Sonia Cheng

Spear's Review 

As the CEO of Rosewood Hotel Group, Hong Kong executive Sonia Cheng is the woman behind the leading luxury hospitality brand whose hotels are considered among the best in the world. 

The group is expanding at a rapid pace: there are currently 48 hotels in 23 countries, and more than 30 new properties are under development as of summer 2024. Among them is the long-awaited The Chancery Rosewood in London, slated to open in 2025 and which will be housed in the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. The opening will be the group’s second in London and seventh in Europe. Also on the horizon? More branded residences, including stand-alone developments that are not attached to hotels. 

Prior to her appointment in 2009, Cheng, a Harvard graduate, worked for Morgan Stanley and private equity firm Warburg Pincus. She also serves as vice-chairman and executive director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery; the Chow Tai Fook group is one of the largest conglomerates in Hong Kong. 

She is the daughter of billionaire property developer Henry Cheng and granddaughter of the late billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, whose international empire included jewellery, infrastructure and property.