Meet the Hong Kong billionaires behind some of the world’s glitziest hotels — and the generation who could inherit the empire

Sonia runs the family’s hotel business, turning it into a sprawling collection of resorts and luxury locations.

Sonia, 43, studied applied math at Harvard University before working as a real estate banker for Morgan Stanley and in private equity for Warburg Pincus, according to a 2019 profile by CNBC.

In 2008, she joined her family’s business at age 28, becoming CEO of Rosewood Hotel Group three years later when the Chengs purchased the properties from Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co.

The luxury hotel brand owned 19 properties at the time, including the glamorous Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, which celebrities flock to when they visit for the Met Gala.

With Sonia at the helm, Rosewood has since expanded into a global powerhouse for luxury hotels, with 34 locations and another 24 on the way.

It’s pushed hard into mainland China under the brand name New World Hotels, opening 16 more properties in cities such as Beijing, Sanya, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, for a total of 51 hotels and resorts.

Sonia has often said that she grew up in the hotel industry, since her father, Henry, started his career as general manager of a hotel.

Her philosophy, according to the Singaporean outlet Channel News Asia, has been to ditch stuffy hotel standards and attract younger travelers looking for tailor-made experiences.

“There’s a sense of discovery and curiosity when we go to hotels, we don’t want to go to a place that doesn’t reflect the local culture,” she told the outlet.

Rosewood’s Hong Kong property ranked second on the World’s 50 Best Hotels’ 2023 list, with two other hotels in São Paulo and Paris earning spots as well.

Sonia is married to Paulo Pong Kin-Yee, who also comes from one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families, the Pongs. He’s the founder of Altaya Group, a wine wholesaler, and the boutique restaurant company Classified Group, which runs five locations.