Among Asian business leaders, the Chearavanont family is certainly well-known. According to the 2025 Bloomberg Asia's Richest Families list, this Thai conglomerate family is the second wealthiest in Asia with a fortune of $42.6 billion. They trail only the Ambani family of India, who control Reliance Industries and have a net worth of $90.5 billion.
The Chearavanont family’s success did not happen overnight. Their business roots trace back to 1921, when Chia Ek Chor left his typhoon-stricken hometown in southern China.
Armed with courage and determination, he settled in Bangkok, Thailand, and began a modest venture: selling imported vegetable seeds from his family’s business in China to local farmers. In 1946, he formally established the business under the name Chia Tai, meaning “prosperity to consumers” in Thai.
From Seed Shop to Global Conglomerate
Over time, the family business expanded beyond agriculture. Chia Ek Chor’s youngest son, Dhanin Chearavanont, emerged as the key figure who, in 1969, transformed Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group from a family-run enterprise into a modern, global-scale conglomerate.
Dhanin had a clear vision: a large company could not be managed solely by family members without professional experience. He brought in external experts to lead management, while family members focused on being shareholders. This arrangement worked smoothly, built on mutual trust, even to the point where Dhanin’s three elder brothers willingly handed him full operational control.
In his autobiography, Dhanin wrote that separating ownership from management was a cornerstone of success. He even prohibited his children from joining CP Group’s core business immediately.
His reasoning was simple, they needed to “learn at the feet of masters” before taking the helm. As a result, his children went on to lead other business units, such as cable television, retail, and telecommunications.
Boundless Expansion
Under Dhanin’s leadership, CP Group expanded into a wide range of sectors: from agribusiness, retail, and telecommunications to e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and real estate. Today, CP operates 14 business groups across 21 countries and is one of the world’s largest animal feed producers and livestock farming companies.
Some of their major milestones include:
- The US$9.4 billion acquisition of Ping An Insurance in China (2012)
- The US$6.6 billion acquisition of Siam Makro (2013)
- The US$10.6 billion takeover of Tesco’s hypermarket chains in Thailand and Malaysia (2020)
Beyond the food sector, CP has also become a dominant player in Thailand’s telecommunications industry through True Corporation. In 2023, True merged with Total Access Communications, making it the country’s largest mobile operator with nearly 49 million subscribers.
By 2025, their digital push has grown even more aggressive. Ascend Money, CP’s fintech unit, secured a license to establish a virtual bank, further developing the TrueMoney platform, which already serves 34 million users. Meanwhile, True IDC, CP’s data center division, partnered with a BlackRock unit to invest US$1 billion over the next three to five years in building new data centers in Thailand.
Resilience in Times of Crisis
CP’s history has not been without challenges. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Dhanin — who had planned to retire — was forced to sell several key assets to repay debts, including shares in a motorcycle factory and a brewery in China. Though difficult, he was confident of a comeback, and indeed, within just five years, he successfully built new motorcycle and brewery operations.
Even the COVID-19 pandemic did not halt their innovation. CP built a US$3 million mask factory with a production capacity of 100,000 masks per day, while also donating free meals to hospitals.
Legacy and Recognition
In 2017, Dhanin stepped down as CEO and appointed his eldest son, Soopakij, as chairman, while his second son, Suphachai, assumed the role of CEO. Dhanin himself remained as senior chairman.
His contributions and achievements have been recognized internationally. In September 2024, he received the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award at the Forbes Global CEO Conference, honoring him as one of Asia’s most accomplished entrepreneurs.
For Dhanin, CP Group’s success is not solely the result of business strategies but also the support of the Thai people, who welcomed his family despite their foreign roots. “Had we not been headquartered in Thailand, the CP Group of today would not exist,” he remarked.
Two Other Southeast Asian Conglomerates in the Top 10
Aside from the Chearavanont family, two other Southeast Asian families made Bloomberg’s list of the top 10 richest families in Asia:
- Hartono (Indonesia) – Ranked 3rd with a net worth of US$42.2 billion
Best known for the Djarum Group and Bank Central Asia (BCA), the Hartono family began their journey in the kretek cigarette industry before expanding into banking, property, technology, and plantations. Brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono are not only symbols of Indonesia’s cigarette industry resurgence but also the powerhouses behind BCA, one of Southeast Asia’s largest banks. - Yoovidhya (Thailand) – Ranked 8th with a net worth of US$25.7 billion
Founders of TCP Group, the company behind the iconic energy drink Red Bull, the Yoovidhya family began their success story in the 1970s under Chaleo Yoovidhya. The brand became a global phenomenon after partnering with Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz in 1982. Under the leadership of Chaleo’s son, Chalerm Yoovidhya, the business has grown rapidly, now selling nearly 13 billion cans annually worldwide.
