The daughter of Malaysia’s richest man is taking over Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts’ Hong Kong.
Kuok Hui Kwong has been named CEO of Shangri-La Asia, the Hong Kong and Singapore dual-listed luxury hotel group founded by her father, hospitality magnate Robert Kuok Hock-nien, the South China Morning Post reported. She steps into the role on Aug. 1.
Kuok has been serving as Shangri-La Asia’s executive director since June 2016 and chairman since January 2017. She has essentially led the company since the end of 2022 after former CEO Lim Beng Chee resigned, leaving the chief executive post empty (he remained on the board as a non-executive director).
Boasting a Harvard education, Kuok, the sixth of Robert Kuok’s eight children, is set to receive a monthly base salary of US$73,376 as well as a discretionary bonus and pension. She holds an interest of more than 5 percent in Kerry Group, a major shareholder in Shangri-La Asia.
Shangri-La Asia operates and manages more than 100 hotels worldwide under four different brands: Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Kerry Hotels, Hotel Jen and Traders.
In North America, the only hotel under the Shangri-La Asia umbrella is the Shangri-La Toronto. Other non-Asian locations include the Shangri-La Paris, Shangri-La The Shard in London, and Shangri-La Sydney. Nearly 60 of the more than 100 Shangri-La Asia conglomerate’s locations are in mainland China, with four in Hong Kong and five in Singapore alone.
Shangri-La Asia was founded as a single hotel in Singapore in 1971. In 2024, the company reported a revenue of nearly US$2.2 billion, up two percent from a year prior, according to the South China Morning Post. At the same time, its net profit fell 12.3 percent to US$161.4 million. It had a workforce of around 25,500 employees at the end of last year, marking a 2.3 percent decline in headcount year-over-year.
In 2025, Robert Kuok was the world’s richest Malaysian with a net worth of US$11.4 billion, according to Forbes.
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