D avid Teoh is a famously reclusive Malaysian-Australian telecommunications magnate who founded TPG Telecom. He immigrated to Australia in the 1980s and started a small business selling computer hardware. He later pivoted into internet services, founding TPG in 1992 and building it into Australia's second-largest fixed-line internet service provider through a series of aggressive acquisitions and a relentless focus on low costs.

Teoh is known for his frugal, hands-on management style and his extreme aversion to the media, having rarely, if ever, given an interview. In 2020, TPG completed a massive merger of equals with Vodafone Australia to create TPG Telecom, a major new integrated mobile and internet provider to challenge the market leaders. In a surprise move, just a year after the merger was completed, Teoh abruptly resigned as chairman and stepped away from the company he had built over three decades. He and his family retain a large stake in the merged entity, which is the primary source of his fortune.