He Quanping is the co-founder and executive chairman of Rongshu Group.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Growing up, He Quanping didn’t think he would become a businessman, let alone a hotel tycoon.
“I didn’t always want to be an entrepreneur,” he told CNBC did it. “There were just a few times where I started working for other people and it didn’t really work out… I’m very individualistic. I became an entrepreneur more out of a lack of other avenues.”
Today, the 72-year-old is the company’s founder and executive chairman. Banyan Tree Groupis a hospitality company with 12 global brands, more than 80 hotels and resorts, and spas, galleries and residences in more than 20 countries.
Sunset view from Banyan Tree Mandai Rainforest Resort.
Provided by Banyan Tree Group.
The company is listed on the Singapore Exchange and had revenue of approximately S$328 million (approximately US$242 million) in 2017. 2023. According to LSEG data, Banyan Group has a market capitalization of S$300 million.
formative period
Ho shared something about himself that some may surprise: He was in prison when he was young.
He said his early life was largely defined by a strong passion for social activism.
While an undergraduate at Stanford University in the early 1970s, he was an outspoken student activist against the Vietnam War (also known as the “American War” in Vietnam).
He participated in other protests on campus, particularly those targeting American inventors and physicists William Shockleywhich ultimately led to his suspension from the agency.
“I got kicked out of the black student union for being part of a protest against a guy named William Shockley, who won a Nobel Prize for creating semiconductors, but he also had weird ideas about eugenics. He wrote several books saying black people should Being neutered,” He said.
As a result, Ho was tried before a campus judicial panel and found guilty of suppressing academic freedom, which resulted in his pause from college. He then decided to leave Stanford and return to Singapore, where he completed his military service and resumed his university studies.
“I had to start from scratch, which was really boring, so I started writing as a freelance journalist for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a magazine that no longer exists,” he said. “I started writing about Singaporean politics, but the government didn’t like that kind of politics. So I was jailed under the Internal Security Act for being pro-communist.”
That was in 1977, and he spent two months in solitary confinement – a period he described as “terrible, lonely, depressing and reflective”.
He Quanping and his wife Claire Chiang in 1992.
Provided by Banyan Tree Group.
After being released from prison, Ho rejoined the magazine as a reporter and moved to Hong Kong with his wife Claire Chiang. The newlyweds moved to a small fishing village on Lamma Island called Yong Shue Wan, which means “Banyan Tree Bay”.
“My salary is not high, so I can’t afford to live on Hong Kong Island or Kowloon…so we have no choice but to live on Lamma Island,” Ho said. “Even though we weren’t rich… we had a very idyllic three years there.”
Ho was born in Hong Kong and spent much of his childhood and teenage years in Thailand before moving to Singapore. his father, To Lihuais a businessman who co-founded listed company Taihua and heads Huachang Group, which has operations across Asia.
“Even though my parents were wealthy, I’ve always been a bit of a rebel and wanted to be independent and all that,” he said.
an accidental businessman
In 1981, He’s father suffered a stroke. As the eldest son, Ho Chi Ping assumed the responsibility of taking over the family business.
“That business is the true epitome of overseas Chinese business, meaning jack of all trades but master of none,” He said. “We have about 10 to 12 different businesses, from construction to TV contract manufacturing… there’s even Adidas Shoes, etc.”
After experiencing several major failures and lessons learned in running a family business, Mr. He had an epiphany – he didn’t want to run a “hodgepodge” but wanted to focus on building his own brand.
“At the time I didn’t think contract manufacturing was a long-term solution. You have to have customers and you can only do that by owning a brand or owning a technology, and I’m not a technology expert, so I decided we’d own a brand ,” he said.
When the “lightbulb goes off”
One day in 1984, Ho stumbled upon a large swath of coastal land in Bang Tao Bay, Phuket, Thailand. According to an official statement from the company, he decided to purchase the over 550 acres of land, which turned out to be an abandoned tin mine.
After years of restoration, Ho, along with his wife and his architect brother, designed and developed several hotels and resorts. Laguna Phuket, Asia’s first integrated resort, opened in 1987, the statement said.
“We designed the first hotel and managed to get a Thai company to manage it. The second hotel – Sheraton managed it, the third and fourth and so on,” said He. “Then the last piece of land doesn’t have a beach, so no one wants to manage it.”
“That’s when I had a lightbulb moment and I said: Well, since no one wants to manage it… why don’t we start our own brand?”
Aerial view of Banyan Tree Resort in Phuket, Thailand.
Provided by Banyan Tree Group.
To make up for the lack of beaches, He decided to build private villas, each with a swimming pool.
“That was 30 years ago, so the concept of an ‘all-pool villa’ hotel didn’t exist… and we pioneered the ‘tropical spa,'” he said.
In 1994, the group’s flagship luxury resort, Banyan Tree Phuket, opened, including the first Banyan Tree Spa, whose name was inspired by the happy time Mr. Ho spent with his wife at Banyan Tree Bay in Hong Kong.
“Innovation doesn’t just fall from the sky… it’s a response to a need,” he said.
Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd., which debuted on the Singapore Exchange in 2006, will launch Banyan Tree Group as the umbrella brand for a multi-brand portfolio in 2024, according to a company statement.
“People ask me if I’m sold out, and I say: ‘No, I’ve grown up. What I do, you can’t do it forever. You’ll go to jail forever, and you’ll be ineffective,'” What to say. “But what we want to do in terms of social change, I think we’re actually doing that through Banyan Tree.”
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