Page 6 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

CONTENTS — OCTOBER 2019 VOLUME 15 NUMBER 7

FEATURES

44 | KANYE’S SECOND COMING
Three years after a canceled tour, hospitalization and claims of
$53 million in debt, hip-hop superstar Kanye West has one of the
biggest hits of the decade—and it has nothing to do with music.
BY ZACK O’MALLEY GREENBURG
THE PHILIPPINES’ 50 RICHEST

52 | BUILDING MOMENTUM
Edgar Saavedra has gone from building for Manila’s
biggest tycoons to bidding against them.
BY ROEL LANDINGIN

55 | THE LIST
A generation’s passing makes way for a new crop of leaders.
S PAGE 16 BY GRACE CHUNG

“PROPERTY IS THE WORST THING TECHNOLOGY
YOU CAN HAVE WHEN THERE’S A
REVOLUTION. YOU CAN’T TAKE IT 62 | THE LIFE FACTORY
AWAY WITH YOU.” Customized organisms will revolutionize the way we manufacture
everything from car seats to cellphones. A group of MIT-trained scientists
—Harry Triguboff, founder and at $1.4 billion synthetic biology startup Ginkgo Bioworks is brewing the
managing director of Meriton building blocks for our bioengineered future.

BY AMY FELDMAN
68 | PERSONALIZING CANCER
Eric Lefkofsky made it big with five startups—most famously
Groupon—by harnessing data. Will it work for diseases?
BY NOAH KIRSCH AND MICHELA TINDERA
UNDER 30 ALUMNI

72 | SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
Ather’s Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain are out to electrify
India’s two-wheeled transport market.
BY AMBIKA BEHAL

FORBES LIFE

74 | MAGIC TOUCH
Siam Wellness is creating a Thai-based wellness chain,
bringing its massages to a new level of ahhh.
BY DANIELLE KEETON-OLSEN

PHILANTHROPY

78 | THE POLYMATH PHILANTHROPIST
Bill Gates’ tribute to his childhood friend.

80 | THOUGHTS
On hubris.
S PAGE 52
“THEY MAY HAVE MORE MONEY, BUT
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY. YOU
ALSO NEED TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW,”
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL TOTALS AND PRICES EXPRESSED
—Edgar Saavedra, chairman of Megawide IN OUR STORIES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS.

4 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2019