Thapanee Techajareonvikul, took the reins as CEO and President of Berli Jucker PCL in 2023, turning into the storied retail and packaging agency’s first feminine chief govt.
For Thapanee Techajareonvikul, the conviction that girls belong in prime management roles was by no means uncommon.
Her late mom, Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi, was instrumental in constructing TCC Group right into a multi-billion-dollar empire spanning drinks, property, retail and manufacturing, with holdings together with Chang beer and Singapore-listed Fraser & Neave.
Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, her father, ensured his two sons and three daughters acquired equal alternatives inside the household enterprise. As we speak, every sibling oversees a distinct a part of the empire.
Thapanee, the couple’s fourth little one and youngest daughter, took the reins as CEO and President of Berli Jucker PCL in 2023, turning into the storied retail and packaging agency’s first feminine chief govt.
The corporate’s portfolio consists of Massive C, Thailand’s second-largest hypermarket chain, with operations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Hong Kong.
“Once I grew to become a feminine chief, I did not really feel any nervousness,” she stated throughout a particular recording of CNBC Meets: Legacies, held at a UOB personal banking occasion in Singapore.
“I at all times noticed Mother proper there with Dad, on the entrance of the lengthy desk,” the MIT and Harvard Enterprise Faculty graduate informed CNBC’s Tania Bryer.
Classes from her dad and mom
Thapanee and her siblings grew up observing their dad and mom in motion, usually accompanying them to enterprise conferences. Watching how they reached selections and navigated relationships grew to become what she described because the “biggest instructing” an individual might obtain.
Each dad and mom emphasised laborious work and humility as keys to unlocking alternative. They had been additionally diligent about guaranteeing each enterprise benefited all stakeholders.
“Dad was at all times partnerships; he needed a win-win state of affairs for everybody concerned,” she stated.
Her mom performed a balancing function, offering an important counterweight to her father’s risk-taking as he hardly ever proceeded with out his spouse’s blessing.
From left to proper: Thapanee Techajareonvikul, Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi and Aswin Techajareonvikul. Thapanee and her siblings grew up observing their dad and mom in motion, usually accompanying them to enterprise conferences.
Whereas TCC is a sprawling conglomerate, Thapanee stated the group’s enlargement by means of mergers and acquisitions has lengthy been pushed by strategic match.
She cited the group’s acquisition of Berli Jucker in 2001 primarily for its glass bottle manufacturing, which complemented its beer and spirits companies.
The group’s liquor belongings have since been consolidated below Singapore-listed Thai Beverage PCL, led by her older brother Thapana, who additionally heads the Sirivadhanabhakdi household’s second technology.
The huge property portfolio is split throughout a number of models. Her second sister Wallapa Traisorat leads Asset World Corp PLC in Thailand whereas her youthful brother Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, helms Singapore-listed Frasers Property.
Atinant Bijananda, the eldest sibling, serves as vice chairman of the chief board of Thai Group Holdings, an funding holding firm below the TCC group.
Thapanee Techajareonvikul and her 4 siblings. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, her father, ensured his two sons and three daughters acquired equal alternatives inside the household enterprise. As we speak, every sibling oversees a distinct a part of the empire.
Forbes estimates the Sirivadhanabhakdi household’s wealth at $10.5 billion, rating them fourth on Thailand’s newest wealthy checklist.
For Thapanee, her dad and mom stay the final word function fashions for spouses working in household companies.
“My Mother and Dad had been at all times telling company and buddies that they’ve by no means been aside, day or evening, for 51 years constantly,” she stated. “So they’re true companions in life and in enterprise.”
Administration type
Requested about her administration method, Thapanee stated she is influenced by her dad and mom’ emphasis on listening, respect and fostering a way of belonging amongst their workers.
“I need to make the household enterprise very skilled, however the skilled group should additionally really feel family-related,” she stated of Berli Jucker, which employs some 61,000 individuals. Notably, ladies account for about 60% of workers and roughly half of senior administration.
She works intently along with her husband, Aswin Techajareonvikul, the previous head of Berli Jucker. He presently leads Massive C because it prepares for a public itemizing and serves as govt vice chairman of Berli Jucker’s administration board.
Thapanee Techajareonvikul (left) along with her husband, Aswin Techajareonvikul (proper), the previous head of Berli Jucker. Aswin presently leads Massive C because it prepares for a public itemizing and serves as govt vice chairman of Berli Jucker’s administration board.
Among the many firm’s near-term priorities are integrating and increasing MM Mega Market, a Vietnamese wholesale distributor of shopper items just lately acquired from TCC for round $720 million, and increasing the usage of synthetic intelligence.
Thapanee stated that AI is already getting used to optimize supply schedules and cut back vitality consumption on the group’s manufacturing crops.
The following technology
Regardless of their busy schedules operating their respective companies, Thapanee and her siblings meet usually for household gatherings.
Previously, the conferences had been principally social, however that modified after their father transferred shares within the TCC group’s holding firm to his 5 youngsters final yr. The siblings now meet usually to debate issues associated to the conglomerate.
Whereas she and her siblings had been anticipated to affix the household enterprise, Thapanee, who labored at Merrill Lynch in Singapore earlier than becoming a member of the group, stated the subsequent technology might be given larger freedom to chart their very own paths.
Thapanee Techajareonvikul along with her husband, Aswin Techajareonvikul, the previous head of Berli Jucker. Aswin presently leads Massive C because it prepares for a public itemizing and serves as govt vice chairman of Berli Jucker’s administration board.
One in every of her three youngsters was within the viewers in the course of the interview as Thapanee spoke concerning the household’s future
“We’ll contain them (within the enterprise) alongside the best way, and they’re going to get to decide on what’s greatest fitted for his or her experience or choice going ahead,” she stated.
Some members of the third technology have already begun figuring out areas of curiosity. One nephew, who’s in graduate college, has expressed curiosity within the household’s property enterprise.
As extra members of the family become involved within the enterprise, Thapanee stated the household’s shared values and sense of unity will assist protect the TCC Group for future generations.
