Thailand’s Chearavanont family was recently ranked as the second richest family in Asia by Bloomberg after the Ambani family of India. According to the Asia’s 20 Richest Families of 2025 list, the Chearavanont family has amassed $42.6 billion through its Charoen Pokphand conglomerate.
Here is everything you need to know about Thailand’s Chearavanont family, the second richest family in Asia.
The Chearavanont family
The Chearavanont family, with its net worth of over $42 billion, has businesses ranging from food and retail to telecom. The business of the Sino-Thai family, based in Bangkok, spreads across Asia.
The family’s wealth stems from the agribusiness behemoth Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, led by founder Chia Ek Chor’s son Dhanin Chearavanont who shares the fortune with his three brothers and other relatives.
Dhanin Chearavanont serves as the senior chairman of the conglomerate, which is one of the largest in Thailand.
The roots of the business goes back to 1921, when Chia Ek Chor fled his “typhoon-ravaged” village in southern China to begin a new life in Thailand. At that time, Chia Ek Chor and his brother set up a small shop to sell seeds imported from China in the Thai market to farmers.
Over time, the family grew its business geographically across Asia, and spread its arms across industries such as retail, telecom and food. The exponential growth of CP Group can be attributed to Dhanin, who first had the vision of transforming the family business into a modern one. He brought in professionals from outside to support this dream of his.
“Novices can only run a business for so long before its operations become too large and complex for them to handle,” Dhanin wrote in his autobiography series published by Nikkei Asia.
The CP Group has a portfolio of 14 business groups spanning across 21 nations and economies. It is one of the world’s largest animal feed and livestock producers, and also has presence in sectors such as e-commerce, finance, healthcare and real estate.