Best Asian CEOs in the World by Harvard Business Review

Best Asian CEOs 2016

The Harvard Business Review (“HBR”) publishes a list of top 100 CEOs in the world every year. In judging the quality of CEOs around the world, HBR focuses on the “results they produce over their entire tenure” based on objective data. They analyze various metrics like long-term shareholder return and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance to arrive at the best performing CEO’s in the world. Our readers in Asia might wonder, how many of them are Asians? What do they do and what are their backgrounds? We have the answer for you.

Ten out of Hundred CEOs in the Ranking Are Asians

Of the 100 CEOs that were ranked by HBR, 10 were Asians, though only 8 were actually working at a Asian companies. The highest ranked was Jen-Hsun Huang oat NVIDIA, the famous graphic chipmaker based in the US. Among executives located in Asia, Terry Gou of Hon Hai Precision was the top ranked at #40. He has been with the company since 1974 and his tenure of 42 years was second only to Li Ka-Shing who founded his company CK Hutchinson in 1950 shortly after the world war. 

HBR Ranking Name Company Country Since Industry
6 Jen-Hsun Huang NVIDIA USA 1993 Information Technology
38 Hock Tan Broadcom USA 2006 Information Technology
40 Tai-Ming "Terry" Gou Hon Hai Precision Taiwan 1974 Information Technology
45 Huateng "Pony" Ma Tencent Hong Kong 1998 Information Technology
46 Tadashi Yanai Fast Retailing Japan 1984 Retail
73 Masayoshi Son Softbank Japan 1981 Telecommunication
81 Wing Kin "Alfred" Chan Hong Kong and China Gas Hong Kong 1997 Utilities
83 Tsai Ming-Kai Mediatek Taiwan 1997 Information Technology
87 Haruo Naito Eisai Japan 1998 Health Care
97 Li Ka-Shing Ck Hutchinson Holdings Hong Kong 1950 Industrials

While 10 may not sound like it’s a lot, readers should not that there were only 7 Asian executives in the same ranking by HBR in 2015, of which only 6 were in Asian companies. As Asia continues to be the engine of global economic growth, it seems that an increasing number of companies and executives are gaining influence and recognition in the global business world. 

True to HBR’s commitment to “objective metrics,” these CEOs have generated amazing shareholder returns over the years. For instance, NVIDIA stock has returned 376% in the last five years excluding dividends, while Tencent has returned 470%. On average, these ten executives have returned 166% over the last 5 years excluding dividends, as opposed to 70% by S&P 500 and 83% by Nikkei 300.

Name 5-Yr Stock Return
Jen-Hsun Huang 376%
Hock Tan 393%
Tai-Ming "Terry" Gou 0%
Huateng "Pony" Ma 470%
Tadashi Yanai 170%
Masayoshi Son 158%
Wing Kin "Alfred" Chan 35%
Tsai Ming-Kai -26%
Haruo Naito 121%
Li Ka-Shing -37%
Average 166%
S&P 500 70%
HSI 16%
Nikkei 300 83%
TPE 22%
S&P Global 1200 40%

Lastly, it’s worth noting that all of these CEOs came from the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. There was no executive representation from countries like South Korea, China, or SE Asia. This may be because of various factors like corporate governance of maturity of the markets. For instance, Korean companies have long traded at discount to peers because of corporate structures that allow “chaebols” to do anything they want with their companies. Similarly, many of the large companies in China are state owned enterprises that don’t always take shareholder friendly actions.

Seven Technology Executives

It’s interesting to note that seven of the ten executives in this series were involved in some form of technology driven sector. The exceptions included Fast Retailing, Hong Kong and China Gas Company, and Eisai. Although Softbank and CK Hutchinson Holdings are not necessarily “tech” companies, they are both well known for their savvy investments in various tech startups like Facebook and Alibaba. Also of note, there were only 2 women in the top 100 CEOs in the world, and none of them were women, reflecting some unfortunate reality that still exists in the world that women simply haven't had enough opportunities.

Two MBA’s, Nine Insiders

Among the top 100 executives selected by HBR, only 24 had an MBA and 84 were insiders. This is even more accentuated for Asian CEOs, of whom only 2 had an MBA degree and 9 were insiders. Apparently, an MBA is not quite enough to get you the top job in companies and help you perform well. There is a logical explanation for the apparent disconnect between the perceived value of an MBA degree and its lack of evidence among the top executives in the world. Given that best CEOs tend to be insiders who own meaningful amount of their companies' stocks and hence have aligned interest with shareholders, they simply are more motivated to make the long-term decisions instead of chasing after short-term gains.

On the other hand, an MBA degree does not seem to help you much in becoming a great business leader, especially if your interests are not aligned with long-term opportunities. Investors and professionals both should take such a lesson to heart. Data seems to suggest that long-term performance of a company is more dependent on the motivations of executives as opposed to their education level.

HBR Ranking Name Company MBA Insider
6 Jen-Hsun Huang NVIDIA N Y
38 Hock Tan Broadcom Y N
40 Tai-Ming "Terry" Gou Hon Hai Precision N Y
45 Huateng "Pony" Ma Tencent N Y
46 Tadashi Yanai Fast Retailing N Y
73 Masayoshi Son Softbank N Y
81 Wing Kin "Alfred" Chan Hong Kong and China Gas N Y
83 Tsai Ming-Kai Mediatek N Y
87 Haruo Naito Eisai Y Y
97 Li Ka-Shing Ck Hutchinson Holdings N Y

When investing in companies, it is crucial to recognize the important roles played by the executives of companies. CEOs's decisions have a lasting impact because they decide how much capital to deploy on which projects. While some projects can have decent returns, others can create an enormous amount of value for shareholders (or destroy the company). For instance, just imagine what Apple might be today if Steve Jobs was not there to invest in iPods and iPhones, and how Microsoft has changed since Satya Nadella has taken over the company. CEOs listed above definitely has the track record to show that they've created more value than the average executive over a long period of time.

Duckju Kang

Duckju (DJ) is the founder and CEO of ValueChampion. He covers the financial services industry, consumer finance products, budgeting and investing. He previously worked at hedge funds such as Tiger Asia and Cadian Capital. He graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with honors, Magna Cum Laude. His work has been featured on major international media such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, the Straits Times, Today and more.