Born in 1949, Heinecke moved to Bangkok in 1963 with his family. Heinecke became a student at the International School. At the age of 17, Heinecke took over from the Bangkok World's advertising manager while still attending high school. By the time he graduated a year later, he had founded Inter-Asian Enterprise to supply office cleaning services, and Inter-Asian Publicity, a radio advertising company, with around US$1,200 he had borrowed. In 1967, founded Minor Holdings that would grow into The Minor Group over the next four decades, spanning more than 30 companies.