Shing Chow

Shing Chow set out to remedy the inefficiency of China’s freight industry with his on-demand trucking service Lalamove, of which he is the founder and CEO. Born in Guangdong province, he studied in the US and then worked as a management consultant for Bain and Company. He gave it all up to take an unusual route to amassing the capital for a start-up: working as a professional poker player, first online in the US and then in Macau, making a profit of close to US$4 million over a seven-year period.

He then invested the money in Hong Kong property, and a few years later put it into Easyvan, which later became Lalamove. The company has attracted about US$2.5 billion in funding, and used it to fund an aggressive expansion strategy: it now has presence in more than 350 Chinese cities, while it also has operations in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the US.

In 2023, Lalatech Holdings filed for an IPO in Hong Kong. With his stake in the company at 25 per cent, Chow’s net worth was estimated by Forbes to be at about US$2.2 billion.

In 2024, the CEO continued to lead the company in expanding into new markets and services. This included launching in Tokyo and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region through Istanbul, as well as entering the ride-hailing market in Malaysia.