The big news is the fact that Madam Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings will be retiring from her position in October of this year and be replaced by Mr. Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Temasek International. The full story can be found at:
What makes this story particularly interesting is the fact
that Madam Ho is married to none other than our Prime Minister, who happens to
be the proverbial boss of Temasek Holding’s only shareholder, Singapore’s
Ministry of Finance (our Prime Minister was minster of finance from 2001 to
2007 and Mr. Lee’s successor, Mr. Heng Swee Kiat is our current minister of
finance). While Temasek Holdings is not a “Sovereign Wealth Fund” in the strictest
sense of the word, its status as the main shareholder in every company of any significance
on the Singapore exchange makes it the nation’s second Sovereign Wealth Fund. It
also ensures that while there is a “private sector” in Singapore, its pretty
much controlled by the government.
Why is Madam Ho retiring now? While Temasek Holdings had
some notable losses in the 2008-2009 recession, the financial reports indicate
that Temasek had been growing steadily since 2010:
https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/our-financials/group-financials
Under these circumstances, one would imagine that there was
no particular reason for Madam Ho to announce her retirement. So, why would
Madam Ho need to leave?
Well, one can argue that she had been head of Temasek
Holdings for 19-years and she’s argued that she felt that it was time to bring
in the next generation of leaders at our national holding company.
However, this is not the first time that Madam Ho made her
stepping down a public issue. In 2009, there was much fanfare about how she was
going to step aside and hand over the reins to Mr. Chip Goodyear, an American businessman.
However, despite spending the better part of 2009 as CEO-Designate, 2009 ended
with the announcement that Mr. Goodyear would not be taking on the CEO job due
to a difference in strategic vision with the board. Madam Ho continued in the
top job.
So, one might be inclined to ask why is Madam Ho stepping
down now and will she really step down and not extend her stay for another
decade plus?
The most likely answer is that this stepping down is going to
stick and Mr. Sandrasegara will be the new CEO after October. The reason is
probably in timing, particularly if you look at when Madam Ho took over the reigns
at Temasek Holdings.
Madam Ho, who had been the CEO and President of the Singapore
Technologies Group became Executive Director in 2002 and two years later, she assumed
the role of CEO. Interestingly enough, in the year when Madam Ho became CEO of
Temasek Holdings, there was another change of leadership – this was across the
road from Temasek Holding’s office at The Atrium@Orchard on 60B Orchard Road.
Singapore found itself with a new Prime Minister, who happened to be none other
than Madam Ho’s husband. Was this a coincidence?
Interestingly enough, we’re now aware of who the next Prime
Minister will be. While the Prime Minister has announced that he is going to
delay handing over the reigns of the country to the fourth generation of
leaders (known collectively as the 4G), it is a question of when he retires
rather than if he retires in the next few years. Is it a coincidence that his
wife has announced her retirement now?
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