Robert Kuok

Written BY: Louis Foo 

    

Full Name     : Robert Kuok Hock Nien

Born              : 6th- Oct- 1923

Zodiac Sign   : Libra

Birth Place    : Johor Bahru

Country         : Malaysia

Education      : Raffles Collage Parramatta,

                        Raffles Institution Bishan

Occupation    : Businessman

Industry         : Business

Net worth      : $11.3 Billion

   
       Among the most successful tycoons who rule the business-world, Robert Kuok, the Malaysia billionaire, is a living legend. No one world perhaps have had his hand in sugar-cane, oil, mining, hotels, publishing and animal feed business, it is a huge success in whatever he touched.

        Robert Kuok story is one of those inspiring rag to riches. His up-hill climb started as an office boy, after which he because the clerk of a rice trading department of a company in Singapore.

        Robert Kuok however, was a quick learner. Three years in the rice trading department helped him learn the trading business. Therefore, he use back the same in his home town of Johor along with his brother and cousin

        Shortly, he founded the Malayan sugar manufacturing co, which quickly gained popularity. It went on to become a monopoly in sugar production space of Malaysia producing 80% of Malaysia's sugar and 10% of world's sugar. That;s precisely how Robert Kuok got his nick name ' The sugar king of Asia'.

         He now with the age of 93 years old. He has alot of investment in huge business in nearly all of the Asian countries such as,Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and many other non- Asian countries. With so many business in so many countries, this incredible business man believes that he is the "little string that ties the rings together"

           Kuok has eight children from his two marriages. Kuok’s eldest son Khoon Chen is chairman of Kerry Properties and oversees hotels, real estate and the China Coca Cola franchise. Another son, Khoon Ean, is chairman, and a daughter, Hui Kwong, is CEO of the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post. Khoon Ean also manages Kuok’s Singapore and Malaysia operations particularly the edible oils business. 

         One daughter, Ruth, is in charge of the group’s charity foundations. Brought into the business after they completed their university studies, Kuok’s children have consolidated their position and gained wide experience. 

          This transition to the third generation involves not only direct family members. Kuok has seen to it that children of his brother Philip and his cousins are involved. Philip had four children and his eldest son Khoon Loong is Managing Director of Shangri-La Hotel (Kowloon) Ltd and Shangri-La International Hotels (Pacific Place) Ltd. He has also served as chairman of Kerry Properties.

          The second son, Khoon Ho has served as a non-executive director in Transmile Group Berhad, a cargo airline of which the Kuok Group held 18 per cent shares. He was also involved in Shangri-La Hotels Malaysia Bhd, Perlis Plantation Oil Palms Bhd and Wilmar International Limited. One of Philip’s daughters Oon Kwong is involved in Kuok’s Shangri-La hotels. 

      Several nephews are heading Kuok’s companies, underlining the role of theextended family. Koon Kuan is managing director of Pacific Carriers Ltd (PCL)

Robert Kuok owns most expensive Yacht, which cost $4.8 Billion

The Upper deck of Yatch. Yacht bottom lane is coated with solid gold.

Written BY: Yoong Ying Jie

Encouraged by the success of his sugar business, Kuok has fastened his growing business into flour milling, shipping, logistics, oil and gas and hotel. His resurrections to success are fame and famous due to both his expertise in spotting opportunities and strong network with great people, corporations and governments. In 1971, he built the first Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. His foray into Hong Kong property is in 1977, when he acquired a new piece of land reclaimed Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront, where he built a second hotel, the Kowloon Shangri-La. Kuok controls the Shangri-La hotel chain and is the largest shareholder of Transmile Group Berhad, which is engaged in accounting irregularities scandal in 2007, the stock price goes down. In addition, he took Kerry Group a 34.9% interest in the South China Morning Post from Murdoch's News Corporation in 1993. He said his hotel check every now and then to ensure that staff provides the highest quality service. There are times when he invited the taxi driver for a free lunch at the hotel's cafe. Kuok is considered a man of truth when dealing with people, including employees.

Kuok Group started business as Kuok Brothers Limited in the year 1949 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, trading rice, sugar and wheat flour. Business activity expanded in 1953 with the opening of the Singapore Branch, Kuok (Singapore) Limited. From a humble beginning, the Kuok Group has grown to become one of the most diverse multinational conglomerate and dynamic in Asia.

Driving force behind the growth of the Group is Kuok family, whose vision and commitment to hard work and excellence for more than two generations have made Kuok Group market leader in many areas. From the beginning of its operations, the Group has set forth the basic values of integrity, loyalty and discipline. These values have served as the basis for achievement during the past 46 years. From a trading post established in Malaysia and Singapore, the Group has expanded its operations in the 1950's and 1960's to Thailand and Indonesia. It focuses on the activities of ancillary and related to growth, and also pursued new business and trade opportunities, particularly in commodities, resulting in a trading relationship with companies in Hamburg, Paris, London and New York. Hong Kong and China become the focus of further development in the region in 1980 after a group of senior managers 1970sand established Kerry Holdings Limited in Hong Kong in 1974. The name "Kerry" has become identified with the Kuok Group's extensive operations in Hong Kong and China. The Group has built a management team with great depth and breadth of experience and knowledge. The team continues to focus on herself for the Group's business expansion, particularly in emerging markets in Asia, in areas that complement the Group's business, especially in emerging markets in Asia, in areas that complement the Group's interests and expertise. Central to its future growth is a commitment to maintain the values that lie at the heart of the Kuok Group's success.

Written BY: Teoh Neoh Wei Kean

         In spite of having wealth, power, and influence, Robert is a very humble man, and prefers to live a simple life. He rarely indulges himself in the pleasures of life, nor does he love to be in the company of the press. In fact, Robert is known to be very media-shy, so much so that he only has had one or two interviews over the course of his entire career.

         This love for the simple life has allowed Robert to remain humble in spite of all his accomplishments, and has forged in him a lifestyle that he passed down to his children, thus teaching them to wisely handle all the wealth that they have. He stated in an interview with him: “Everything on earth is dynamic. I can only give my children a message, not money. If they follow it, we can go another three or four generations.”

         Robert’s philosophy in business can be summed up into four words: work hard, work smart. From a very young age, Robert has not only learned the value of diligence and hard work, but he has also discovered that it takes brains to become successful in the business world, and life in general. He has instilled these values in his children very well, so much so that all of his children have gone on to become very famous and successful in their own right. Tim Dattels, a high-ranking officer at TPG Capitals, says of Robert: “There’s only one Robert Kuok, there’s no doubt. But he has instilled his business philosophy deep into the family. With what he has built, they are well set to continue, whatever happens.”

        Because of the life that he has experienced, Robert has made it a mission of his to ensure that he gives the next generation the opportunity that he was not able to get by his philanthropic work, the Kuok Foundation. This charitable organization aims to provide scholarships for numerous Malaysian youth to enable them to study and work in their area of expertise. From its inception, the Kuok Foundation has given thousands of scholarships to various students throughout Malaysia, giving hope to the future of the country.

        Robert’s successes in the business world have granted him a certain level of political influence, as he was instrumental in the negotiations between Malaysia and China by conveying information between both countries and setting up meetings between the two countries’ governments, resulting in the full diplomatic cross recognition between them. Aside from this, Robert was also included in the list of advisors pertaining to the future of Hong Kong, and having a minority stake in CITIC Pacific, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate holding company.

Today, even at age 89, Robert continues to actively participate in the running of his family’s companies, although he has delegated most of the managerial work to his children and nephews. He does, however, serve as a voice of reason and counsel, always encouraging the next generation to do their best to achieve their goals in life.

Written BY: Soh Kheng Kheng

         Robert Kuok’s is a Chinese billionaire businessman. According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at $11.billion on year of 2016 which making him the richest man in Malaysia and rank 2^nd richest in Southeast Asia. Robert Kuok also ranked 103^th richest man in the world. Kuok has married twice and has eight children. Kuok denies the fact that he has been married twice and condemns the rumors circulated by the media.

         As we can see, Robert Kuok is a huge influencing to the world sugar market because after he leaved Malaysia, he immediately invested USD10 billion on the world largest sugar mills in Australia which now had made become “King of Sugar” so when people mention about sugar, most of us will link to Robert Kuok, he now had become symbol of sugar, it become images to him.

        He is a generous man because when his country or people need his assist, he will help them without hesitation. For example, during year of 1970, Malaysian maritime shipping industry are in a mess, the Malaysian government sent representatives to Hong Kong to personally invite Kuok’s help. Kuok’s was not hesitated too much, he straight put aside his Group’s business, came back to Malaysia to assist the Government to establish a national maritime shipping industry, this has the later known as Malaysia International Shipping Cooperation, also known as MISC.  

        Robert Kuok’s however, was a quick learner. Three years in the rice-trading department helped him learn the trading business. He later began back the same in his hometown of Johor along with his brothers and a cousin. When his father died in 1948, he and his two brothers founded Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, which traded in commodities. Kuok’s started to invest heavily in the sugar industry and controlled 80% of the Malaysian sugar market producing 1.5 million tonnes of sugar, which is about 10% of the world's sugar.

        In the 1970s, the Kuok family founded the Kuok Foundation in order to alleviate poverty and to reduce the economic disparities between the rich and poor communities in Malaysia.  This foundation provides study loans and grant to deserving Malaysian students. A few scholarships were also given at postgraduate level for specific field of study.     

          Establishing monopoly was not easy. Kuok’s had once stated that “have you ever seen Michael Jordan play when he’s on a rhythm run? Naturally, this ambitious and immensely clever businessman did not just stop at that. He started a chain of hotels, the famous ‘Shangri-la’ which is now spread out through the world and is all set to open its 71st hotel.

References:

Billionaire Kuok Says His Empire Can Last ’Generations’ - Bloomberg. 2016. Billionaire Kuok Says His Empire Can Last ’Generations’ - Bloomberg. [E-Journal] Available at:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-31/billionaire-kuok-says-his-empire-can-last-generations-. [Accessed 8 April 2016].

Robert Kuok Auto Collection, Yacht | SuccessStory. 2016. Robert Kuok Auto Collection, Yacht | SuccessStory. [E-Journal] Available at: http://successstory.com/people/photos/auto/robert-kuok. [Accessed 8 April 2016].

Kuok: Family, Dialect, and State in the Making of a Malaysian Magnate. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259546206_Robert_Kuok_Family_Dialect_and_State_in_the_Making_of_a_Malaysian_Magnate. [Accessed 9 April 2016].

Hidden story of Robert Kuok – Malaysian Cronies get rich by the 10s of billions, but Malaysia losses 200 billion in Investment | C'est la vie. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: https://nuarharuha.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/hidden-story-of-robert-kuok/. [Accessed 9 April 2016].

Robert Kuok: From Office Boy To The Richest In Southeast Asia. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: http://brainprick.com/robert-kuok-from-office-boy-to-the-richest-in-southeast-asia/. [Accessed 10 April 2016].

SBLM1023 Introduction to Writing: Robert Kuok Hock Nien. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jacksonlkh.blogspot.my/2015/03/robert-kuok-hock-nien.html. [Accessed 10 April 2016].