Temasek Trust chair Ho Ching, OCBC chief Helen Wong among 3 S’pore women on Forbes power list
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Temasek Trust chair Ho Ching (left) took 32nd place, while OCBC Bank chief executive Helen Wong made her debut at 59 on the list.
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SINGAPORE - Temasek Trust chairwoman Ho Ching took 32nd place in the latest Forbes ranking of the world’s most powerful women, while OCBC Bank chief executive Helen Wong made her debut at 59th place.
The third Singaporean woman on the list is Ms Jenny Lee, a senior managing partner at venture capital firm Granite Asia.
The annual Forbes World’s Most Powerful Women list, published on Dec 11, takes stock of the global influence and accomplishments of women across the fields of business, finance and politics.
Ms Ho Ching, 71, was chief executive of Singapore state investment firm Temasek from 2004 to 2021. She is also the wife of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
In 2022, she became chairwoman of Temasek Trust,
Forbes, an American business magazine, said Ms Ho invested over a quarter of Temasek funds in sectors like life sciences, technology, and agribusiness, and the firm’s portfolio grew by more than US$313 billion (S$422 billion).
In 2025’s power rankings, she came in ahead of major public figures such as media mogul Oprah Winfrey (33rd), pop icon Beyonce (35th) and Britain’s finance minister Rachel Reeves (39th).
Ms Helen Wong, 63, with more than four decades of experience in banking, became OCBC’s chief executive in 2021. Under her leadership, OCBC reported a total income of US$10 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.
Her Forbes citation said Ms Wong spent the earlier part of her career in a raft of roles at HSBC for 27 years. Her last job within the bank was overseeing its Greater China business.
Ms Jenny Lee, 52, a venture capital pioneer, inched up one spot from the 2023 rankings
Ms Lee, said Forbes, has overseen 16 initial public offerings and invested in over 20 companies, each valued at over US$1 billion. Her work earned her a place in Forbes’ Midas List top 10 in 2012, making her the first woman to enter the list.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in 2024 retained her top spot on the list, with European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde taking second place and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in third.
Other notable women on the list include pop star Taylor Swift (23rd), philanthropist Melinda French Gates (8th), Indian Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (28th) and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (49th).
