Page 24 - Forbes - Asia (December 2019 - January 2020)

ANDREW FORREST, 57
Chairman, Fortescue
Metals Group
NICOLA FORREST, 57
Cofounder, Minderoo
Foundation
AUSTRALIA
The Forrests donated A$655
million ($455 million) in May
to their Minderoo Foundation,
marking Australia’s largest sin-
gle gift from a living donor and
taking the couple’s total giving
to A$1.5 billion. The foundation
supports cancer research, early
childhood development, indig-
enous equality, healthy oceans
and the elimination of modern
slavery. It is named after the
cattle station in West Australia’s
remote Pilbara region where
Andrew Forrest grew up. Mind-
eroo is funded by dividends the
Forrests receive from iron ore
miner Fortescue Metals Group,
which Andrew founded in 2003.
He retains a 35% stake in the
company. —Lucinda Schmidt
LE VAN KIEM, 74
Cofounder and Chairman, Long
Thanh Golf Investment and
Trading Joint-Stock Company
TRAN CAM NHUNG, 73
Cofounder and Vice Chairman,
Long Thanh Golf Investment and
Trading Joint-Stock Company
VIETNAM

Since 2018, Kiem and Nhung
have contributed $11 million to
various causes in Laos and their
native Vietnam. A war veteran,
Kiem donated nearly $5 million
between early 2018 and April
to support families of army
retirees, while his wife Nhung
in April gave over $5 million
to charities, primarily to treat
infants with heart failure and to
provide financial aid to students.
The pair made their fortune in
textiles and rubber when in the
1980s Vietnam adopted eco-
nomic reforms. The bulk of their
interests are now in property
22 | FORBES ASIA DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020
This year Andrew and Nicola Forrest have also donated to
Telethon, a fundraiser that raises money for sick children.
and golf courses. Since 2009
when he set up a scholarship
fund, Kiem has given $900,000
in scholarships for students to
attend his alma mater, Hanoi’s
Thuy Loi University. The duo
has given more than $20 million
over the past ten years toward
causes not only in Laos and
Vietnam, but also in Cambodia
and Japan. —Jolie Tran
SUH KYUNG-BAE, 56
CEO, Amorepacific Group
SOUTH KOREA
The Suh Kyung-bae Science
Foundation in September award-
ed 10 billion won ($9 million),
to be allocated over five years,
to four South Korean scientists
for research in neuroscience and
genetics. Suh established the
foundation in 2016 with a per-
sonal endowment of 300 billion
won. The head of South Korea’s
largest cosmetics company, Suh
inherited Amorepacific from
his father Suh Sung-hwan, who
believed that science was inte-
gral to innovation. Since 2017,
the foundation has awarded 14
scientists grants of between
1.5 billion and 2.5 billion won.
Suh pledged in 2016 to donate
whatever was needed to bring
the foundation’s total funding
up to 1 trillion won. With those
funds, the foundation plans in
2021 to increase the number of
scientists who receive its grants
to 25 a year; it aims to mark its
20th anniversary in 2036 by
giving grants to 100 scientists.
—Jihyun Park
Suh Kyung-bae
GONG JUNLONG, 50
Founder, Hengyu Group
CHINA
Gong pledged $50 million in
June 2018 to build the Lufeng
No. 2 People’s Hospital in
his hometown of Shanwei,
Guangdong. The hospital,
with 14 floors and a total area
of 57,000 square meters,
will house 500 beds when it
opens. The property baron also
donated $5.6 million last year
to fund the expansion of a high
school in Shanwei. He previ-
ously gave $35 million to build
a new campus for his alma
mater, Jiazi High School, which
opened in 2012. —Jane Ho
PAUL KANE/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF LE VAN KIEM; COURTESY OF AMORE PACIFIC