Cover The 2026 Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow honourees
The 2026 Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow honourees
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Tatler took over the newly refurbished Villa Haw Par on September 3 to celebrate the city’s newest Gen.T honourees, and the platform’s decade-long journey of recognising Asia’s most promising talents
Celebrating a decade of championing innovation, Tatler officially marked the tenth anniversary of its Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow platform at the historic Villa Haw Par. The landmark evening brought together more than 110 guests, including past and present Gen.T honourees, Tatler community members, and regional business leaders.
In partnership with HSBC Innovation Banking, featuring official automobile sponsor BMW Group, hospitality sponsor Black Sheep Restaurants, and beverage sponsor Hennessy, the ceremony commenced with an opening address by Tara Sobti, Content Director and Head of VIP at Tatler Hong Kong. Reflecting on Gen.T’s expansive trajectory since its inception in Hong Kong ten years ago, Sobti shared that the community has grown to encompass 3,500 leaders across 10 distinct markets, with Kazakhstan joining earlier this year. The rigorous selection process for the 2026 cohort took seven months, narrowing down 650 applicants to an elite class of ten new honourees.
Read more: Gen.T at 10: What 3,500 leaders taught us about building Asia’s future
From left: Sarah Tong, Cindy Chow, Tamara Lamunière, Jonathan Lam and Justin Chan
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Tamara Lamunière, president of Tatler Asia and founder of Gen.T, then took the stage alongside Jonathan Yip, head of Innovation Banking, Asia, at HSBC, for an insightful dialogue on Gen.T’s past decade.
Speaking about Gen.T’s expansion since its launch in 2016, she said: “That’s a growth story that I’m incredibly proud of, but that is not the true story. The true story is that we just kept going, year after year after year. We kept going even during the pandemic, when all the borders were shut; even the years when critics were saying, ‘Oh, it’s just another list.’
“Only one out of ten start-ups make it past the ten-year mark, and for institutions like us, it’s not any different,” said Lamunière. “So tonight, I’m going to make the argument that lasting is not the boring part of the achievement. Lasting is the achievement.”
Above From left: Tamara Lamunière, President of Tatler Asia and founder of Gen.T; Jonathan Yip, Head of Innovation Banking, Asia, at HSBC (Photo: Billy Chan)
From left: Tamara Lamunière, President of Tatler Asia and founder of Gen.T; Jonathan Yip, Head of Innovation Banking, Asia, at HSBC (Photo: Billy Chan)
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For the Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow community, “the list was never the goal”, Lamunière said. “The goal was what each of you in this room today would achieve after. And that is the story that is written in decades, and not in quarters.”
Yip echoed this sentiment, offering his reflections on developing businesses for the long term. “Building is really hard, and so it’s really important to find your community,” he said. “That’s why I’m so excited and inspired by what Gen.T is here to do: bringing like-minded people who have this passionate view that the world can be a better place.”
Read more: Discover the Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow 2026
Above From left: Zac Purton, Pui-wah Choi, Arthur de Villepin, Cat Wang
From left: Zac Purton, Pui-wah Choi, Arthur de Villepin, Cat Wang
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The evening transitioned to an intimate fireside chat hosted by Cat Wang, Tatler’s newly appointed Leadership Editor. The panel featured three accomplished past honourees: Arthur de Villepin, founder and CEO of Villepin Group, whose Foundation for Art and Culture (FAC) is behind the resurrection of Villa Haw Par; Dr Pui-wah Choi, founder and CEO of WomenX Biotech; and Zac Purton, Hong Kong’s most successful jockey and recently the first rider in the city’s history to reach 2,000 race wins.
The speakers shared the journeys behind their historical milestones. Marking the opening of Villa Haw Par—formerly known as Haw Par Mansion—De Villepin detailed his core conviction to preserve artistic creativity amid global turbulence. He reflected on founding Villepin Gallery during the pandemic, when Hong Kong’s business landscape had already been upended by the 2019 social unrest. Rather than retreat, he used the uncertainty to return to first principles—trust and creativity.
“I felt if I have to live for another ten years doing more business, I would want to make sure that no matter what, every day what I’m building,” said De Villepin. “Even if it has to go away tomorrow, I would be happy with what I’ve done.”
He also spoke directly to Gen.T’s broader purpose of platforming Hong Kong talent on a global stage: “We have a lot of difficulties that we are encountering every day, every year in Hong Kong, and that creates the most fantastic resilience that we can export, and we can help to inspire.”
Tamara Lamunière, Jonathan Yip and the 2026 Gen.T honourees of Hong Kong
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A special commemorative video spotlighted the official induction of the newest 2026 Gen.T honourees. Taking the stage to receive a special personalised magazine issue and gift from Hennessy were Stephanie Tan, founder and CEO, Nooci; Calvin Ng, CEO, ZA Bank; Haojun Jia, co-founder and CEO, Deep Principle; and Justin Di-Lang Ho, co-founder and COO, Agilis Robotics. Ray Leung, managing director of Hong Kong and Macau at BMW Concessionaires, also joined the celebratory group photo to commemorate the occasion.
Unable to attend, the remaining new honourees sent video messages of thanks: actor Isabella Wei; Dawn Chan, founder and CEO of Sow Fertility; Emmanuel Hui, founder and CEO of Pebble Accelerator and partner at Saltagen Ventures; Terence Lui, founder and CEO of Varadise Limited; filmmaker Elizabeth Lo; and tennis player Coleman Wong.
Read more: Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow 2026: meet the visionaries shaping Hong Kong’s next chapter
The formal celebration concluded with an open invitation for guests to connect and network across Villa Haw Par’s beautifully reimagined spaces, and culminated in an evening string quartet performance presented by EGA Experience Hong Kong. Past honourees present included Danny Yeung, founder of IM8 Health and co-founder, CEO and chairman of Prenetics; Arthur Lam, co-founder and CEO of Negawatt Zero2; Kingsley Leung, chairman of Uni-Bio Science Group; and Tatler Tribe members, including Wilson Chan, director of entrepreneurship at Cyberport; and Cindy Chow, executive director of the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Hong Kong Fund.
Ten years in, and there’s so much more in store for the Gen.T community as they continue to build relationships and create lasting impact.
String quartet by EGA Experiences
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Credits
Photography: Wilfred Au, Billy Chan, Jeffrey Hui, Carlos Hui, Patrick Leung, Zed Leets, Zed Leets, Ethan Sien
Cat Wang is an editor at Tatler Asia based in Hong Kong, where she covers business, wealth, innovation, and impact. Previously, she was a Forbes Asia reporter and assistant editor of the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, spotlighting startups and small companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific. She began her career as a trainee reporter at the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. Born in New York City, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science.
