Update 8 Oct 2021: After 17 years as CEO of Temasek Holdings, Ms Ho Ching finally stepped down on 1 Oct 2021
We look back at her journey from being "Student of the Year" at National Junior College to marrying Singapore's Prime Minister.
Retiring Temasek CEO Ho Ching to join Temasek Trust board, take over as chairman from April 1, 2022
Ms Ho Ching will be appointed to Temasek Trust’s board of directors with effect from Oct 1, 2021, and take over as chairman from April 1, 2022. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Ms Ho, 68, will be appointed to Temasek Trust's board of directors with effect from Friday (Oct 1), the same day she is retiring from the Singapore investment company.
From April 1, she succeeds Mr S. Dhanabalan, who will remain on the board and be designated chairman emeritus.
Ho Ching to join Temasek Trust board, take over as chairman in April 2022
Ms Ho Ching. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
Temasek Trust announced on Thursday (Sep 30) that it has appointed Ms Ho Ching to its Board of Directors.
Ms Ho's appointment will take effect from Oct 1, the same day she retires as Temasek Holdings' chief executive officer.
Ms Ho will also succeed Mr S Dhanabalan as Chairman of Temasek Trust with effect from Apr 1 next year. Mr Dhanabalan, who has been chairman of Temasek Trust since September 2015, will remain on the Board and be designated chairman emeritus.
Switching chairs? Ho Ching set to become Temasek Trust chairman after stepping down as Temasek CEO
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife Ho Ching, who enjoyed her last day as chief executive of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek just yesterday (30 Sept), begins a new role as a part of Temasek Trust’ board of directors today (1 Oct).
In six months’ time, she will replace former ruling party minister S Dhanabalan as chairman of the board. Mr Dhanabalan, who will be designated chairman emeritus when Mdm Ho takes over his role next April, announced yesterday:
“Ho Ching has a deep and passionate commitment to so many community causes, and has been instrumental in Temasek’s own stewardship journey over the past two decades. The Board decided we would ask her to join us, and to continue that commitment by leading Temasek Trust next year.”
Mdm Ho’s new role comes almost two decades since she joined Temasek. The Prime Minister’s wife joined the organisation as a director in January 2002 before she was promoted to executive director just four months later, in May. Two years after she joined Temasek, Mdm Ho became its Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2004. After more than 17 years at the helm of Temasek, Mdm Ho handed over the reins of the sovereign wealth fund to Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara today. The handover comes more than a decade after leadership succession plans for a new CEO fell through in a boardroom bust-up in 2009 – just three months before the new chief executive was supposed to take over.
Leadership Transition at Temasek Holdings: Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara to be appointed Executive Director & CEO with effect from 1 October 2021
The Board of Temasek Holdings has announced that Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara will succeed Ms Ho Ching as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings with effect from 1 October 2021. He will concurrently hold his current appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Temasek International (TI).
Ho Ching will retire from Temasek Holdings and step down from its Board on the same date.
Announcing the change today, Mr Lim Boon Heng, Chairman of Temasek Holdings, noted: “Leadership succession is a strategic responsibility of the Board. We have had in place an annual review since the early 2000s. This is to enable the Board to be prepared for all eventualities, with various succession options over different time horizons.
Ho Ching to retire as Temasek CEO on Oct 1
Temasek Holdings announced on Tuesday (Feb 9) that its chief executive officer Ho Ching will retire from the state investment firm and step down from its board on Oct 1.
She will be succeeded by Mr Dilhan Pillay, CEO of Temasek International (TI), the commercial arm of Temasek driving its investments.
Announcing the change, Temasek chairman Lim Boon Heng said: "Leadership succession is a strategic responsibility of the board. We have had in place an annual review since the early 2000s. This is to enable the board to be prepared for all eventualities, with various succession options over different time horizons.
Ho Ching to retire as Temasek Holdings CEO, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara to take over
Ms Ho Ching will retire as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Temasek Holdings and step down from its board on Oct 1, the state investor said on Tuesday (Feb 9).
Taking her place is Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who will succeed her as CEO and executive director on the same day.
"Leadership succession is a strategic responsibility of the board," said Temasek Holdings chairman Lim Boon Heng. "We have had in place an annual review since the early 2000s. This is to enable the board to be prepared for all eventualities, with various succession options over different time horizons."
Nearly a decade after failed leadership succession plans
The head of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund is a familiar face to many and interest in the fund’s chief executive has always been rife, considering that she is also Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife.
This year, Ho Ching will complete 16 years at Temasek. She joined the organisation, then called Temasek Holdings, as a director in January 2002 before she was promoted to executive director just four months later, in May. Two years after she joined Temasek, Ho Ching became its Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2004 – a role she has held for the past 14 years.
Interestingly, next year (2019) will not only mark a decade and a half since Ho Ching took the reins of Temasek, it will also mark a decade after leadership succession plans for a new CEO to replace Ho Ching fell through in a boardroom bust-up in 2009 – just three months before the new CEO was supposed to take over.
Goodyear in shock exit from Singapore's Temasek
Charles "Chip" Goodyear, the CEO-designate at Temasek Holdings TEM.UL, pulled out barely six months after accepting the post at Singapore's best-known wealth fund.
Temasek said on Tuesday Goodyear had decided not to become the chief executive of the state investment firm due to differences over strategy, adding that Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore’s prime minister and current CEO, would continue as executive director and chief executive.
Goodyear was widely expected to trim Temasek’s financial holdings and move aggressively into commodities and energy and into emerging market infrastructure and consumer retail sectors, analysts and investment bankers said. They cited his appointment as a clear move that Temasek was angling for more resources deals.
Temasek abandons plan to install Chip Goodyear as chief executive
Former BHP Billiton boss quits job with Singapore's state investment fund three months before he was to take over. Plans to appoint Chip Goodyear, the former BHP Billiton mining boss, as chief executive of Singaporean investment company Temasek have been scrapped.
Goodyear has resigned after a boardroom bust-up, just three months before he was due to take over from Ho Ching, wife of the Singaporean prime minister.
In a joint statement, Temasek and Goodyear said that they accepted that "there are differences regarding certain strategic issues that could not be resolved. In light of the differences, both parties have decided that it is in their mutual interest to terminate the leadership transition process."
Temasek CEO Ho Ching to quit after rocky ride
Former BHP Billiton CEO Chip Goodyear (R) looks at Temasek Holdings Chief Executive Ho Ching as she speaks during a news conference in Singapore February 6, 2009. Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings said on Friday its chief executive Ho will step down and be replaced by Goodyear on Oct. 1. Ho, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, joined Temasek as a director in January 2002 and has been CEO since January 2004. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash
Ho Ching will step down as the chief executive of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, as it faces a difficult time after a turmoil in global markets slashed the value of its investments.
Chip Goodyear, the former CEO of BHP Billiton, will replace Ho, wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on October 1. The move will help Temasek to build a more global image from a fund viewed in some quarters as an agent of the Singapore government.
Temasek, which had assets worth S$185 billion ($123 billion) as of March 2008, is nursing losses from its high profile investments in Merrill Lynch and Barclays (BARC.L) as it aggressively expanded outside its core Asian market.
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Temasek succession plans under scrutiny as CEO Ho takes leave
An engineer by training, Ho Ching joined Temasek in 2002 as executive director and was appointed chief executive officer in 2004. Photo: Charles Pertwee/Bloomberg
Temasek Holdings Pte chief executive officer Ho Ching’s three-month sabbatical raises the question that’s been asked repeatedly in the past six years: who will steer Singapore’s investment mothership when she eventually leaves?
Ho, 62, said last week she’s taking time off to attend to “a couple of long-standing things” and catch up on sleep, while assuring the public she’s “well.” The leave follows two months during which her husband, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, was operated on for prostate cancer, and his father, Lee Kuan Yew, the nation’s first premier, died at 91.
Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment company, is trying to avoid the 2009 debacle when it appointed BHP Billiton Ltd. head Charles “Chip” Goodyear as CEO designate to replace Ho, said Victoria Barbary, director at the London-based Institutional Investor’s Sovereign Wealth Center. Goodyear left within months over differing views on strategy.
“The Chip Goodyear situation is not going to happen again,” Barbary said. “A successor won’t be a Westerner parachuted in. The person might not be in Temasek now. But it will be a person from the wider world of Singapore Inc.”
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Ho Ching will step down as the chief executive of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, as it faces a difficult time after a turmoil in global markets slashed the value of its investments.
Chip Goodyear, the former CEO of BHP Billiton, will replace Ho, wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on October 1. The move will help Temasek to build a more global image from a fund viewed in some quarters as an agent of the Singapore government.
Temasek, which had assets worth S$185 billion ($123 billion) as of March 2008, is nursing losses from its high profile investments in Merrill Lynch and Barclays (BARC.L) as it aggressively expanded outside its core Asian market.
read more
Temasek succession plans under scrutiny as CEO Ho takes leave
An engineer by training, Ho Ching joined Temasek in 2002 as executive director and was appointed chief executive officer in 2004. Photo: Charles Pertwee/Bloomberg
Temasek Holdings Pte chief executive officer Ho Ching’s three-month sabbatical raises the question that’s been asked repeatedly in the past six years: who will steer Singapore’s investment mothership when she eventually leaves?
Ho, 62, said last week she’s taking time off to attend to “a couple of long-standing things” and catch up on sleep, while assuring the public she’s “well.” The leave follows two months during which her husband, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, was operated on for prostate cancer, and his father, Lee Kuan Yew, the nation’s first premier, died at 91.
Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment company, is trying to avoid the 2009 debacle when it appointed BHP Billiton Ltd. head Charles “Chip” Goodyear as CEO designate to replace Ho, said Victoria Barbary, director at the London-based Institutional Investor’s Sovereign Wealth Center. Goodyear left within months over differing views on strategy.
“The Chip Goodyear situation is not going to happen again,” Barbary said. “A successor won’t be a Westerner parachuted in. The person might not be in Temasek now. But it will be a person from the wider world of Singapore Inc.”
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Ho Ching on Facebook - Stop the Bitching
Stop the bitching, said Ho Ching on Facebook on Wednesday (Oct 27)
The former CEO of Temasek Holdings was addressing the unhappiness raised by many after the report that Bloomberg New Economy Forum delegates coming here next month will be permitted to dine in groups of up to five, while household members are not permitted to do so under the existing restrictions.
Ms Ho was expressing how stretched healthcare workers are in Singapore and around the world.
"So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as a family or as friends, just stop it!" Ms Ho wrote.
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Ho Ching calls Hong Kong people ‘idiots’ and for good reason
Ho Ching: 80% of housing is HDB
Singaporean Artists poke fun at Ho Ching and Rosmah
The politics of power dressing
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When will Singapore next PM be unveiled?
ESM Goh: "Ministers are not paid enough"
Top 20 Highest Paid Government Leaders
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