SYED MOKHTAR,MALAYSIAN BUSINESS TYCOON

Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Albukhary is a Malaysian business tycoon. Recognised as the 11th richest individual in Malaysia by Forbes in 2025, Syed Mokthar is estimated to have a net worth of US$2.2 billion.

Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's business empire centers around DRB-HICOM, MMC Corporation with major stakes in Bernas, Malakoff Berhad and Media Prima plus key holdings like Pos Malaysia, Johor Port, and interests in infrastructure and agriculture, managed through his private entities and the Albukhary Foundation.

Key Companies & Sectors:

DRB-HICOM Berhad:

Automotive (Proton, Edaran Modenas), property, defense, education, services.

MMC Corporation Berhad:

Infrastructure, Johor Port, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, logistics, water, engineering, Senai Airport.

Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas): Malaysia's national rice distributor.

Malakoff Corporation Berhad:

Power generation and utilities.

Media Prima Berhad:

Media and newspapers like Utusan Malaysia, TV.

Pos Malaysia Berhad:

Postal and logistics services.

Background

Syed Mokhtar Albukhary was born on 12 December 1951, the third child of Syed Nor and Sharifah Nor in Kampung Hutan Keriang, Alor Setar, Kedah. His family traces its roots to Hadramawt region of Yemen.

In 1961,

Syed Mokhtar moved to Johor Bahru where he spent the next 6 years before returning to Alor Setar where he attended St. Michael's Secondary School. While still schooling, he got involved in his father's cattle business.

Not long after, an outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease collapsed the company. This led to Syed Mokhtar abandoning his studies a few months prior to completing his Secondary 5, as his family could not afford to pay for his examination fees.With money saved from his involvement in his father's cattle business, Syed Mokhtar began venturing into business on his own.

In the 1970s,

Syed Mokthar ventured into rice transportation and secured a rice trading license for his company, Shah Enterprise Sdn Bhd, which allowed him to secure contracts to supply rice to entities such as the Federal Land Development Authority, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Pernas Edar, and Sergam Bhd, all of which were government-linked agencies.

His involvement in rice trading allowed him to make connections with individuals who went on to take up influential political positions, including former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Perlis chief minister Shahidan Kassim.

His business interests eventually expanded to include manufacturing, shipping, property development and agriculture.

By the 1990s,

he began buying into publicly listed companies and acquiring state-owned enterprises as part of Mahathir Mohamad's privatisation initiatives. The two became close during this period.

In 2001,

he acquired a 19.9% stake in MMC Corporation, and took over Pernas International Holdings Berhad, a government-linked company, which was then renamed Tradewinds Corporation.

Through the latter company, Syed Mokhtar owns Tradewinds Plantations, which operates 74 rubber estates and 10 palm oil mills, making it one of the largest rubber and palm oil firms in Malaysia, as well as Tradewinds (M) Berhad, which owns Padiberas Nasional Bhd, which has a monopoly on the Malaysian rice industry.

Syed Mokthar is rumoured to have had a substantial stake in Padiberas Nasional Bhd since 2005; his penchant for using proxies to hold stakes in companies makes it hard to discern when he bought into the company.

Syed Mokthar's financials suffered during the mid-to-late 2000s, coinciding with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi premiership. The latter had terminated a RM14.5 billion double-track rail installation project by MMC Corporation and shelved a proposal by Syed Mokthar to build a US$2 billion aluminium smelter in Sarawak.

His group of companies had also accrued a large debt, estimated to be RM30 billion, much of it linked to the power production company Malakoff Bhd, a subsidiary of MMC Corporation.MMC Corporation was eventually awarded a contract to lay the northern portion of the double-tracked rail system for RM12.5 billion together with Gamuda.

During the rule of Najib Razak, Syed Mokhtar's DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies was awarded a US$2.5 billion contract to supply DefTech AV8 armoured personnel carriers. The deal attracted some scrutiny, as comparable options were substantially cheaper.Syed Mokhtar was reported to be well-liked by Najib.

2014

Syed Mokhtar's DRB-HICOM was the sole owner of the Malaysian national carmaker Proton, and held substantial interests in other non-national car brands, including stakes, distribution rights, and manufacturing arrangements with Honda, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, and Isuzu.DRB-HICOM also continues to hold a controlling stake in Puspakom, which previously held a monopoly on commercial vehicle inspections.

2019

Syed Mokhtar became the largest shareholder of Media Prima, the biggest media and entertainment conglomerate in Malaysia, through Aurora Mulia Sdn Bhd, with a 31.22% stake.He also controls Media Mulia Sdn Bhd, which publishes Utusan Malaysia, the country's oldest Malay-language daily.

May 2020

Malaysia's Ministry of Communications and Multimedia awarded the highly lucrative 5G telecommunications spectrum contract to a company called ALTEL, a subsidiary of Puncak Semangat, a firm primarily controlled by Syed Mokhtar.He is the minority shareholder of Lotus Cars, with a 49% stake through Etika Automotive, a subsidiary of Etika Strategy, which also holds a smaller 30% stake of Lotus Technology, Lotus' electric vehicle division.

In 2023

Muhyiddin Yassin was charged with abuse of power and money laundering, having allegedly received RM232.5 million from corporate entities. These included Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, of which 99% is owned by Syed Mokthar.

2025

Recognised as the 11th richest individual in Malaysia by Forbes, Syed Mokthar is estimated to have a net worth of US$2.2 billion.