Jon M. Chu, Bong Joon Ho and Charli xcx are among those honored on Gold House’s 2025 Most Impactful Asians A100 list.
The A100 List honors trailblazers across the industry and celebrates the most impactful Asian Pacific leaders across industries, curated by top Asian Pacific organizations, creative and business leaders and multicultural allies.
The A100 List also features special Gold Legend honors for lifetime achievements and 10 New Gold honorees, recognizing the next generation of Asian Pacific trailblazers. Gold House will celebrate the honorees through a slate of events from May 9 to 10, including the A100 Celebratory Reception co-hosted with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and East West Bank as well as the A100 Honorees Dinner exclusively for past and present A100 honorees and judges. The events will culminate with the fourth annual Gold Gala, which will be held May 10 in downtown Los Angeles.
Bing Chen and Jeremy Tran, CEO and COO of Gold House, said: “The A100 List illuminates the profound cultural imprint of the Asian Pacific community. With this year’s honorees, we celebrate more than achievement — we honor the courage of those who take first steps when no clear solutions exist, becoming the First Lights that guide us all forward.”
Variety’s co-editor in chief, Ramin Setoodeh, was named an A100 honoree for his work in entertainment and media. “Saturday Night Live’s” Bowen Yang is being recognized twice on the list for his work on “Wicked” alongside Jon M. Chu and Michelle Yeoh and as part of “The Wedding Banquet” cast.
Additional honorees include Drew Afualo, who became the first Samoan woman on the New York Times bestseller list, and Barbie’s first Indian designer Anita Dongre.
In sports and gaming, Los Angeles Dodgers’ designated hitter Shohei Ohtani — who achieved the unprecedented 50/50 MLB milestone — will be celebrated alongside Torri Huske, who became the most decorated Asian American Olympian at the Paris Games, and Jordan Mailata, the first Samoan Australian Super Bowl winner.
A100 honorees shaping tech include Demis Hassabis (CEO and co-founder, Google DeepMind), Sridhar Ramaswamy (CEO, Snowflake), Mark Chen (Chief Research Officer, OpenAI), Liang Wenfeng (CEO, Deepseek) and Jay Graber and Rose Wang (CEO and COO, Bluesky).
The A1 honor is given to individuals who have had the most impact within their respective industries over the past year. Honorees include Aravind Srinivas (CEO and co-founder, Perplexity AI); Jon M. Chu (filmmaker); Sabyasachi Mukherjee (founder and creative director); Los Angeles Wildfire Heroes; and Suni Lee, Lee Kiefer, Torri Huske and Chuck Aoki (record-breaking Team USA Athletes of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games).
The three Gold Legends who will be feted for their lifetime of achievement in the Asian Pacific community are filmmaker Ang Lee for entertainment, New York Times bestselling author Min Jin Lee for fine arts and Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara for business and technology.
Additionally, three individuals who have been selected for three-plus years on the A100 List have been inducted into the Hall of Fame: Eric Kim (co-founder and managing partner, Goodwater Capital), Melanie Perkins (co-founder and CEO, Canva) and Ronny Chieng (stand-up comedian and actor).
Finally, to honor the future culture makers, 10 rising leaders have been named as A100 New Gold honorees, including K-pop sensation Aespa, investor and entrepreneur Ankur Jain, football player Nikko Remigio, fashion designer Sohee Park and climate activist Sophia Kinna.
Digitally, the A100 Honorees will be feted in a powerful video entitled “Tiny Hopes,” which highlights how seemingly insignificant “firsts,” when nurtured with resilience and conviction, can transform into world-changing forces that defy all expectations. The video, produced by creative agency Team One, features narration by A100 Honoree and multi-hyphenate Darren Criss and a custom score by Carol Kuswanto.
The full A100 List and Selection Committee can be found below.
Business & Technology
Aaron & Albert Yang (Co-CEOs, Din Tai Fung North America)
Andrea Cherng (Chief Brand Officer, Panda Restaurant Group)
Ashok Sinha & Mae Cheng (Chief Communications Officer & EVP and GM of Events and Luxury, Dow Jones)
Barbara Peng (CEO, Business Insider)
Ben Sun (Co-Founder, Primary Venture Partners)
Chris Suh (CFO, Visa)
Demis Hassabis (Co-Founder and CEO, Google DeepMind)
Hiroki Asai (Global Head of Marketing, Airbnb)
Hock Tan (President and CEO, Broadcom)
Jay Puri (EVP of Worldwide Field Operations, NVIDIA)
Karthik Rao (CEO, Nielsen)
Kaz Nejatian (COO, Shopify)
Kevan Parekh (CFO, Apple)
Krishna Rao (CFO, Anthropic)
Mamoon Hamid (Partner, Kleiner Perkins)
Mark Chen (Chief Research Officer, OpenAI)
Matt Madrigal (CTO, Pinterest)
Melody Lee (CMO, Mercedes-Benz USA)
Pali Bhat (Chief Product Officer, Reddit)
Pejman Nozad (Partner, Pear VC)
Shyam Sankar (CTO, Palantir Technologies)
Sridhar Ramaswamy (CEO, Snowflake)
Uvashni Raman (CFO, Booking.com)
Walter & Shirley Wang (Chairman and CEO, JM Eagle & Founder and CEO, Plastpro Inc.)
Wang Ning (CEO, Popmart)
Entertainment and Media
Abdullah Saeed, Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh & Poorna Jagannathan (Lead Cast & Creators, Deli Boys)
Alex Yee (Co-Creator and Screenwriter of Arcane, Riot Games)
Amy Homma (Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures)
Andrew Ahn, Anita Gou, Bowen Yang, Han Gi-Chan & Kelly Marie Tran (Lead Cast & Creators, The Wedding Banquet)
Anjali Sud (CEO, Tubi)
Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Dave Derrick Jr. & Dana Ledoux Miller (Lead Cast & Directors, Moana 2)
Bong Joon Ho (Director)
Bruno Mars (Music Artist)
Charli xcx (Music Artist)
Darren Criss & Helen J. Shen (Lead Actors, Maybe Happy Ending)
David Henry Hwang & Daniel Dae Kim (Playwright & Lead Actor, Yellow Face)
Derek Chang (President and CEO, Liberty Media)
Han Kang (Author)
Imran Majid (Co-Chairman and CEO, Island Records)
Jon M. Chu, Michelle Yeoh & Bowen Yang (Director & Actors, Wicked)
Junkoo Kim & David J. Lee (Founder and CEO & CFO and COO, WEBTOON Entertainment)
Laufey (Grammy Award-winning Music Artist)
Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae & Hwang Dong-hyuk (Lead Cast & Creator, Squid Game Season 2)
LISA (Rapper, Singer, Dancer, Actress, and member of BLACKPINK)
Maer Roshan (Co-Editor-in-Chief, The Hollywood Reporter)
Mike Van (CEO, Billboard)
Nicole Scherzinger (Grammy-nominated, Platinum-selling Singer, Actress, and Dancer)
Nihar Malaviya (CEO, Penguin Random House)
Rahul Purini (President, Crunchyroll)
Ramin Setoodeh (Co-Editor-in-Chief, Variety)
Ravi Ahuja (President and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment)
ROSÉ (Music Artist)
Samantha Quan (Academy Award-winning Producer)
Sarlina See (CFO, Penske Media Corporation)
SEVENTEEN (K-pop Group)
Tyla (Music Artist)
Will Lee & Ryan Joe (CEO & Editor-in-Chief, ADWEEK)
Fashion & Lifestyle
Anita Dongre (Chairwoman, Founder, and Chief Creative Officer, House of Anita Dongre)
Drew Afualo (Content Creator, Women’s Rights Advocate, Podcast Host, and NY Times Best-Selling Author)
Earl Ninsom (Chef and Founder)
Imran Amed (Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief, The Business of Fashion)
Jennifer Wong (CEO, Aritzia)
Jenny Ming (CEO, Rothy’s)
Joyce Kim (Chief Product Officer, Rare Beauty)
Michael Mente, Divya Mathur & Raissa Gerona (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Chief Merchandising Officer and Fashion Director & Chief Brand Officer, REVOLVE Group Inc.)
Michelle Kuo (Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, Museum of Modern Art)
Peggy Roe & Jennifer Hsieh (EVP and Chief Customer Officer & Managing VP and Global Category Leader of Endorsed Brands and Experiences, Marriott International)
Priya Krishna (New York Times Best-Selling Author, Restaurant Critic, and New York Times Reporter)
Sandeep Seth & Joon Silverstein (Chief Growth Officer and President, Tapestry International & Chief Marketing Officer, Coach)
Trisha Ayyagari & Amy Whang (Global Brand President, Maybelline New York & President, Maybelline New York, Garnier, essie USA)
Social Impact
Andy Kim (United States Senator)
Cathy Cha (President and CEO, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund)
Chris Leong (Chief Sustainability Officer, Schneider Electric)
Don Chen (President, Surdna Foundation)
Dr. Mariko Silver (President and CEO, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts)
Dr. Rajiv J. Shah (President, The Rockefeller Foundation)
Malala Yousafzai (Nobel Laureate)
Meroë Park (Executive Leader and Public Servant)
Neil G. Ruiz (Head of New Research Initiatives, Pew Research Center)
Olivia Munn (Actor, Activist, and Mother)
Shyla Raghav (Chief Climate Officer, TIME)
Terumi Tanaka (Co-Chairperson, Nihon Hidankyo)
Vedika Bhandarkar (President and COO, Water.org)
Versha Sharma (Editor-in-Chief, Teen Vogue)
Sports & Gaming
Charlie Wen (Chief Creative Officer, Epic Games)
Clara Wu Tsai & Joseph Tsai (Owners of the New York Liberty, 2024 WNBA Champions, and the Brooklyn Nets)
Dave Roberts, Shohei Ohtani, Tommy Edman & Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Manager & Players, LA Dodgers)
FAKER (T1 Pro-gamer and Co-Owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports)
Jordan Mailata (Offensive Tackle, Philadelphia Eagles)
Lydia Ko (Olympic Golfer)
Maya Yoshida (Defender, LA Galaxy)
Michele Kang (Founder and CEO, Kynisca)
Shams Charania (Senior NBA Insider, ESPN)
Tagu Kato (Chief Design Officer, Roblox)
Uzma Rawn Dowler (CMO and SVP of Global Corporate Partnerships, MLB)
Virat Kohli (Professional Cricket Player)
A100 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES – Individuals who have been on prior A100 lists are selected for induction into the Hall of Fame as a tribute to their continued and consistent impact.
Eric Kim (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital)
Melanie Perkins (Co-Founder and CEO, Canva)
Ronny Chieng (Actor and Comedian)
GOLD LEGENDS: – The Gold Legend Honor recognizes a lifetime of indelible contributions to the success and representation of the Asian Pacific community.
Gold Legend in Business & Technology: Tsunekazu Ishihara (CEO, The Pokémon Company)
Gold Legend in Entertainment & Media: Ang Lee (Filmmaker)
Gold Legend in Literary Arts: Min Jin Lee (Author)
NEW GOLD: The New Gold Honor recognizes rising leaders who will redefine canon for the Asian Pacific community.
aespa (K-pop Group)
Ankur Jain (Founder and CEO, Bilt)
Dominic Fike (Actor and Music Artist)
James Sweeney (Filmmaker)
Jay Graber & Rose Wang (CEO & COO, Bluesky)
Liang Wenfeng (CEO, Deepseek)
Nikko Remigio (Wide Receiver, Kansas City Chiefs)
Sohee Park (Fashion Designer)
Sophia Kianni (Founder, Climate Cardinals and Phia)
Zaria Parvez (Senior Global Social Media Manager, Duolingo)
2025 A100 Selection Committee
Icon Judges
Andrew & Peggy Cherng (Co-Founders and Co-CEOs, Panda Restaurant Group)
Apolo Anton Ohno (8x Olympic Medalist and Investor)
Ben Fong-Torres (Journalist)
Bill Imada (Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer, IW Group)
Cris Abrego (Co-Founder and CEO, Hyphenate Media Group)
Cynthia Erivo (Grammy, Emmy, Tony-winning, and Oscar-nominated Actress, Singer, Songwriter, and Producer)
Dado & Maria Banatao (Founders and Managing Partners, Tallwood Venture Capital)
David Ono (News Anchor, ABC7)
Far East Movement (Multi-Platinum Music Group)
Janet Yang (Award-winning Producer and President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Jeff Rosenthal (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, CIV; Co-Founder, Summit; and Co-Owner, Powder Mountain)
Jessica Sibley (CEO, TIME)
Julia S. Gouw (Trustee of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures)
Lisa Ling (Journalist and Host)
Kristi Yamaguchi (Founder, Always Dream and Olympic Gold Medalist)
Martin Yan (Chef and Host, Yan Can Cook)
Rich Ross (Entertainment Executive)
Shelley Zalis (CEO and Founder, The Female Quotient)
Steve Chen (Co-Founder, YouTube)
Tiffany R. Warren (EVP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Sony Music Group Founder and President, ADCOLOR Board Chair, American Advertising Federation)
Community Judges
3AF
Act to Change
APAICS (Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies)
Apex for Youth
Asian American Voices for Education
Asian Business Association
Asian Mental Health Collective
CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)
Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
Council of Korean Americans (CKA)
Cutfruit Collective
East West Players
Every Voice Texas: Asian Texans for Justice
ICAN (International Children Assistance Network)
Korean American Artist Collective
Kua’aina Ulu Auamo
Lavender Phoenix
LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics)
Muslim Public Affairs Council
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers)
NCAPA (National Council of Asian Pacific Americans)
PEAK (Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti)
Pop Culture Collaborative
Purple Mai’a Foundation
Red Canary Song
The Asian American Foundation
The Legal Clinic (Immigration Law & Justice Network-Hawaiʻi)
The Salon
Transplanting Traditions Community Farm
USPAACC (U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce)
Visual Communications
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