Ho Ching Biography and Photos

Although she is the wife of the prime minister of Singapore and chief executive of the country's state-owned investment company, Ho Ching is rarely seen or heard from. But increasingly she is a force to be reckoned with, as her dealmaking ambitions span the globe. Ho Ching has been credited with converting Temasek from a Singapore-focused firm to a leading investor in Asia, making investments in Indian and Chinese companies, primarily in the telecom and banking sectors. Thanks to Ho Ching's dealmaking, the net value of Temasek's portfolio grew 27% to $108 billion from $80 billion the previous year. "This is the first time that Temasek's portfolio has crossed the US$100 billion mark," the company said in a statement. Temasek recently announced plans to invest in Barclays to support the British bank's attempted takeover of ABN Amro, the Netherlands' largest bank. However, Temasek's tax-free takeover of Shin Corp., one of Thailand's biggest telecom companies, sparked a wave of protests. The tax-free deal, along with allegations of corruption, eventually led to the overthrow of Thailand's prime minister. Moreover, the $3.8 billion Shin takeover helped hurt Temasek's profits, as an impairment charge for the deal and other associated companies caused its earnings to fall 29% this year. Ho Ching earned a master's degree in control engineering at Stanford University and held a number of top positions in both public and private entities in Singapore, before being named to her current position