Joey Wat

While other foreign brands have struggled to stay relevant in China, Yum China CEO Joey Wat has found a formula that keeps working: Make sure your product actually fits what Chinese consumers want. Yum China posted $11.8 billion in revenue last year, a 4% jump, while net income grew 2% to $929 million. Wat has made product innovation central to the company, building concepts that suit Chinese tastes and budgets, such as a version of Pizza Hut serving smaller, cheaper slices. In August, Yum China paid $1.2 billion to buy the Pizza Hut brand in mainland China outright, after 36 years of operating it. The company now runs nearly 19,300 stores, targeting 30,000 by 2030.