Minor in name, a powerhouse in reality: Thailand’s William Heinecke far from ready to call it a day

[SINGAPORE] What were you doing at the tender age of 17? Most of us were probably in school, still some years away from entering the workforce, and perhaps trying to figure out what to do in life.

It is quite safe to say that William Heinecke was not your usual teenager. In 1967, several months shy of his 18th birthday, he pooled whatever savings he had and borrowed to set up the Minor Group – a name that aptly represented his legal status as a minor at the time.

The group comprised two companies in Bangkok: an advertising agency (which he later sold to Ogilvy & Mather) and an office cleaning business. Three years later, those companies were placed under the umbrella of Minor Holdings.

Today, Minor International – as the Thailand-listed company is now known – is a global hospitality, food and lifestyle juggernaut. It operates over 2,700 restaurants, more than 290 retail trading outlets, and 700 hotels in nearly 70 countries across the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Americas.

In August this year, Minor Hotels broke ground on its first Avani-branded hotel in Singapore, in partnership with Singapore-based real estate developer Kajima Development and Abu Dhabi-based Al Wathba Investment. The 200-key property in Tanjong Pagar is set to open in 2027.

Now 76, Heinecke – born in the United States and a naturalised Thai citizen since 1991 – hardly looks like he is ready to call it a day anytime soon, nor does he even want to slow down.

In an interview with The Business Times, the billionaire entrepreneur – Forbes lists his net worth at around US$1.2 billion – said he feels blessed to have been in a job that has never really felt like work to him.

“Curiosity and passion keep me motivated. I still love what I do. Hospitality and F&B are all about people, creativity and purpose – and that drives me every day,” he added.

“I’ve never believed in retirement – only reinvention. There’s always something new to learn, explore or build.”

“Hire people smarter than you”

This hour-long interview took place in a lounge at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel, less than an hour after Heinecke touched down at the airport on a private jet from Bangkok.

He was in town to speak at the start of the Asia Future Summit, a two-day conference co-organised by The Business Times, The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, with OCBC Bank as the presenting sponsor.

That was his second visit to Singapore in the space of a few days, as he was invited to attend the annual Formula One Grand Prix just the weekend prior.

The affable Heinecke – known simply as Bill to many of his colleagues and friends – greeted this reporter with a firm handshake, promptly made himself a cup of coffee and wasted little time settling into his seat.

He stepped down as chief executive officer in January 2020 to concentrate on his role as chairman, and he is now focused on the company’s longer-term strategy and philanthropic work.

While he is no longer preoccupied with the day-to-day operations, Heinecke maintains a packed work and travel schedule as he continues to grow Minor’s presence and expand a workforce that is now 90,000-strong.

“As many people know, I didn’t go to university. I’m probably not the most brilliant person you’re ever going to meet,” he said.

“But I learned very early on that you want to hire the best people in the world, and generally they are going to hire people smarter than you if you want to be successful. Over the years, I prided myself on always hiring people much smarter than me. And yes, very often they are paid more than me, but that doesn’t bother me too much.”

Household names

Over the decades, Minor’s portfolio of companies has expanded to include some of the world’s most well-known international hotel and food brands.

One of its most famous restaurant chains is The Pizza Company, which was established in 2001. By then, Heinecke had more than 20 years of experience running pizza restaurants, having opened Thailand’s first Pizza Hut in the Thai beach resort city of Pattaya.

The other brands in Minor’s stable include The Coffee Club, Thai Express and Bonchon, along with various franchise and joint-venture operations under household names such as Swensen’s, Sizzler, Dairy Queen and Burger King.

Minor Food has a strategy to nearly double its global footprint to more than 4,500 outlets by 2029, with franchising being a key part of this, said Heinecke.

“We want to grow more in big markets like Indonesia, India and China. We have opened Thai restaurants there; and to be competitive in the food business, you’ve got to have incredible brands.”

On the hotels front, the next few years are shaping up to be extremely busy. Earlier this year, Minor Hotels announced four new brands that will help in its push to beef up the total number of properties to 850 by the end of 2027.

“We are well on track, with over 60 asset-light hotels signed and 200 more under negotiation worldwide,” said Heinecke.

He noted that growth is strongest in Asia, with the region accounting for nearly half of all new openings – across Japan, China, India, Thailand and parts of the Middle East.

He remains bullish about the prospects of the NH Hotel Group, which Minor acquired for US$3 billion in 2018. The group has recovered from the debilitating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – Heinecke reckoned the losses racked up amounted to US$1 billion over eight painful quarters – and is now doing “extremely well”.

“We have taken NH out of where it was primarily, which was Europe and the Americas. Now we’ve got four NH properties in Thailand, and we are opening the first couple of NH properties in Australia,” he said.

The lure of mystery boxes

Beyond hotels and food, Heinecke – ever the entrepreneur – embarked on another joint venture two years ago when he brought Pop Mart to Thailand.

The popular Chinese toy brand is famous for its Labubu dolls that are sold in blind boxes, and there are usually snaking queues outside its stores as collectors and speculators turn up in droves to snap up as many toys as they can get.

In August this year, Minor celebrated the grand opening of the world’s largest Pop Mart store at the Icon Siam mall in Bangkok.

“(Labubu) resonated with me because I saw it as a product that would be very popular with consumers, and it turned out to be true. We quickly learned a lot about the mystery box concept, and today we have 12 Pop Mart outlets,” said Heinecke.

One thing is for certain: Even in the twilight of his career, Heinecke remains curious about the world and eager to spot the next big thing in business.

“I’ve always said to people that the minute I feel that I can’t learn anything anymore or I stop learning, that’s when I’m going to retire completely,” he said.

“Everything is a learning experience, and my curiosity is always there. I could go to almost any hotel or restaurant and learn something that I didn’t know before.”