in the capital city of Kinshasa.

In December 2007 and at a cost of $29 million, the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital opened in the Congo. Named in memory of Mutombo’s beloved mother, the hospital has treated close to 200,000 men, women and children.

Dikembe Mutombo and his wife Rose live in Atlanta, Georgia with their 3 children.

Mike Perlis is a media industry CEO with deep experience managing a wide range of content and multimedia brands. He has a strong track record in mergers and acquisitions. 

Mr. Perlis, who serves as Forbes Media CEO and Executive Chairman, is the first non-Forbes family member in 98 years to run Forbes.  He spearheaded the innovative strategy that has transformed the company, dramatically shifting towards digital and branded products, resulting in the sale in 2014 of a majority ownership in Forbes to a group of Hong Kong-based investors. 

He joined Forbes in 2010 from SoftBank Capital, where he served as a General Partner for ten years and continues to be a Special Partner.  At Softbank he specialized in digital content startups working very closely with Beliefnet, Huffington Post, Associated Content and Buzzfeed.

Before joining SoftBank, he served as President and CEO of Ziff-Davis Publishing until its sale in 2000 to Private Equity investor Willis/Stein.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Perlis served as Publisher of GQ, President of Playboy Publishing, President of TVSM, Publisher of Runner’s World and Men’s Health, and Chairman and CEO of IDG Peterborough. He began his career, entrepreneurially, as the co-founder of special interest publisher New England Publications in Camden, Maine.

He served on the Boards of Beliefnet, Buzzfeed, GSI Commerce (sold to eBay), and was Chairman of Associated Content before its sale to Yahoo!  Previous board observer positions include Huffington Post (sold to AOL) and KickApps (sold to KIT digital).

He is on the Board of Advisors of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and is a trustee of Outward Bound International.  He speaks regularly on leadership, digital transformation and branding. 

Helman Sitohang has been the Chief Executive Officer for Credit Suisse Asia Pacific since 2014. In 2015, he was appointed to the Executive Board of Credit Suisse Group AG and Credit Suisse AG. He is the first Indonesian to sit on the Executive Board of a global bank.

Under his leadership as CEO, Credit Suisse has won more than 200 country and deal awards in Asia Pacific including, most recently Asia’s Best Bank for Wealth Management and Asia’s Best Bank for Financing at the Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence 2017, as well as House of the Year by AsiaRisk and Best Private Bank by Asian Private Banker in 2016. In 2015, Mr. Sitohang was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by FinanceAsia. In 2009, Mr. Sitohang was named as an inaugural member of Finance Asia's "Club" of the 50 most influential people in Asia's financial markets.

Mr. Sitohang joined Credit Suisse in 1998 from Bankers Trust, where he worked in the derivatives group. Upon joining Credit Suisse, Mr. Sitohang worked as part of the Indonesian coverage team and rose to become head of the team. He continued to take on additional responsibilities across Southeast Asia, until in 2009 he became the Co-Head of the Investment Banking Department (the corporate advisory business, covering M&A and Capital Markets) for Asia Pacific. In 2012 he was appointed as Head of the Investment Bank in Asia Pacific, responsible for all Credit Suisse’s Fixed Income, Equity and Investment Banking Department activities across the region.

During his career with Credit Suisse, Mr. Sitohang has been responsible for over US$200 billion of M&A and capital raising across the globe. He has led the origination of many of the bank's high profile deals across Asia and Australia.

Mr. Sitohang holds a BS degree (Engineering) from Bandung Institute of Technology.

Goodwin is the Founder and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, a uniquely positioned real estate private equity fund management company that focuses on markets in Greater China and other high barrier to entry markets globally. Gaw Capital has raised five commingled funds targeting the Greater China and Asia Pacific region since 2005. The firm manages opportunistic funds in Vietnam and the US along with a Pan Asia hospitality fund. Additionally, it also provides services for separate account direct investments globally. By the end of 2016, Gaw Capital Partners has raised equity in excess of USD$ 7.5 billion and currently commands assets of USD$ 12.3 billion under management encompassing residential developments, retail centers, hotels, commercial and logistic properties.

Goodwin has over 20 years of real estate investment and management experience in the United States and Asia. He founded Downtown Properties in 1996 and serves as Managing Principal. He’s especially interested in re-positioning distressed heritage properties. These include the renovation of the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and conversion of over 456,000 square feet of empty historical buildings into hip residential lofts in downtown Los Angeles including the acclaimed Douglas Building. He also served as Vice Chairman of Pioneer Global Group and former Chairman of Global Gateway.

Goodwin received a BS in Civil Engineering from the School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a MS in Construction Management from Stanford University.

Mr. Ronnie C. Chan is Chairman of Hang Lung Group Limited and its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties Limited. Both are publicly listed companies in Hong Kong, dealing in real estate development, investment and management. Founded in 1960, the Group has been expanding into mainland China since 1992. Following successes in Shanghai, since 2005 Hang Lung has been investing US$11 billion and building a number of world-class commercial complexes in major Chinese cities including Tianjin, Shenyang, Jinan, Wuxi, Dalian, Kunming and Wuhan. Mr. Chan also co-founded the privately held Morningside group which, in the past 31 years, has owned and managed businesses in manufacturing, public transport operations, outdoor advertising, media, healthcare, online game operators, high-tech and biotech investments, developmental capital investments and other venture capital investments around the world. In 1997, he helped found the Calgary, Canada based Morningside Music Bridge for young classical musicians. In addition, Mr. Chan is actively involved with many other non-profits, philanthropic endeavors, and educational organizations. He is Chairman of the Executive Committees of One Country Two Systems Research Institute and of Better Hong Kong Foundation. He founded and chairs China Heritage Fund, is a co-founding director of The Forbidden City Cultural Heritage Conservation Foundation, Beijing, and is a former Vice President and former Advisor of China Development Research Foundation in Beijing. Internationally, Mr. Chan is Co-Chair of Asia Society and Chairman of its Hong Kong Center, a Director of the Board of Peterson Institute for International Economics and a member of Council on Foreign Relations, National Committee on United States-China Relations, and Committee of 100. He is Founding Chairman Emeritus of Asia Business Council, a former Chairman of Hong Kong-United States Business Council, and a former member of the governing board of World Economic Forum. He serves or has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think tanks and universities, including Tsinghua University, Fudan University, University of Southern California, East-West Center, Pacific Council on International Policy, Eisenhower Fellowships, and The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. Mr. Chan is a frequent speaker at international conferences and has published numerous articles in International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Newsweek, Fortune, Asian Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review and Japan Times.

Jane Jie Sun serves as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) from November 2016. Prior to that, she was the Chief Operating Officer since May 2012 and Co-President since March 2015, and Chief Financial Officer from 2005 to 2012. Ms. Sun is well respected for her extensive experiences in operating and managing online travel businesses, mergers and acquisitions, and financial reporting and operations. In 2017, She was named as one of the most influential and outstanding business women by Forbes China and one of FastCompany’s Most Creative People in Business. During her tenure as the Chief Financial Officer of Ctrip, she won the Best CFO Award by Institutional Investor and Best CFO Award by CFO World. Prior to joining Ctrip, Ms. Sun worked as the head of the SEC and External Reporting Division of Applied Materials, Inc. since 1997. Prior to that, she worked with KPMG LLP as an audit manager in Silicon Valley, California for five years. She is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and State of California Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Sun received her bachelor’s degree from the business school of the University of Florida with high honors. She also attended Beijing University Law School and obtained her LLM degree.

Vijay is the Founder and CEO of One97 Communications, which operates India’s largest mobile payments and commerce platform under the Paytm brand. He has played a critical role in developing the digital payments ecosystem in India. His vision is to bring over 500 million Indians consumers to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion.

Vijay founded Paytm in August 2010 and continues to oversee the company's key strategic efforts including engineering, design and marketing. A strong believer in emerging technologies, he launched the Paytm Wallet in 2014, which quickly became India’s most preferred digital payment option. He is currently engaged in launching Paytm Payments Bank and bringing a new business model to the world of banking.

Vijay has featured in Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ 2017 List. He has also earned several other top industry honors like GQ Man of the Year and ET Entrepreneur of the Year award. Vijay has a bachelor's degree in electronics and communications from the Delhi College of Engineering.  

Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is the Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation, the oldest and one of the largest business groups in the Philippines. Ayala has interests in real estate, banking, telecommunications, water, industrial technologies, power, infrastructure, education, and healthcare.

Apart from his responsibilities on the boards of the Ayala group companies, Mr. Zobel is a member of various international and local business and socio-civic organizations, including the JP Morgan International Council and the Mitsubishi Corporation International Advisory Committee. He is also Chairman of the Harvard Business School Asia-Pacific Advisory Board; Chairman of the SMU Advisory Council in the Philippines; and a member of the Harvard Global Advisory Council, the University of Tokyo Global Advisory Board, and the board of trustees of Endeavor Philippines. He was a former Chairman of the Asia Business Council, Ramon Magsaysay Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund Philippine Advisory Council. He was also the Philippine Representative to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council from 2010-2015.

In 2007, he received the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the school’s highest recognition. Mr. Zobel is a 2009 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Merit, awarded by the President of the Philippines for enhancing the prestige and honor of the Philippines both at home and abroad. He was then bestowed the Philippine Legion of Honor, with rank of Grand Commander in 2010, in recognition of his outstanding public service to the country. In 2015, he received the Order of Mabini, with rank of Commander, for his vital contributions during the Philippines’ hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Mr. Zobel graduated with a B.A. in Economics (Cum Laude) from Harvard College in 1981 and obtained an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1987. He is married to Ms. Elizabeth Eder Zobel de Ayala and has four children. He enjoys adventure motorcycling in his spare time.

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh is Managing Director of YTL Group of Companies. He took over the running of his family company in 1988 and grew it into a multi-disciplinary conglomerate comprising five listed entities. YTL Corporation Berhad, YTL Power International Berhad, YTL Land & Development Berhad, Starhill Global REIT and YTL Hospitality REIT have a combined Market Capitalisation of approximately RM31.3 billion (US$7.8 billion) as at 31 March 2016 and total assets of over RM70.1 billion (US$16.3 billion) as at 31 December 2016. YTL Group owns and manages regulated utilities and infrastructural assets.

Besides managing YTL Group's core listed entities, Tan Sri Francis is Executive Chairman of YTL Starhill Global REIT Management Limited, the manager for Starhill Global REIT. He is Chairman of YTL PowerSeraya Private Limited, which is responsible for 20% share of the Singapore Electricity market. He is Chairman of Wessex Water Services Limited, recognised as the best water and sewerage company in England and Wales (2010-2011) by the water industry regulator, Ofwat.

Tan Sri Francis is an Independent Non-Executive Director of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

Ranked as one of "Asia's 25 Most Powerful and Influential Business Personalities" by Fortune and Business Week, Tan Sri Francis firmly advocates responsible stewardship in business. He serves on YTL Foundation’s Board of Trustees, actively supporting education initiatives throughout Malaysia. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Suu Foundation, a humanitarian organisation committed to improving healthcare and education in Myanmar. In 2016, he was conferred the prestigious Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Award in Arizona for his philanthropic efforts.

Ardent advocate of ethical corporate governance, he is Founder Member of the Malaysian Business Council and Capital Markets Advisory Council, Member of Asia Business Council, Trustee of Asia Society and former Member of Barclays Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee. He is also on the Advisory Councils of London Business School, Wharton School and INSEAD. He chaired the judging panel of the Ernst and Young World Entrepreneur of Year 2011 in Monte Carlo, having been Ernst and Young Malaysian Entrepreneur of the Year 2002.

Tan Sri Francis is the first Non-Italian Board Member of the historic Rome Opera House. He champions Arts enterprises like Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre and Singapore Dance Theatre, and is Regional Chairman of International Friends of the Louvre. He also promotes environmental conservation and renewable energy, serving on Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific Council.

In 2010, a panel of Nobel Laureates made him 'Primus Inter Pares Honouree' of the Oslo Business for Peace Award for encouraging socially responsible business ethics and practices. In the same year, he received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at CNBC's Asia Business Leaders Awards.

Tan Sri Francis was awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2006.

He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Kingston (UK). He also has an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from University of Nottingham.

Tan Sri Francis married the late Puan Sri Dato' Paduka Rosaline in 1982 and they have 3 sons and 2 daughters.

John Riady is Director of the Lippo Group.  He holds a number of senior executive positions within the Lippo Group of companies and serves on the board of commissioner of Matahari Department Store and Matahari Putra Prima, respectively the country's largest Department Store and Hypermarket.  John has also led the group's foray into the digital world with the establishment of Venturra Capital, a USD120 million Southeast Asia early stage venture capital fund; MatahariMall.com, a leading Indonesian eCommerce company, MBiz, the largest enterprise eCommerce platform; and OVO, a fintech platform.  John is also Editor at Large of BeritaSatu Media Holdings and a lecturer at the UPH Faculty of Law.  He is a licensed attorney in the State of New York, and holds degrees in Political Philosophy and Economics from Georgetown University; an MBA from the Wharton School of Business; and a Juris Doctor from the Columbia University Law School.   John also serves on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Southeast Asia and the Columbia University International Advisory Board.

Francine LeFrak is an award-winning theatrical, television and film producer, a successful entrepreneur and a distinguished philanthropist.

In 2008, Francine founded Same Sky, a jewelry initiative that provides training and employment to women survivors of the Rwandan Genocide who are living with HIV/AIDS. Francine offers women a hand-up, not a handout, by providing them with the dignity of work and the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. In addition to work abroad, Same Sky now provides employment to women who have recently been released from jails in America, helping them to re-enter society. All proceeds are reinvested into expanding the business and spreading the “women empowering women” mission of Same Sky.

In recognition of Francine’s humanitarian efforts, she received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor as presented by the French government, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, the UN Women for Peace Award, and the Human Spirit Award from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. Francine is the Chair Emerita of Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board, a body of influential women leaders that advance issues related to gender equality and gender research. 

Before her work as a social entrepreneur, Francine launched her career on Broadway as a producer for the Pultizer Prize-winning drama Crimes of the Heart. She has captivated audiences with My One and Only, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Nine and many other productions that have been awarded with more than a dozen Tony’s and forty-one Drama Desk awards. 

Her numerous films have been hailed for putting a human face on important social issues: such as the ravages of war, injustices in the prison system, and the price of intolerance.  Her movie for Hallmark Hall of Fame, Miss Rose White, was honored with four Emmy awards. The HBO movie Shot Through the Heart, about friends torn apart by the war in Sarajevo, won a Peabody Award.  Her film series Prison Stories: Women on the Inside helped promote changes in prison legislation.

Now, Same Sky continues to grow by employing more women each year and spreading the Same Sky Model, which emphasizes that the best philanthropy is a good job. Francine remains a leader in the ethical shopping movement, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post’s What’s Working section, and a speaker at renowned conferences all over the world.

Mr Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Frasers Centrepoint Limited (“FCL”), a full-fledged international real estate company listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.   FCL develops and owns residential, commercial, retail and industrial properties in Asia, Australia and Europe.  In addition, the Group owns and/or manages hotels and serviced residences in over 80 cities across Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle-East.  As at 31 December 2016, FCL has total assets of over S$25 billion.

Mr Sirivadhanabhakdi is responsible for developing and driving FCL’s growth strategies and delivering sustainable returns for the business. He helms the overall development and management of the Group’s business, as well as implementation of the Group’s short and long-term business plans in accordance with FCL’s vision and strategies. He provides leadership to all FCL business divisions and prepares the organisation for further development and expansion.

One of Asia’s most recognisable entrepreneurs, Tony Fernandes is best known for co-founding AirAsia, the region’s first low-cost airline, with Datuk Kamarudin Meranun.

Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin famously bought the ailing airline for a token MYR1 (approximately USD0.25) and MYR40 million in debt, turning it around within two years and growing it from a Malaysian domestic carrier into Asia’s largest and most successful low-cost carrier, with operations in five countries serving some 260 routes to more than 120 destinations across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East and the US.

Fernandes studied at Epsom College and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK, and qualified as an Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 1991 and Fellow Member in 1996. An accountant by training, Fernandes began his career in Richard Branson’s Virgin Group before returning to Malaysia as Warner Music Group’s Vice President for Southeast Asia before venturing into the airline business.

Fernandes has received numerous honours and awards over the course of his career. These include the Honour of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, conferred by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2011, and the Commander of the Legion d’Honneur, awarded by the French government for his outstanding contributions towards the economy of France through the aviation industry.

In 2010, Fernandes was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes Asia - the first person from Malaysia and Asean to receive the honour - for democratising air travel and transforming AirAsia into a successful global brand. TIME Magazine included Tony Fernandes in the 2015 TIME 100 list, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world which included Chinese President Xi Jinping, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and hip-hop artist Kanye West. In 2016, Fernandes was recognised by the US-Asean Business Council with the Fourth Pillar Award for his extraordinary contribution towards the growth of Asean, the second recipient of the award after the Administration of US President Barack Obama.

Antoine Blondeau is co-founder and chairman of Sentient with over 22 years of leadership experience in technology marketing worldwide, as CEO, senior officer and director/advisor in listed companies, start-ups, turnarounds and midsize-to-large companies, Antoine is a seasoned technology entrepreneur and investor. During his career, Antoine has held senior leadership positions at Good Technology, Salesforce.com and Sybase (following the acquisition of Dejima). Antoine’s career highlights include founding Dejima and Zi Corporations; working with the Tokyo representation of the French Prime Minister’s DATAR unit to negotiate the setup of Mitsubishi Electric, Canon, Toshiba and Sony’s industrial facilities in France; and a four-year stint at Nortel Networks where he headed the OEM and Asia/Pacific unit of the company’s digital wireless terminals business. Antoine is an investor, board member and advisor in a number of companies in California, Greater China and Japan, and is the author or co-author of 5 patents. Antoine holds a MBA from the Paris Graduate School of Management (ESCP) and has studied at the faculties of Economics and Commerce of Chuo University in Tokyo.

Mr. Ho is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MLCO), one of the world's largest integrated resorts operators. Mr. Ho has served as the Co-Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Melco since 2004, successfully leading the Company through different phases of development and pioneering innovative entertainment in the region. Melco owns and develops casino and entertainment resort facilities in multiple jurisdictions, employing more than 20,000 people worldwide. Listed on NASDAQ for more than 10 years, Melco’s enviable portfolio in Macau includes City of Dreams, its flagship integrated resort; Studio City, a cinematically-themed integrated resort; and Altira Macau, a Forbes five-star casino hotel. Elsewhere, Melco also operates City of Dreams Manila, an integrated resort in the Philippines. April 2018 will mark the opening of Melco’s another landmark hotel in Macau: Morpheus, a new iconic luxury hotel designed by the late Dame Zaha Hadid located at City of Dreams.

With the innovative spirit, 5-star-plus service culture and long-standing partnerships with global brands, Melco has garnered over 280 international awards and accolades over the past 10 years, including the most Michelin-starred restaurants and the most Forbes 5-star hotel facilities in Macau, and Best Casino Resorts Design, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility awards.

Mr. Ho is a Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He also serves on numerous boards and committees of privately-held companies in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

He was named one of the “100 Most Influential People across Asia Pacific” by Asiamoney magazine. Mr. Ho has also been selected as one of the “Best CEOs in Hong Kong” by FinanceAsia and “Asia’s Best CEO” by Corporate Governance Asia magazine numerous times. In addition, he has garnered the “Leadership Gold Award” at the Business Awards of Macau.

Mr. Ho graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in commerce from the University of Toronto, Canada and was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree by Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland for his contribution to business, education and the community in Hong Kong, Macau and China.

Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak is Global Vice-Chair - Public Policy at EY and is a member of the firm’s Global Executive Board. Beth has public policy responsibility for the firm’s operations in 155 countries.  In addition, she is the global sponsor for EY’s Diversity and Inclusiveness efforts.  She has been named nine times to the list of Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women", and in 2009 was named Woman of the Year by Concern Worldwide. In 2017, Beth received the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the top individual honor bestowed by the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She has also been inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

During the Clinton Administration, she worked in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she was responsible for all tax policy matters related to insurance and managed care. She played important roles in the healthcare reform and Superfund reform efforts. 

Throughout her career, Beth has been actively engaged in numerous civic and business organizations. She chairs the Board of Vital Voices and co-chairs the International Council on Women’s Business Leadership, both founded by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She serves on the Advisory Board of Out Leadership and the Boards of The Conference Board, The Aspen Institute and the Women’s Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum. She is a member of the inaugural class of the Henry Crown Fellows of The Aspen Institute, the Committee of 200, and the International Women’s Forum.

Beth played basketball at Purdue University where she earned her undergraduate degree with highest distinction and received an honorary doctorate.

Ho Kwon Ping is the owner-founder and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, which owns both listed and private companies engaged in the development, ownership and operation of hotels, resorts, spas and galleries, residential homes, and other lifestyle activities around the world.  He is also Executive Chairman of Thai Wah Public Company, a family business engaged in starch and food products, founded by his parents and listed in Thailand.

Mr Ho is the founding and current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University and also a Board Director of Diageo, the UK-listed spirits company.  

Born in 1952, Ho Kwon Ping was educated in Tunghai University, Taiwan; Stanford University, California and the University of Singapore. He worked as a broadcast and financial journalist and was the Economics Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong from 1978 to 1981.

He joined the Thai Wah family business in 1981 and in 1994, after the success of rehabilitating an abandoned tin mine into Laguna Phuket, Asia’s first integrated resort, he launched Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.  Banyan Tree currently manages more than 40 hotels and resorts, 70 spas and 80 retail galleries, as well as three golf courses.  Another 20 resorts are currently under development around the world.

Among various awards, Mr Ho received the London Business School Entrepreneurship Award (2005); CEO of the Year at the Singapore Corporate Awards (2008); Lifetime Achievement Award at the China Hotel Investment Summit (2009) and at the Australia Hotel Investment Summit (2015); CNBC's Travel Business Leader Award Asia Pacific (2012) and the National University of Singapore FASS Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award (2017).

In 2010, he became the first Asian to receive the American Creativity Association Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his creativity and innovation in various spheres of endeavour.  And in 2013, Mr Ho was awarded the Singapore Government’s Meritorious Service Medal for his contributions as the founding chairman of Singapore Management University, a position which he has continued to hold since SMU was founded in 2000.

Mr Ho has also been conferred two honorary doctorates, from Johnson and Wales University in 2000, and from Hong Kong Poly University in 2015.  

In 2015, his book The Ocean in a Drop: Singapore in the next Fifty Years, was published as a compilation of public lectures he gave as the Inaugural Fellow of the SR Nathan Lecture Series, named after the Sixth President of Singapore.  

Mr. Ho is married to Claire Chiang, Senior Vice President, Banyan Tree Holdings. They have three children – two sons and a daughter and welcomed their first grandchild in 2015.

Mr Sam Goi Seng Hui is the Executive Chairman of Tee Yih Jia (“TYJ”) Group and GSH Corporation (“GSH”). Tee Yih Jia is a global food and beverage group with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, USA, Europe and China, and exporting to over 100 countries worldwide.

He acquired the company in 1977, and turned this small, labour-intensive spring-roll pastry manufacturer into an automated giant by increasing daily production by 1200% to 35 million Popiah Skins and subsequently brought it global via organic and inorganic expansion strategies.

To seek growth and stay at the forefront of the industry, he also recognized the need to venture globally. He entered China early on with Tee Yih Jia, and subsequently his property business. The Group has built food manufacturing plants and invested in many food manufacturing-related joint ventures with government and private entities since the 1980s. In 2003, he saw opportunities to acquire Chinese land, some of which have been developed into high quality homes.

Listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange, GSH is a premium property developer in the region. The Group owns and operates the 5-Star Sutera Harbour Resorts, Marina and Golf Course in Kota Kinabalu, and has prime properties currently under development in in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Buoyed by the long-term fundamentals of China, the Group has also expanded its presence into the country, investing over RMB200 million in a largest-of-its-kind food logistics and warehousing hub in Zhengzhou in the Henan Province. This centrally located hub offers its diverse tenant base of over 1,000 companies unparalleled connectivity with linkages to major highways and train routes. Comprising high quality cold storage rooms, food warehousing, retail outlets and food factories focused on frozen foods, this project will eventually scale up to cover 350,000 sqm of facilities.

Mr Goi also serves on the board of other Mainboard-listed companies in Singapore – as Vice-Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Super Group; Vice-Chairman of Envictus International Holdings Limited; and JB Foods Limited – as well as Director of Tung Lok Restaurants (2000) Ltd. In addition, he has investments across a range of listed and private entities in numerous industries, including food and beverage, consumer essentials, recycling, distribution and logistics.

Mr Goi has vast experience of doing business in the region, including Singapore. He is a member of Business China, Vice Chairman of IE Singapore’s “Network China” Steering Committee as well as its regional representative for Fuzhou City and Fujian Province. He is a member for the Singapore Zhejiang Economic & Trade Council and Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council, as well as Senior Consultant to Su-Tong Science & Technology Park and advisor to several China provinces. Mr Goi also served as the Enterprise 50 Club’s President and is now the Honorary Past President. He is also the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation and Honorary Council Member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is also bestowed as Honorary Resident of Yangzhou and Honorary Resident of Yixin.

Mr Goi is also a member of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) Board of Trustee, and Chairman of Dunman High School Advisory Committee and Ulu Pandan Citizens Consultative Committee.

Mr Goi was awarded “Businessman of the Year” at the Singapore Business Awards (2014) and the “SG50 Outstanding Chinese Business Pioneers Award” (2015). For his social and business contributions in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, he was conferred the State Award of Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK), which carries the title of Datuk, from the Head of State of Sabah. At the 49^th National Day Awards, Mr Goi was conferred the Public Service Star (Bar) - BBM ( L ) - by the President of Singapore for his contributions to the community.

Mr Goi was also awarded the Enterprise Asia’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Most recently, on 8 January 2017, Mr Goi became the first Singaporean and only overseas Chinese to be honoured for his contributions and success in China as an overseas Chinese by The People’s Tribune Magazine in Beijing.

Jean Eric Salata is the Chief Executive and Founding Partner of Baring Private Equity Asia, Chairman of the Investment and Portfolio Management Committees. Mr. Salata oversees all investment and divestment decisions made at the Firm, as well as its strategic direction. Mr. Salata has been responsible for the investment activity of the Firm since 1997 when he started the regional Asian private equity investment program for UK-based Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd. Mr. Salata later led the management buyout of this program in 2000 to establish Baring Asia as an independent Firm. Mr. Salata has lived and worked in Hong Kong since 1989, and graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance and Economics.

Baring Private Equity Asia is one of the largest and most established independent alternative asset management firms in Asia and advises funds that manage more than US$10 billion in committed capital. The firm runs a pan-Asian investment program sponsoring buyouts and providing growth capital to companies for expansion or acquisitions, as well as private credit and a pan-Asian real estate private equity investment program. The firm also invests in the US and Europe in companies seeking to expand to Asia. Notable investments include Nord Anglia, the world’s largest premium international school operator, St. Georges University, the world’s largest private medical college, HCP, a leading prestige packaging company for cosmetic products, and Hexaware Technologies, a leading Indian IT services company. Baring Asia has been investing in Asia since its formation in 1997 and has over 140 employees located across offices in Hong Kong, China, India, Japan and Singapore. Baring Asia currently has over 40 portfolio companies across Asia with a total of 178,000 employees and sales of approximately US$35 billion in 2016. Baring Asia has received numerous awards for its outstanding performance, including 2015 “Large Cap Firm of the Year in Asia” by Private Equity International. Asian Venture Capital Journal selected Baring Asia as the 2015 winner for “Fundraising of the Year – Large Cap” and Jean Salata as “PE Professional of the Year.”

Rich Karlgaard is the Editor-at-Large / Global Futurist of Forbes Media. In each issue of Forbes magazine he writes a featured column, Innovation Rules, known for its keen assessment of technology, business and leadership issues.

Karlgaard has been a regular panelist on cable news' most popular business show, Forbes on FOX, since the show’s inception in 2001. He is a co-founder of Upside magazine, Garage Technology Partners (with Guy Kawasaki) and Silicon Valley’s premier public business forum, the 7,500-member Churchill Club.

Karlgaard’s 2004 book, Life 2.0, was a Wall Street Journal business bestseller. His 2014 book on innovation culture, The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success, rapidly became Amazon’s top seller in the category of Strategy and Competition. Management guru, Tom Peters wrote: “The Soft Edge is brilliantly organized and written—and its peerless message is right on the money for our chaotic times.” Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, wrote: “Rich Karlgaard is a navigator for the rest of us.” The Soft Edge made the lists of top business books of 2014 for Inc., Time.com, Value Walk, 800-CEO-READ, Huffington Post, and Forbes India.

Karlgaard’s 2015 book, Team Genius: The New Science of High Performing Organizations, drew praise from Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft; Fred Smith, Founder/Chairman/CEO of FedEx; and Beth Comstock, vice chair of General Electric. Team Genius made the “Best Business Books of 2015” lists of Time, Inc., Huffington Post and Forbes India.

Karlgaard holds a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University.

Binod K. Chaudhary is the Chairman of CG Corp Global, a multi dimensional conglomerate with a portfolio of over 100 businesses spread over 30 countries with a 10,000-strong staff. Some of the major businesses of the group are present in the US, Africa, Dubai, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Nepal and China.

He is the only Forbes-listed billionaire from the Himalayan republic of Nepal. Some of his core strengths are his vision for the future, an unshakable commitment to work, high adaptability and an ability to lead his team through turbulent times. Contrary to popular perception, he has proved that an entrepreneur can build business in challenging environments and still emerge successful.

Binod has controlling shares in Nabil, the largest private-sector bank in Nepal, and numerous hotel investments, joint ventures and brands worldwide (such as Taj, Alila, Fern, Radisson and the ultimate wellness destination The Farm at San Benito).

He is a global player in FMCG and is the man behind WaiWai, the iconic brand from CG, which has earned him the sobriquet Noodle King.  Thanks to WaiWai, he has 2.3% shares of the world's noodles market. His other business interests include energy, infrastructure, realty, telecom and education among the 15 business verticals he runs within CG.

Besides business, Binod is an internationally renowned philanthropist. He led the rehabilitation works of Chaudhary Foundation after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and built almost 3000 houses and 40 school buildings in the affected areas. He has been awarded several humanitarian awards and accolades due to his post-earthquake rebuilding initiatives in Nepal. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorate from His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Founder, Art of Living) on behalf of Sri Sri University.

Some of the important positions Binod has held are: Member of Nepal’s First Constituent Assembly, President Emeritus of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FNCCI), Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal, World Economic Forum’s Global Leader for Tomorrow (1995), and Member of World Presidents Organization (WPO/YPO).

Douglas Tong Hsu is Chairman and CEO of Far Eastern Group (FEG), one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates based in Taiwan.  It is comprised of 245 companies extending into China with operations in countries including Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Japan.  FEG has a workforce of 60,244 in 2016 and has total assets of US $74.98 billion and annual revenues of US $18.7 billion.  The Group has nine public companies, which are leaders in their respective fields including Petrochemicals & Energy; Textile & Polyester Fiber; Cement/Building Material; Sea/Land Transportation; Financial Services; Construction; Telecom; Retail/Department Stores and Hotels.  Group Foundations encourage social responsibilities and include the establishment of Taiwan’s leading technical institute, private university, and hospital.

Education:

•        Honorary Doctorate of Management, National Chiao Tung University

•        BA/MA, University of Notre Dame; post graduate studies, Columbia University

Present Positions:

•        Asia Business Council

•        Asian Cultural Council

•        Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research

•        MasterCard Asia/Pacific Regional Advisory Board

•        Nature Conservancy Asia Pacific Council

•        Prudential/Asia Pacific Fund

•        The Straits Exchange Foundation

•        Emeritus Trustee of University of Notre Dame

Patrick Grove is the co-founder, major shareholder and Group CEO of Catcha Group, Southeast Asia’s leading Internet group. Patrick is recognised as one of the leading entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific region. Over the last thirteen years, he founded and took five companies from start-up to IPO, recently selling one of those companies, iProperty Group in one of the largest Internet exit in ASEAN history in excess of US$534m. He is co-founder and chairman of the Group’s ASX-listed company iCar Asia as well as Catcha Group’s newest business, iflix Ltd, Southeast Asia’s leading Internet TV service. He is also co-founder and a Director of Rev Asia Berhad, one of Southeast Asia’s leading digital media groups. He is additionally co-founder of ASX-listed company Frontier Digital Ventures, a leading operator of online classified businesses in frontier markets.

Over the last decade, Patrick has been independently and widely recognised with numerous international awards, including: Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum; New Asian Leader by the World Economic Forum; Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Singapore; Asia's Best Young Entrepreneur by Bloomberg Business. He has recently been included on the Forbes Malaysia’s 50 Richest list and the BRW Rich 200 list.

Dr. Hanson brings a strong history of innovation and leadership in robotics, arts, academia, and entrepreneurship. Envisioning, organizing, and executing renowned projects in cognitive robotics, AI, the arts, education, product design, and business. In the past decade, he has built a worldwide reputation for creating the world’s most humanlike, empathetic robots, endowed with remarkable expressiveness, aesthetics and interactivity. He has produced many renowned, one-of-a-kind robot characters that have received massive media and public acclaim.

Dr. Hanson publishes regularly in materials science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics journals, including SPIE, IEEE, the International Journal of Cognitive Science, IROS, AAAI and AI magazine. He has been featured in numerous popular media outlets including New York Times, Popular Science, Scientific American, the BBC and CNN. He has been labeled a "genius" by both PC Magazine and WIRED, and has earned awards from NASA, NSF, AAAI, Tech Titans’ Innovator of the Year, and Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

At Walt Disney Imagineering, Dr. Hanson worked as both a sculptor and a technical consultant.  He has spoken at venues including IEEE, SPIE, AAAI, DARPA, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown, Google, Sandia Labs, UCSD and AAAS annual meeting. Dr. Hanson received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in film/animation/video, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas in interactive arts and engineering.

Dr. Hanson is working towards radical breakthroughs in humanizing robots—for machines with human-level intelligence, creativity, and physical capabilities, as well as humanlike compassion and understanding, to enable them to truly care, become our friends, and collaborate with us towards a better future. Ultimately, he aims to create a new generation of robots that exceed human brilliance, compassion, and wisdom—robots that he calls “Genius Machines.” He believes that, in addition to science and tech, arts and aesthetics are key, both to inspiring humans to care about machines, and to enable robots to achieve human standards of social intelligence, relationships, and ethics.

Henry Nguyen currently serves as the Managing General Partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, a private equity firm focused on consumer, technology, media, and telecom investments in Vietnam.  One of three General Partners, Henry concentrates on fund strategy, government relations, general management and operations, and communications.  The IDG Ventures team has made over 40 investments since its inception in 2004, including VinaGame (VNG Corporation), BHD Media Holdings, GES Vietnam, VTC Online, VatGia, YAN Media Group, VC Corporation, Goldsun Focus Media, and Topica EdTech Group among others.

Prior to founding IDG Ventures Vietnam, Henry has worked at Goldman Sachs, Harvard Medical School, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Henry is also the Developmental Licensee for all McDonald’s restaurants in Vietnam as well as the Chairman and Publisher of Forbes in Vietnam. With a deep passion for sports, he established the Saigon Heat pro basketball team in the role of the Chairman & Owner, which competes in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), and the Vietnam University Games (VUG), the country’s official organizer of university athletics. He is the current President of the Vietnam Basketball Federation (VBF), elected for the five-year term from 2015 to 2020. In addition to his sports activities in Vietnam, he is also the Vice Chairman & Owner of the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), the newest club in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Henry is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and an Asia 21 Fellow of the Asia Society. He recently was bestowed an additional honor by the Asia Society in Southern California as being an “Asian Game Changer,” for his leadership in bridging cultures through policy, business, arts, and education initiatives. He was also honored with the John Connor Humanitarian Award 2015 by Operation Smile due to his deep contribution in the role of the Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Operation Smile Vietnam. He has served on the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, and is currently a member of the Advisory Board of ASEAN Business Club, the regional business platform to support Southeast Asian economic integration. He currently acts as the Board Member of IDG Ventures’ prominent investment portfolios and also serves on the Board of Viet Capital Securities, British University Vietnam and keeps the Vice Chairman role of Fulbright University Vietnam. He has been featured in on-air interviews CNBC’s Entrepreneur Asia, Bloomberg Business, Bloomberg’s High Flyers, and other media including CNN and the BBC.

Henry earned his B.A. in Classics at Harvard University, and his M.D. and M.B.A. from Northwestern University Medical School and the Kellogg School of Management. He is married with twin daughters who are four years of age.

S D Shibulal (Shibu) is one of the co-founders of Infosys. Shibu served as the CEO and MD of Infosys from 2011 to 2014 and was a Member of the Board of Infosys. He retired from Infosys in 2014. From 1991 to 1996, Shibu worked with Sun Microsystems in the US and he led the team that designed and implemented Sun’s first e-commerce application.

In 2014, Shibu co-founded Axilor Ventures – a new generation platform supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Through its programs which include Accelerator, Scale-up and Early Stage Funding, Axilor aims to support early stage entrepreneurs improve their odds of success.

Shibu serves on the board of several organisations promoting education, science and technology. He is trustee of the Infosys Science Foundation, a member of the board of trustees of Boston University, Boston, a member of the board of governors of Indraprastha Institute of Information technology, Delhi, a member of the board of managers of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, and Member of Dean’s Advisory Board for Metropolitan College, Boston University. He is also the chairman of the board of governors of the Information and Communication Technology Academy of Kerala.

Shibu holds a master’s degree in computer science from Boston University and a master’s degree in physics from the University of Kerala.

Mr. Yoshito Hori established GLOBIS Management School in 1992 and GLOBIS Capital Partners in 1996. In 2003, GLOBIS started its original MBA program which, in 2006, gained “university”status. GLOBIS started a part-time MBA program in English in 2009 and a full-time MBA program in English in 2012.

A Harvard MBA graduate and former Sumitomo Corporation employee, Mr. Hori founded the EO Japan Chapter in 1995 and became the first board member from Asia in charge of Asia Pacific region in 1996. He also served on the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s New Asian Leaders Executive Committee and Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership, as well as the Harvard Business School Alumni Board from 2005 to 2008. Currently, Mr. Hori is a trustee of the Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), and serves as co-chair of WEF’s Global Growth Companies.

In 2008, he launched the G1 Summit – a Japanese version of the WEF’s annual Davos forum. This led to the foundation of G1 Summit Institute in 2013, which Mr. Hori serves as Representative Director.

Just days after a huge earthquake struck northeast Japan in March 2011, Mr. Hori launched Project KIBOW to support the rebuilding of the disaster-affected areas. The following year Project KIBOW was incorporated as the KIBOW Foundation, which Mr. Hori serves as Representative Director.

Mr. Hori received his BS in Engineering from Kyoto University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

He is an avid swimmer and enjoys spending time with his family, especially his five sons.

Mr. Wintrob is Oaktree's Chief Executive Officer and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2011. Prior to joining the firm as Chief Executive Officer, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of AIG Life and Retirement, the U.S.-based life and retirement services segment of American International Group, Inc., from 2009 to 2014. Following AIG's acquisition of SunAmerica in 1998, Mr. Wintrob was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of AIG Retirement Services, Inc. from 1998 to 2001, and President and Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2009. Mr. Wintrob began his career in financial services in 1987 as Assistant to the Chairman of SunAmerica Inc., and then went on to serve in several other executive positions, including President of SunAmerica Investments, Inc. overseeing the company's invested asset portfolio. Prior to joining SunAmerica, Mr. Wintrob was with the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers. He received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Wintrob is a board member of several non-profit organizations, including The Broad Foundations, the Doheny Eye Institute, The Los Angeles Music Center and the Skirball Cultural Center.

V Shankar ("Shankar") is Chief Executive Officer of Gateway Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in the dynamic growth markets of Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Shankar is a non-executive director of International Enterprises Singapore; a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Societal Leadership at Singapore Management University; and a trustee of the Singapore Indian Development Association. 

Shankar previously served as CEO - Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas, and a member of the global board of Standard Chartered Plc.  His past appointments in a non-executive capacity on various institutions and committees include the boards of the Inland Revenue Authority Singapore and Majid Al Futtaim Holdings; the Economic Strategies Committee and the National Integration Council constituted by the government of Singapore; the Asia Society, New York; the Sub-Saharan Advisory Board of the Exim Bank USA; Vice Chair of the Future of Banking Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum; and, the financial centre task force appointed by the Treasurer of the State of California. 

Mr. Shankar was awarded the Public Service Medal by the government of Singapore in 2014. 

Tim Ferguson is Editor of Forbes Asia, the English-language publication of Forbes magazine in the Asia/Pacific region, and posts on international topics at Forbes.com.  He is based in the company's New Jersey headquarters.

Mr. Ferguson joined Forbes as its West Coast Bureau Manager in 1995. He served as Assistant Managing Editor from 1998 to 2001, when he became global editor.  Prior to joining Forbes, he spent 12 years at The Wall Street Journal as Editorial Features Editor, Business World Columnist and Member of the Editorial Board.

Mr. Ferguson also sits on the board of the Overseas Press Club Foundation and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC. He has twice been a Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and holds a BA in Economics from Stanford.

Tim Ferguson’s blog address: http://blogs.forbes.com/timferguson/

Twitter: @ForbesEditor