Robert Kuok Hock Nian

1.0 Background Robert Kuok Hock Nian

Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien was born on October 6 1923 in Johor Bahru, who is an influential Malaysian Chinese businessman. Robert Kuok was the youngest of three brothers. According to Forbes his net worth is estimated to be around $10 billion on May 2008, making him the richest person in Southeast Asia. Robert Kuok Hock Nien is media shy and discreet person, most of his businesses are privately held by him or his family. Apart from a multitude of enterprises in Malaysia, his companies have investments in many countries throughout Asia. His business interests range from sugarcane plantations (Perlis Plantations Bhd), sugar refinery, flour milling, animal feed, oil and mining to finance, hotels, properties, trading and freight (International Shipping Corporation, Transmile Group) and publishing.

Kuok's father arrived in Malaya from Fujian, China at the beginning of the 20th century. After arrive Malaya, Kuok’s family was lived in the city of Johore Bahru, which is immediately across the strait from the island of Singapore. His father was a trader in various commodities, and was a successful and moderately wealthy man.Kuok's father understood the benefits of the English language to businessmen, and the three Kuok sons attended the finest English schools in Malaysia. Robert Kuok's classmates or contemporaries at college included Lee Kuan Yew, later prime minister of Singapore, Tun Hussein Onn, later prime minister of Malaysia, and many others who rose to political or entrepreneurial prominence. Robert Kuok stepped into the world of business as an office boy and came into his own with the support of a relative. Just after his graduation, he had a short stint working in the grains department of Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi between 1942 and 1945. He was halted due to Japanese invasion, before helping his father with trading business.

Robert Kuok Hock Nien has married twice and has eight children. He officially retired from the Kerry Group on April 1, 1993. Nowadays, Kuok Khoon Ean one of Robert's sons, handles most of the day-to-day operations of his businesses. He is currently residing in Hong Kong.

2.0 Achievement of Robert Kuok Hock Nian

2.1 The 1960s--The Sugar King

Robert Kuok Hock Nien’s father died in 1948, leaving his fortune to his three sons, Robert, Phillip, and William. William Kuok became a guerilla working for Malaysian independence. He was ambushed and killed by British forces in 1952. Robert and Phillip used their inheritance to found a company they named Kuok Brothers, and they began buying and selling rice and sugar. The business expanded when Malaysia won its independence from Britain in 1957. Kuok and his two brothers made a decision to continue the business legacy, starting