John Paul Chua, 37

John Paul Chua, a native of Singapore, joined Mapletree in his home country in 2014. He then relocated to the U.S. four years later to build the development and ownership firm’s U.S. investment team, bringing it from virtually no domestic assets to more than $15.5 billion in assets under management.

“We were a relatively small outfit then. There were about 10 people in the New York office,” said Chua, who initially expected to be in New York for just a few years, before COVID-19 intervened. 

“There were travel restrictions between Singapore and the U.S., so we started building up our New York office,” said Chua. “We have about 60 people here now because there was a lot more emphasis on boots on the ground, real estate being a local business. I was at the right place at the right time.”

Mapletree’s U.S. business now represents around 25 percent of the company’s global AUM, which, according to the company, places it among the 10 largest industrial owners in the U.S. 

Transactions Chua has led include a $328 million sale of a 1.8 million-square-foot portfolio to Faropoint in June 2025; a 2.4 million-square-foot warehouse portfolio sold to EQT Real Estate for $241.2 million in July 2025; a $575 million industrial portfolio sale to EQT in March 2026; and the sale of a 1.38 million-squarefoot portfolio to Dalfen Industrial for $207.5 million in April 2026.

Chua has also helped the company execute major portfolio acquisitions across office, data centers, logistics and student housing, including three transactions exceeding $1 billion each. The largest of these came in 2021, when Chua led Project Rhodium, Mapletree’s $2.49 billion offmarket acquisition of 117 industrial properties from Blackstone’s Link Logistics.

As the company continues to build its industrial exposure in the U.S., Chua looks forward to continuing to play a significant role in this evolution.

“Having been through one cycle has helped me develop a lot of perspective. I’m a better buyer and a sharper seller,” said Chua. “I want to be very involved in continuing to grow the business.”