This marks her second consecutive year at the top of the annual list, which honors 100 women CEOs, chairs, C-suite leaders and business founders across 14 Asian markets.
Tan became the first woman to lead DBS, which is also Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets, after taking over the role in 2025 from Piyush Gupta, who had served as CEO for 15 years.
Before that, she headed the lender’s consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking divisions, which together accounted for roughly 90% of its revenue, per The Business Times.
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Tan Su Shan in August 2024. Photo by SPH Media via AFP |
DBS last year posted record-high total income and profit before tax of S$22.9 billion and S$13.1 billion, respectively, with earnings continuing to grow in the first half of 2026.
The bank also became the first Singaporean company to reach a market value of more than S$200 billion in July.
Tan was Singapore’s third-highest-paid bank CEO in 2025, behind United Overseas Bank’s Wee Ee Cheong and OCBC’s Helen Wong, according to fintech news site Fintech Singapore.
She received total remuneration of S$9.6 million for the financial year, though this also covered her time as deputy CEO before she took over as CEO on March 28, 2025.
Tan also ranked sixth on Fortune’s 2026 “Most Powerful Women in Business” list in May, which recognizes female business leaders shaping industries globally.
For the latest Asia ranking, the magazine said it assessed honorees based on the scale and performance of their organizations, career trajectory, influence, innovation and broader societal impact.
Grace Wang, cofounder of Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare, held on to second place while Lens Technology founder Zhou Qunfei jumped 25 places to third.
Huawei deputy chairwoman and CFO Meng Wanzhou and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing CEO Bonnie Chan rounded out the top five.