Robert Kuok

Robert Kuok Hock Nien 郭鶴年
Born	6 October 1923 (1923-10-06) (age 90) Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Residence	Hong Kong[1]
Other names	taek
Ethnicity	Han Chinese
Citizenship	Malaysia[1]
Occupation	Chairman, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Chain
Net worth	US$ 12.5 billion (est.) (March 2011)[1]
Spouse(s)	Ho Poh Lin, 謝碧蓉
Children	eight[1]

Robert Kuok Hock Nien (traditional Chinese: 郭鶴年; simplified Chinese: 郭鹤年; pinyin: Guō Hènián, born 6 October 1923 in Johor Bahru, Johor), is an influential Malaysian Chinese businessman. According to Forbes his net worth is estimated to be around $14.7 billion on Feb 2012, making him the richest person in Malaysia^[1][2] and second richest in Southeast Asia after Dhanin Chearavanont of Thailand, according to Forbe's List of World Billionaires 2013 which Robert Kuok was placed 76th. As of December 2012, According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Kuok has an estimated net worth of 17.3 billion making him the 40th richest person in the world.^[3]

Kuok is media-shy; most of his businesses are privately held by him or his family. Apart from a multitude of businesses in Malaysia, his companies have investments in many countries throughout Asia.^[4] His business interests range from sugarcane plantations (Perlis Plantations Bhd), sugar refineries, flour milling, animal feed, oil, mining, finance, hotels, properties, trading, freight and publishing.^[1] Biggest source of wealth is stake in Wilmar International, the world's largest listed palm oil company. He was a student from Raffles Institution.

Family

Robert Kuok's son, Kuok Khoon Ean born in 1955 married Kuok Cheng Sui and holds Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Economics from University of Nottingham, England. His other son, Kuok Khoon Ho is the Chairman of the Kuok Brothers, born in 1951 and holds Bachelor of Commerce degree, from McGill University, Canada.

Robert Kuok's brother, Tan Sri Dato' Philip Kuok Hock Khee a Malaysian Ambassador to Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark was born on 18 May 1921 and attended the College of Agriculture, Serdang and later to the University of Malaya with a degree in Economics.

Tan Sri Philip married Eileen Kuok and had two sons and two daughters, he died on 16 December 2003 and was awarded with Netherlands award of the Grand Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau, and decorated with Dato' Sri Paduka Mahkota Johor (SPMJ), Dato' Paduka Mahkota Johor (DPMJ) and Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM).

Kuok has married twice and has eight children. His fourth eldest son, which he passed on to be the holder of Shangri-la Hotels Jeffrey Ong Teng Buey married twice. He has three sons, Justin Choo Jia Wei, Bryan Choo Jia Jun and Jon Choo Jia Sheng. Kuok officially retired from the Kerry Group on 1 April 1993. One of his sons, Kuok Khoon Ean, now handles most of the day-to-day operations of his businesses. He currently resides in Hong Kong.

Biography

Robert Kuok has been the richest man in South East Asia since 2002. He is in the sugar business. Kuok's father arrived in Malaya from Fujian, China at the beginning of the 20th century, and Robert was the youngest of three brothers, born on 6 October 1923, in Johor Bahru. He claims he began in business as an office boy, and later started a business with relatives' support.^[4] In fact, upon graduation, he worked in the grains department of Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi between 1942 and 1945.

Kuok senior died in 1948, and Kuok and his two brothers founded Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd in 1949, trading agricultural commodities. Under the new post-colonial government, Kuok started in the sugar business alongside the government. In 1961, he made a coup by buying cheap sugar from India before the prices shot up. He continued to invest heavily in sugar refineries, controlled 80% of the Malaysian sugar market with production of 1.5 million tonnes, equivalent to 10% of world production, and so earned his nickname "Sugar King of Asia".

In 1971, he built the first Shangri-La Hotel, in Singapore. His first foray into Hong Kong property was in 1977, when he acquired a plot of land on the newly reclaimed Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront, where he built the second hotel, the Kowloon Shangri-La. In 1993, his Kerry Group acquired a 34.9% stake in the South China Morning Post from Murdoch's News Corporation.

His companies have investments in many countries, including Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Mainland China, Indonesia, Fiji and Australia. Businesses in China include 10 bottling companies for Coca Cola, and ownership of the Beijing World Trade Centre.^[4]

Freight interests include Malaysian Bulk Carriers Berhad and Transmile Group.

His political influence is attested by his having been selected as one of the advisors on Hong Kong's future in the runup to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, and his minority stake in CITIC Pacific. He was also instrumental in conveying information and setting up the meetings between Malaysia and China governments leading to full diplomatic cross recognition of the two countries.

On 31 October 2009, PPB Group under the flagship of Robert Kuok issued a statement to the Bursa Malaysia that it has decided to dispose of its sugar units along with land used to cultivate sugar cane for RM 1.29 billion to FELDA. The sales resulted in a one-off gain for the company. The sugar unit and sugar cane plantation were the second largest business segment upon its grain and feed which were topping the sales.

References