Olivia Lum
Executive Chairman and Group CEO
Hyflux Limited

Ernst & Young Singapore 
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011

2010

Michael Spencer
Group CEO
ICAP plc

Ernst & Young United Kingdom
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009
World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010

Michael Spencer set up ICAP as an interest rate swap broker in 1986 with three friends. Today ICAP is a publicly traded company with more than 4,500 employees servicing customers in 50 countries and is considered one of the most innovative companies in financial services.

Michael’s entrepreneurship has enabled ICAP to diversify into many different areas, including the expansion into electronic broking and post-trade services over the past 10 years.

The recent global financial crisis has led to public debate and international initiatives aimed at strengthening financial regulation, supervision and market infrastructure. ICAP’s post-trade services play an important role in helping customers achieve these objectives. The company has a tradition of giving back as well. Since 1993, ICAP has held its ICAP Charity Day, a special all-day event held every December where the firm donates its total revenue for the day to a wide selection of charities.

2009

Cho Tak Wong
Chairman
Fuyao Glass Industry Group

Ernst & Young China
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008
World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009

Cho Tak Wong emerged from humble beginnings to become one of China’s most successful entrepreneurs. He started his own business at the age of 16, peddling cut tobacco. He also worked as a farmer, chef and fruit seller. Cho founded Fuyao Group in 1987 to specialize in the production of automotive safety glass and industrial technological glass. In 1993, it was the first company in its sector in China to be listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The group has more than 10,000 employees and has glass production facilities in Fuqing, Changchun, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing and modern float-glass production bases in Fujian, Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Hainan. It has established a complete sales network across the country, and it also has business offices in the United States, Japan, Korea, Australia, Russia and Germany.

2008

Dr Jean-Paul Clozel
Founder
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Ernst & Young Switzerland
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007
World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008

Founded in 1997, Actelion is a leader in the development of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of pulmonary disease, and its products have improved the lives of patients worldwide. Jean-Paul Clozel is a cardiologist educated in France, with further training in pharmacology and physiology at the University of Montreal, Canada, and the University of California, San Francisco. He has developed various, novel experimental models allowing the differentiation of these drugs, work honored with the 1997 Hoffmann-La Roche Research Prize. At the end of 1997, he founded biotechnology company Actelion, together with his wife, Martine, and work colleagues and friends Walter Fischli and Thomas Widmann. Although first focusing on research and development, he became CEO of the company to bring Actelion to the public in April 2000. During his 25-year career in cardiology, he has published widely in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals. At the same time, his passion has remained unchanged: being involved as closely as possible in bringing innovative medicine to “his” patients.

2007

In 1984, during the the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada, the Quebec government was celebrating by looking for a show that would tour across the province. Guy Laliberté, an itinerant and highly entrepreneurial fire-eater, accordionist and stilt-walker, presented the civil servants with a proposal for a show called Cirque du Soleil (Cirque) — and to their credit, they recognized its potential for short-term success and long-term growth. Cirque du Soleil’s touring shows have made more than 250 stops in more than 100 cities around the world. Cirque also has permanent shows in purpose-built theatres in Florida and Las Vegas. Production is well under way for permanent shows at Disney Tokyo and in Macau. The company has revenues of more than US$600 million and has enjoyed double-digit growth for more than five years. Every facet of Cirque is overseen and guided by Guy, and his vision goes far beyond creating entertainment. The company’s social action programs have given more than US$47 million to benefit youth at risk in more than 56 countries, and the organization is actively committed to the One Drop movement, which is dedicated to providing clean water to the world.

2006

Arriving in South Africa in 1971 with just UK£2,000 and no job, Bill Lynch found work with Imperial Holdings as an 'admin controller'. Applying the disciplines he learned growing up in poverty in rural Ireland to the loss-making car dealership, he led a turnaround. After buying a 10% share in Imperial, Bill led a diversification and growth strategy into truck and car rental, logistics and leasing. He became executive chairman in 1990 and guided the company through South Africa's democratic transition era, when the country's economic and political systems were widely expected to collapse. Today, Imperial Holdings employs 36,000 people on three continents and has an annual revenue of €6.5 billion across 7 divisions.

2005

Wayne Huizenga is the only person in corporate history to be responsible for six companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and to have founded three Fortune 500 companies. He demonstrates that where innovation and leadership converge, it can be the spark for achievement in the global marketplace.

Throughout his professional life, Wayne has lived his motto: “Surround yourself with great people, listen to them, make the best decisions you can and work hard.” Wayne created the waste management leaders, Waste Management, Inc. and Republic Industries, as well as Blockbuster Entertainment, the global leader in video entertainment, and AutoNation, the US’s first and world’s largest public automotive dealership. He is currently the owner of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.

2004 

Tony Tan Caktiong, President of Jollibee Foods Corporation, won the title of World Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2004. Jollibee was founded in 1975 as a two-branch ice cream parlor, which later expanded its menu to include hot sandwiches and other meals. The size, geographic expanse and breadth of the company's operations have grown exponentially — from a handful of Jollibee stores 26 years ago to 1,185 stores in 9 countries at the end of 2004. The prestigious Far Eastern Economic Review has cited Jollibee as The Most Admired Company in the Philippines for the past six years.

2003

Narayana Murthy
Founder and Chairman
Infosys Technologies Limited

Ernst & Young India
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2002
World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2003

2002

At 19, after successfully authoring a book on computer graphics, Stefan Vilsmeier developed an interest in neurosurgical applications. Driven by his vision and funded by the proceeds of his book, he developed the world’s first menu-driven software for neurosurgical planning. His radiosurgery products have set a new standard for non-invasive, cost-efficient tumor treatment for doctors and their patients. The company now employs more than 480 people in 15 countries and has become one of the two world leaders in this area of advanced medical technology. Stefan’s primary motivation is leaving a legacy of improved medical care in as many fields as possible, such as cancer, brain surgery, ENT surgery and surgery for the knee, hip and spine.

2001

For more than four decades, Saes Getters has been the world leader in getter technology used to create and maintain vacuum and purified gas environments. In 1945, Paolo della Porta joined Saes Getters, the small company in which his family had a stake. The driving force behind his company since 1949, Paolo emphasizes that his company’s success results from a constant dedication to research. The company’s products are credited with extending — 100-fold — the lives of television screens and computer monitors. Today, Saes Getters has grown from a family-owned business into a multinational company listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and Nasdaq with branches in the UK, US, Japan, France, Germany, Korea and China.