--- description: Find out why Jon M. Chu is one of the 100 most influential people of 2025. title: Jon M. Chu: The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd73a4b8311ccfc3/6998c5c11f6709472bf564a3/time100-2025-jon-m-chu.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 16, 2025 # Jon M. Chu by Michelle Yeoh  Jon M. Chu, director of ‚ÄúCrazy Rich Asians‚Äù and ‚ÄúWicked‚Äù, at Chef Chu‚Äôs Restaurant in Los Altos, Calif., on June 17, 2024. Jon M. Chu, director of ‚ÄúCrazy Rich Asians‚Äù and ‚ÄúWicked‚Äù, at Chef Chu‚Äôs Restaurant in Los Altos, Calif., on June 17, 2024.Yuri Hasegawa—Redux The first project of Jon M. Chu’s that caught my eye was his documentary on Justin Bieber. Jon saw beyond the tabloid stories about Justin’s relationships and scandals to the young man underneath, who was very dedicated to his craft—and very lonely. I thought, this is a director who sees into the heart of things. Making _Crazy Rich Asians,_ that’s when we really bonded, and I started to appreciate how talented he was at leading a room with patience and humor. He’s a visionary, so he knows what he wants, but he always listens, and he’s never afraid to let you try things. When he called me about [_Wicked_](https://time.com/7177832/wicked-movie-review/ "undefined")_,_ I reminded him: I’m not a singer. But that’s the power of persuasion that Jon Chu has. He makes you believe you can do the impossible. He coaxes what he needs out of us to help him tell stories, to push boundaries, and then he elevates our voices (OK, my voice especially), bringing joy to the millions who love his films. To this baby genius, who I’m proud to call a friend and an honorary son all at once, I will always be eternally grateful. _Yeoh is an Oscar-winning actor_ Jon M. Chu Is on the 2025 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273771/jon-m-chu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273771/jon-m-chu/"},"headline":"Jon M. Chu","datePublished":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:46:01.635Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273771/jon-m-chu/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","T100innovators2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd73a4b8311ccfc3/6998c5c11f6709472bf564a3/time100-2025-jon-m-chu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd73a4b8311ccfc3/6998c5c11f6709472bf564a3/time100-2025-jon-m-chu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273771/jon-m-chu/","name":"Jon M. Chu"}}]}] ```