Anthony Tan (businessman)
Anthony Tan (Chinese: 陈炳耀) (born 1982[1]) is a Malaysian-Singaporean businessman. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Grab, a publicly-traded technology company and the first unicorn in Southeast Asia.[2] In 2021, he was listed as one of Singapore's richest people with an estimated net worth of $790 million according to Forbes.[3]
Anthony Tan | |
|---|---|
陈炳耀 | |
| Born | 1982 Malaysia |
| Citizenship | Singapore |
| Education | University of Chicago (BA) Harvard Business School (M.B.A.) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Grab |
| Spouse | Chloe Tong |
| Children | 5 |
| Parents |
|
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Early life and education edit
Tan was born in Malaysia. His father, Tan Heng Chew is an automobile manufacturing executive who served as the president of Tan Chong Motor, a Malaysian manufacturing company that assembles and distributes Nissan vehicles in the Southeast Asia region. Tan's great-grandfather was a taxi driver and his grandfather was responsible for pioneering the Japanese automotive industry in Malaysia.[4] He worked on the assembly line at his father's company and attended meetings with union bosses at a young age.[2]
Tan expressed an interest in business and entrepreneurship at a young age. He started his first business venture at the age of 11 when he began retail trading and accepting cash for X-Men comics.[5] At the age of 14, he volunteered to raise money for the AIDS Foundation.[5]
As an undergraduate, Tan attended the University of Chicago and earned a bachelor's degree in economics and public policy. Tan's education on econometrics, public policy and philosophy there provided him with a foundation to understand and transcend the windows of opportunity on topics like ride-hailing or traffic jams across the Southeast Asia.[6] He later earned a Master's of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.[7]
Career edit
Tan was the head of supply chain and marketing at Tan Chong Group for the automotive brands under the Tan Chong Motor conglomerate.[8] He chose not to work for the family business and started to develop an idea for a company after a friend from Harvard visited Malaysia and complained to him about the country's taxi system.[4][7]
While attending Harvard Business School, Tan partnered with his classmate Tan Hooi Ling on making taxis safer in their home country of Malaysia in part due to ranking as the worst cab service in the world.[9][10] They wrote a business plan for a taxi booking app, which won the second prize at the HBS New Venture Competition in 2011. Using the $25,000 of prize money from the competition, their own personal funds and an investment from Tan's mother, the duo launched MyTeksi in June 2012 with its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.[3][11]
By 2016, the company had rebranded as Grab and Tan was recognized along with his co-founder by Fortune and Straits Times as "40 Under 40" and "Asians of the Year", respectively.[12][13] He was a speaker at the World Economic Forum in 2019.[14] In 2020, Grab’s cofounders were recipients of the Nikkei Asia Prize for economic and business innovation.[15] In 2021, Fortune named Tan and his co-founder on their list of "World's 50 Greatest Leaders".[16]
Personal life edit
Tan took up Singapore citizenship in 2016.[17]
Tan is married to Chloe Tong, daughter of Tong Kooi Ong.[17] They have five children.[18][19]
Controversy edit
In November 2023, Grab became a target of voluntary boycotts in Indonesia and Malaysia following the re-surfacing of an Instagram Story posted by Chloe Tong, Anthony Tan's wife. Chloe allegedly stated in the story that she was "completely in love" with Israel. This drew controversy in the wake of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. According to media reports, the story has originally been posted during a family religious heritage trip in July earlier that year, and Chloe later reiterated in a separate post that the story had been made long before she was personally aware of the conflict.[20]
References edit
- ^ "Anthony Tan". Forbes. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ a b Chua Kong Ho; Zen Soo (28 July 2018). "From machine guns to Fortune magazine, Grab's CEO hits the big time". South China Morning Post.
- ^ a b "Anthony Tan". Forbes. 2021.
- ^ a b Kerdchuen, Wanant (1 June 2015). "Hailing success". Bangkok Post.
- ^ a b Kumar, Dhaleta Surender (10 February 2014). "My first venture was at 11, says Anthony Tan, who traded comics then". Yahoo! News. Yahoo! Singapore.
- ^ Mon, K.S.; Lim, Renyi (3 May 2017). "Wheels In Motion". The Peak.
- ^ a b Ruehl, Mercedes; Palma, Stefania (9 April 2021). "Anthony Tan, a driven entrepreneur grabs his opportunity". Financial Times.
- ^ Chong, Claudia (19 October 2019). "Ultra driven". The Business Times. Garage.
- ^ Balea, Jum (25 May 2017). "Grab's Anthony Tan on his unforgettable meeting with Masayoshi Son, brotherhood with Didi". Tech in Asia.
- ^ Loh, Matthew (23 November 2021). "A day in the life of the cofounder of Grab, the ride-hailing giant that beat Uber in Southeast Asia and is eyeing a $40 billion listing in the US". Business Insider.
- ^ Soon, Weilun (1 June 2022). "How Grab, Asia's Uber, stumbled before and after its $40 billion SPAC, with pandemic layoffs and a teary all-hands with its CEO". Business Insider.
- ^ Velloor, Ravi (5 December 2016). "Straits Times Asians of the Year: The Disruptors". Straits Times.
- ^ "Anthony Tan, Hooi Ling Tan". Fortune. 2016.
- ^ 陈怡均 (14 April 2019). "富三代不败家 陈炳耀创立Grab 打造东南亚叫车业霸主 - 全球财经". 中时新闻网 (in Chinese).
- ^ Grab co-founders, clean water pioneer and museum curator honored
- ^ "Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling Tan". Fortune. 2021.
- ^ a b "Anthony Tan". Forbes. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ Tan Gim Ean (12 August 2019). "Author Chloe Tong produces booklet that teaches children about basic nutrition". Options. The Edge.
- ^ Ruehl, Mercedes (13 April 2021). "Anthony Tan, the 'unabashedly ambitious' man behind Grab". Channel News Asia.
- ^ Johannes Nugroho; Hadi Azmi (6 November 2023). "'Quaking in their boots': Malaysians, Indonesians ditch brands over war in Gaza". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 November 2023.