Malaysia has produced many well-known and talented people. They are leaders in their fields and have inspired many young Malaysians to follow in their footsteps. Here are 5 super-rich Malaysian business icons you should know:
1. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari was born in Alor Setar. His family hailed from Hadhramaut, Yemen. Born as the third child to seven siblings, his family couldn’t afford to raise him and decided to send him off to live with his uncle in Johor Bahru. He continued his studies until form five before helping his parents in the cattle business.
However, it didn’t last long due to the outbreak of disease. Hence, he took up another initiative by starting a lorry business known as “Syarikat Kenderaan Sentosa.” The following year, he expanded his business empire by establishing Shah Company – a rice supplier to FELDA, MARA Senama, Pernas Edar and Sergam Sdn Bhd.
Since then, he has been recognised as Malaysia’s most successful business figure and was awarded as one of the wealthiest Bumiputera corporate figures in Malaysia. He is also listed on Forbes Malaysia’s 50 Richest 2021 and Forbes Billionaire 2021.
The low-profile businessman has a large and heavily diversified business portfolio where the bulk of his wealth comes from stakes in listed DRB-HICOM and MMC Corp. Through AlBukhary Group of Companies, he also has a stake in Media Prima which owns the New Straits Times Press. Besides, he also founded Yayasan Al-Bukhary in 1996 to help the poor – particularly in education and Islam. His current net worth is $1.4 billion (RM5.9 billion)
2. Tan Sri Datuk Tiong Hiew King
Tan Sri Datuk Tiong Hiew King is listed on Forbes Malaysia’s 50 Richest Net Worth with a value of $1.3 billion (RM5.49 billion). He is the Malaysian-Chinese founder and chairman of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, a timber company founded in 1975. Its overseas timber operations in Papua New Guinea are considered the largest in the country.
Tiong Hiew King holds forestry concessions in 16 countries, as well as interests in property, oil and gas, and palm oil. In addition to his forestry activities, he also operates a print and digital media business catering to Chinese-speaking consumers in Malaysia. His daily newspapers account for 70% of Malaysia’s Chinese newspaper business.
According to sources, Tiong’s family is the second-largest private landowner in New Zealand. He owned the Oregon Group, based in New Zealand, which engages in building houses and hotels, harvesting salmon, and manufacturing plastic containers.
3. Kuan Kam Hon
Kuan Kam Hon is a Malaysian billionaire who is the founder and chairman of Hartalega Holdings – one of the world’s largest producers of nitrile rubber. Born in 1947, he was a high school dropout who began his career at his father’s real estate development company. In 1978, he set off on his own and started Timol Weaving – a manufacturing business that made woven labels and badges.
Kuan founded Hartalega Holdings in the early 1980s and controls 49.3% of the company. Hartalega Holdings is the world’s largest nitrile gloves maker with an annual production capacity of 40 billion gloves. In 2020, shares of Hartalega more than doubled as demand for protective gear soared during the pandemic. He ranked 10th on Forbes‘s 2018 list of Malaysia’s 50 richest with a net worth of $2.5 billion (RM10.55 billion).
4. Datuk Ramly Mokni
The founder of Ramly Burger was the eighth child of 16 siblings. He grew up in Sekinchan and later moved to KL to look for better job opportunities.
The idea to start Ramly Burger came from when he was working in a supermarket. He met a customer who asked if any burger patties were made by a Bumiputera. Since then, he saw it as an opportunity to create halal burger meat and most importantly Bumiputera,
Ramly then applied for a loan from MARA but was rejected. Due to the shortage of finance, he created the patties manually with his wife at home. He then opened a burger stall near Chow Kit and promoted his burger patties. People started to like his patties and the demand grew. He produced 3,000 patties per day.
Later in 1984, he opened a factory in Bandar Tun Razak. However, in 5 years, the factory had reached the maximum production capacity and the demand was still growing. He then expanded to a bigger factory in Batu Caves that was about 3 acres. From producing 3,000 patties a day, the new factory managed to make 1 million patties a day.
They also diversify the products into nuggets, sausages, meatballs, minced meat and more. In 2018, Ramly built a bigger factory in Pulau Indah and exported the products to Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia.
5. Datuk Jimmy Choo
Datuk Jimmy Choo Yeang was born in Penang into a family of shoemakers. He was immersed in the world of shoemaking from an early age. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps. By the age of 11, Choo had made his first pair of shoes.
He started early in fashion design where he went to England to study at the Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney. Shortly after his graduation, he designed, handcrafted and sold his shoes and started to gain international attention with his unique and detailed work.
Surprisingly, many celebrities became his customers in his early career, including the glamorous Princess Diana of Wales. He then worked together with an editor of British Vogue magazine to confound his own company called Jimmy Choo Ltd. He is still very much involved in the design work for the haute couture section of the business – leaving the running of the ready-to-wear and accessory lines to his business partner Tamara Mellon of Vogue. Today, Jimmy Choo’s name remains synonymous with high fashion and self-made success in Malaysia and around the world.
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