Hotelier Grandson of Asia’s Sugar King Turns Venture Capitalist
- Kuok’s K3 Ventures has backed 38 startups, including Grab
- Scion says years running hotels was an invaluable lesson
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As a 17-year-old trainee bellboy, Kuok Meng Xiong spent a summer opening doors at his family’s Island Shangri-La hotel in Hong Kong. It was here, sweating through back rooms and service corridors, that he started to learn the hard truths of running a business.
Now, after more than 20 years and a career spent helping run the family’s operations across the globe, the grandson of Robert Kuok -- the ‘Sugar King of Asia’ who built a $12.4 billion fortune -- is determined to make his own mark; opening doors for startups.