Malina Ngai

The world’s largest pharmacy chain isn’t a Western giant, but rather Hong Kong–based AS Watsons, with a whopping 17,000 stores across Asia and Europe. Malina Ngai has run the company—a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison—since 2024. Retail is CK Hutchison’s largest division, generating 40% of the conglomerate’s 2024 revenue. Watsons, the division’s flagship pharmacy chain, has its roots in a nearly two-century-old drug dispensary founded in Hong Kong. But AS Watsons also runs European chains like Savers and Superdrug, as well as supermarkets, beauty stores, and electronics retailers throughout Hong Kong and mainland China. Ngai was also a competitive athlete, representing Hong Kong in the 1994 Asian Games. “I owe my career to my sports background,” she said in 2018. “It helped me reach the level I am now.”