Christina Ong

Christina Ong (née Fu, born October 1947), also known as the "Queen of Bond Street", is a Singaporean businesswoman. A major player of a few companies, including Club 21 and COMO Hotels and Resorts, the Ong family, comprising Ong and her husband Ong Beng Seng, is valued at $1.8 billion as of July 2014, according to Forbes.[2] She is said to be "one of the wealthiest women in the world".[3]

Christina Ong
Born
Christina Fu

October 1947 (age 73)
NationalitySingaporean
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known for"Queen of Bond Street"
Net worth£1.296 billion (May 2017)[1]
Spouse(s)Ong Beng Seng
Children2

Early life

Christina Ong was born in October 1947.[4][5]

Career

Ong founded her first establishment in 1972.[6] She now heads the COMO Group,[7] which comprises fashion group Club 21 (which she founded),[8] COMO Hotels and Resorts,[9] wellness brand COMO Shambhala,[10] and others.[6] Club 21 went on to branch out to many other parts of the globe.[8] She is a well-established hotelier, having founded many hotels worldwide. Ong is also the major stakeholder of the brand Mulberry.[11] Because of the number of properties she owns on Bond Street in London, she is sometimes nicknamed the "Queen of Bond Street".[6] Her property portfolio includes all Armani outlets in Britain. Ong also holds the franchises for Donna Karen and DKNY.[12]

Ong is the immediate past chairman of Singapore's National Parks Board.[13]

Awards

For her services to the Italian fashion industry, Ong has been awarded the Italian Fashion Hall of Fame Award in 1995 and was conferred the Cavaliere del Lavoro.[14] The Italian Trade Commission said in a press release that the Hall of Fame Award was in recognition of Ong's "accomplishments, her qualities, image and authority in the fashion world. She is a leader and has demonstrated her special gift in the world of elegance and style in the capitals of the world".[15]

In 2013 she received Singapore's Meritorious Service Medal, one of three awarded that year. The others went to the historian Wang Gungwu and Tony Chew, inaugural chairman of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School's governing board.[16]

In 2014, Ong was included in the list of inaugural Singapore Women's Hall of Fame, which described her as a "global fashion entrepreneur and luxury hotelier"[17]

Personal life

Born 1948,[11] Ong is the daughter of Peter Fu Yun Siak, an early employer of her husband and founder of Kuo International.[6] She is described as "aloof and chic"[6] and "Singapore's preeminent style icon".[11] Ong is married to Singaporean business magnate and investor Ong Beng Seng.[6][9] They have two children, a daughter, Melissa, and a son, Jonathan.[1] The Singapore Straits Times have reported Ong to be a very private person who chooses to be unknown in public settings.[6] She is reportedly a good acquaintance with Donna Karan.[11]

Wealth

Ong is cited as "one of the wealthiest women in the world".[11][8] Together, Ong and her husband have a net worth of $1.9 billion as of January 2016, based on estimates by Forbes. This makes the couple among the richest persons in Singapore.[18]

References
  1. "Rich List 2017: #100, £1.296 billion". The Sunday Times Magazine. 7 May 2017. p. 45.
  2. Forbes, "Singapore's 50 Richest: #15 Ong Beng Seng & Christina Ong"
  3. The World of Christina Ong Departures, March 2010
  4. "Christina ONG - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  5. "Guat Hoon (Known As Christina) ONG - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  6. Clarke, Hilary (29 March 1998). "Profile: Beng Seng and Christina Ong: Asian pair sell west, buy east". The Independent.
  7. "Singapore: COMO Group acquires organic supermarket". Asia Food Journal. 11 April 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  8. Misiura, Shashi (2012). Heritage Marketing. Routledge. pp. 218–. ISBN 9781136399268.
  9. "Ong Beng Seng, 65, and Christina Ong, 61". AsiaOne. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  10. "Christina Ong". Forbes.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. Roberts, Sophy (November–December 2002). "The World of Christina Ong". Departures.
  12. "The name behind the famous names? Christina Ong". The Independent. 26 January 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  13. Ministry of National Development, "Mr Benny Lim appointed as Chairman of the National Parks Board" (30 July 2018).
  14. Interni 644, September 2014.
  15. "Christina Ong to Get Italian Fashion Hall of Fame Award", Straits Times, 25 August 1995.
  16. Feng Zengkun, "Three honoured with Meritorious Service Medal", Straits Times, 9 August 2013.
  17. "Singapore Women's Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  18. "Ong Beng Seng & Christina Ong". Forbes. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
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