Founder & Group CEO

Shirley Crystal Chua

Team

Golden Equator Group

Focus

Organisational vision, the future of wealth, the future of work

Shirley Crystal Chua is Founder and Group CEO of Golden Equator, a holding group of businesses that shapes the world of tomorrow by bringing Capital and Finance together in new and inventive ways. 

Known as a serial entrepreneur and future-focused leader in the finance industry, Shirley has also successfully co-founded each business and fund under Golden Equator, leveraging more than 20 years of experience in finance across private capital, venture capital, wealth management strategies and her natural flair for business building.

Some companies she has created include multi-family office Golden Equator Wealth; venture and private capital business Golden Equator Capital; and personal finance literacy platform The Simple Sum.

A trusted UHNW family advisor turned entrepreneur-investor, Shirley is deeply involved in the start-up, entrepreneurship, and finance communities. She is highly regarded as a seasoned practitioner in these fields and is often sought out by entrepreneurs, UHNW families and business leaders to share her insight.   
   
A champion for diversity and inclusion, Shirley is in the Financial Women’s Association Singapore’s pioneering batch of female champions. She invests in and is actively committed to helping younger female leaders and entrepreneurs as well as youth and NextGen initiatives, through performance coaching, leadership guidance, mentorship, and stretch project initiatives.    
 
Shirley is also Co-Chair of the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council (ABLAC), where she provides strategic counsel to foster stronger, in-depth relationships and engagements between businesses in Singapore and Canada.  

 Outside of work, Shirley has an adorable little munchkin and a passion for cooking and wine appreciation.   
  
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Shirley spent a decade with Citibank and American Express. In her early adulthood, Shirley dedicated seven years to missionary work and counselling programmes, working with teenagers and young adults.  
  
Shirley graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences, majoring in Economics and Southeast Asian Studies.  

“I’m very pro-next generation. In the work we do, the technology we try to create and the programmes we have it is always about creating better opportunities and better prospects for the future.”

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