Ho Ching is the
Chief Executive OfficerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of
Temasek HoldingsTemasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore. With an international staff of 380 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$193 billion at end of March 2011, focused primarily in Asia...
(over US$100 billion in assets and owned by
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
's
Ministry of FinanceThe Ministry of Finance , is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for administering and regulating financial institutions and structures of the economy of Singapore. It is headed by the Minister for Finance...
) and the wife of the
Prime Minister of SingaporeThe Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
,
Lee Hsien LoongLee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
(son of former Prime Minister
Lee Kuan YewLee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
). As a Chinese Singaporean, Ho hails from the
CantoneseCantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
language group.
Ho graduated from the
National University of SingaporeThe National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
in 1976 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical, First Class Honours) after completing her pre-university education at
National Junior CollegeNational Junior College is the first junior college established by the Ministry Of Education, located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. It is considered as one of the top five junior colleges in Singapore. NJC offers a two-year course for pre-university students leading up to the GCE 'A' Levels...
where she emerged as a Student of the Year and was a
President's ScholarA President's Scholar is a recipient of the most prestigious class of university undergraduate scholarships awarded to Singapore citizens by the Government of Singapore. In most years, only 2-4 President's Scholarships are awarded...
. She graduated from
Crescent Girls' SchoolCrescent Girls' School is an autonomous girls' school in Singapore and bears no affiliation to any other school. Students who applied for admission to Crescent in 2011 must obtain at least a PSLE score of 243 or above to qualify...
. She also holds a Master of Science (Electrical) from
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, USA. In 1995, Ho was conferred the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.
She is the eldest child of four children of retired businessman Ho Eng Hong and Chan Chiew Ping. In 17 December 1985, she married Lee Hsien Loong, who later became Singapore's third Prime Minister in August 2004.
She began her career as an engineer with the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces...
. In 1987, she joined the Singapore Technologies group as Deputy Director of Engineering, and became its President and Chief Executive Officer before retiring in 2001. She later joined Temasek Holdings in May 2002.
Business press coverage
In 2006,
FortuneFortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine remarked that Ho had made "a spectacular misjudgment" in the purchase of Shin Corp shares. Since then, "Shin shares have fallen 43% since the deal was signed, and Temasek will now endure a potentially embarrassing probe by the new regime into Thaksin's finances that threatens asset seizures, deal cancellation, and large fines."
In 2007, the same magazine ranked her third in the list of most powerful women in business (outside the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
).
In 2007, she was picked as one of the "100 most influential men and women" who shaped the world by TIME Magazine.
Similarly in 2007, business magazine
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranked her third in its annual list of the world's most powerful women, leap-frogging a rank ahead of
United States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
and falling short behind German Chancellor
Angela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
and
ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's
Vice-PremierThe Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China is a high-ranking executive assistant to the Premier. There is a First-ranking Vice Premier , sometimes called Executive Vice Premier wrongly by the non-official media. It is an informal title and takes over duties of the...
Wu YiWu Yi was one of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, overseeing the country's economy until March 2008. Known as the "iron lady", Wu is one of the toughest negotiators in China's government.-Biography:...
. Ho Ching was ranked 36th in the same list the previous year. In 2008 she was ranked 8th. In 2009, she was ranked 5th.
On 6 February 2009, Temasek Holdings announced that Ho Ching will be stepping down as CEO and
Charles W. GoodyearCharles Waterhouse "Chip" Goodyear V is part of the Goodyear lumber and railway family of New York and Pennsylvania.He is a Yale graduate with a science degree in geology & geophysics and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He rowed on the lightweight crew team at Yale...
will replace Ho as Chief Executive Officer on 1 October 2009. Goodyear, 51, an American, joined the Temasek Board on 1 February. He assumes the position of CEO-Designate on 1 March. Ho has expressed "no regrets" for her time as CEO. Temasek Chairman S Dhanabalan also mentioned that Ho's resignation has nothing to do with her performance.
On 21 July 2009, Ho Ching will remain chief executive of Singapore government investment company Temasek after her replacement mining industry executive Goodyear couldn't resolve differences with the board, state media reported.
As a result of the above events, press sources outside Singapore have often queried nepotism amongst high ranking Singapore officials including Ho Ching's husband Lee Hsien Loong