World Beaters

By Dody Tsiantar Sunday, May 12, 2002
    • PAN SHIYI and ZHANG XIN
    China's Condo Couple
    Soho means chic in China these days, thanks to Beijing Redstone Industrie, a real estate firm owned by Chinese-born Pan Shiyi, 38, and his wife Zhang Xin, 35, a Cambridge-educated former Goldman, Sachs investment analyst. Condos in the company's debut project, Soho New Town, a sleek development, enjoyed sizzling sales among Beijing's burgeoning capitalist class despite prices of $241,000 to $422,000. Asian papers report that the travel-loving duo hopes to go public this year to fund construction of a hotel near the Great Wall, villas on Hainan island and more Beijing condos.

    MARK FIELDS
    Luxury-Car Leader
    Mazda lost $1.2 billion in 2000. Last year it earned $65 million. Much of the credit for the turnaround fell to Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Fields, 41, the Harvard M.B.A. who revamped Mazda's lineup with models like his red RX-7 sport coupe. Last month Ford, which controls Mazda, asked Fields to work his magic on its lagging Premier Automotive Group, which makes Volvos, Jaguars, Aston Martins and Land Rovers.

    RITU BERI
    Bollywood Fashion Star
    She has been called India's fashion queen, the costume designer of choice for Indian film goddess Madhuri Dixit. Even Nicole Kidman is a fan. And Beri, 30, has been named chief designer for the ready-to-wear division of Paris-based Jean-Louis Scherrer, making her the first Indian designer to gain such a position in France. An auspicious sign: Beri's mentor is renowned fashion mogul Mounir Moufarrige, who supercharged the career of designer Stella McCartney.

    KATHY ORDONEZ
    Genetic Moneymaker
    Celera Genomics, which mapped the human genome, has a new leader: Ordonez, 51, former chief of the firm's genetic diagnostic division. An avid runner, she is respected within Celera but little known outside. Tony White, chairman of parent company Applera, says Ordonez has "a track record of turning technology into money."

    GUIDO MARIA BARILLA
    Pasta Purveyor
    Keen sportsman Guido, 44, is shaking and baking as he moves to expand Barilla, his family's tightly held 125-year-old company. Last month the father of five and former philosophy student negotiated a takeover of the German baker Kamps. Barilla, based in Parma, Italy, is the world's largest pasta maker, selling more than 30 varieties in 100 countries, including the U.S. The acquisition of Kamps gives Barilla broader distribution channels throughout Europe.