At the age of 20, Teh Hong Piow began his banking career by working in the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd.  as a  bank clerk. Five years later, he was promoted to officer. In 1960, he worked as the manager of the Malayan Banking Berhard. Four years later, he became the General Manager of the Bank. After two years, he left the Malayan Banking Berhard to establish his own bank, the Public Bank which now stands as the third largest banking group in Malaysia.

Public Bank is also said to own one of the largest mutual fund management companies in Malaysia. He owns a huge share in a general insurance company based in Singapore and Malaysia, the LPI Capital.

Teh Hong Piow has an estimated net worth of $5.49 billion as of March 2017, according to Bloomberg.