YTL FOUNDER TAN SRI YEOH TIONG LAY DIES
YTL Group has grown to become a conglomerate with diverse businesses locally and abroad
THE YTL Group of companies, founded by the late Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, started as a small construction company and over time grew to become one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia.
Yeoh, who was executive chairman of YTL Corp and YTL Power International, passed away yesterday. He was 88.
The success of YTL Group over the years had earned Yeoh a net worth of US$2.1 billion (RM8.8 billion) and seventh place in the latest Forbes’ Malaysia “50 richest” list.
YTL Group, which has been a partner in every stage of Malaysia’s growth, started back in 1955 as a Kuala Selangor construction company, predominantly working on defence and security installations. It ventured into agricultural projects in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, the company branched out into housing development and was the first to build a condominium block in the yetto-boom Johor Baru property market — Indera Putra Courts in Jalan Indera Putra.
In the 1990s, YTL ventured into airports and power plants before branching out into the communications, waterworks and environment sector a decade later.
Today, YTL Corp has extensive operations in countries including Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Japan and China. Its core businesses comprise utilities, construction contracting, cement manufacturing, property development and investment, hotel development and management, e-commerce initiatives and Internet-based education solutions and services.
YTL Corp, together with its listed entities in Malaysia — YTL Power International, YTL Land & Development and YTL Hospitality REIT — had a combined market capitalisation of about RM27.6 billion as at September 30 this year.
The company also has a stake in Singapore-listed Starhill Global REIT, which owns prime retail assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, China and Australia.
In a statement, YTL Corp managing director and Yeoh’s eldest son Tan Sri Francis Yeoh said under his father’s leadership, YTL Group expanded from its base in Malaysia to encompass operations and projects across the globe.
“The growth and development of YTL Group was always rooted in our chairman’s determination to build a strong, responsible and sustainable company for the benefit of his family, employees, business partners and the wider community, and this is his legacy.
“His work ethic was exemplary and his humility is testimony to the great man and leader that he was. We will miss him greatly,” he said.