Kuok Khoon Hong (; born 1949
) is a Singaporean
business magnate
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of
Wilmar International
Wilmar International Limited (); is a Singaporean food processing and investment holding company with more than 300 subsidiary companies. Founded in 1991, it is one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups alongside the COFCO Group. It ranks amongst ...
(), having built it into one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups, and the world's largest
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
trader. He is also the Chairman of Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd. He has an estimated net worth of US$3.7 billion as of Jan 2021.
Career
Kuok earned a
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...
degree from the
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in 1973 and began his career trading soft commodities at Kuok Oils and Grains. He eventually became managing director of Kuok Oils and Grains, and developed the Pasir Gudang Edible Oils refining complex in
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
, followed by China's first edible oil refinery, South Seas Oils and Fats.
In 1991, he left the Kuok Group to start Wilmar, with
Chinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries.
Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have ...
businessman
Martua Sitorus soon after coming on board as a co-founder.
Starting as a small commodities trading company with S$2m in seed capital from the mortgage of his family home, and further seed funding obtained from Kuok Hock Swee and Sons, his father's investment company. Wilmar grew rapidly from the outset, with initial growth in the Indonesian edible oil market, followed up with development of Sumatran oil palm plantations and Indonesian edible oil refineries. A large expansion into edible oil refining in mainland China, and a joint venture with the Adani Group in India subsequently placed it in leading positions within Asia's largest consumer edible oil markets.
In 2007, after a 16-year estrangement, he agreed with his uncle
Robert Kuok
Robert Kuok Hock Nien (; Hokchew: ''Guoh24 Houk5 Nieng55''; born 6 October 1923), is a Malaysian business magnate and investor. Since 1973, Kuok has lived in Hong Kong. According to ''Forbes'', his net worth is estimated at $12.6 billion as of ...
to merge the Kuok Group's edible oil, trading and oil palm plantation assets into Wilmar in return for a 31% stake in the company. The merger resulted in the unification of Kuok's previous early career contributions to the Kuok Group with the rapid growth of Wilmar International led by him and Martua Sitorus since 1991.
In 2012, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge University.
In 2019, Kuok received the Chinese Government Friendship Award, the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's highest award for foreigners who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress.
Philanthropy
In May 2020, Kuok and his company, Wilmar International, donated SG$7 million to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, as part of Singapore's
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
community relief efforts.
Together with the Wilmar Group, he has set up and funded several schools in Indonesia as well as elderly homes and orphanages in China, the latter having won government recognition for its high quality model of charity operations and governance.
Kuok established the KKH Scholarship at the
Singapore Management University
The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...
and the
Singapore University of Technology and Design
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is a public autonomous university in Singapore.
History
The founding president is Thomas L. Magnanti, who is a professor associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M ...
, as well as the KKH Bursary at
Magdalene College of Cambridge University.
Personal life
Kuok was born in the seaside village of
Mersing
Mersing (Terengganu Malay: ''Merecing'' or ''Ngesing'') is a town, mukim and the capital of Mersing District, Johor, Malaysia.
As of 2010, the town has an estimated population of 70,894.
Mersing town, is particularly significant for a number ...
in
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
, Malaysia, the second of four children of Kuok Hock Swee and Tan Sek Meng. His father was an elder cousin of
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese (; Malay: ''Orang Cina Malaysia''), alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese descent. They form the second largest ethnic group after the Malay majority constituting 22.4% of the Malaysian po ...
billionaire
Robert Kuok
Robert Kuok Hock Nien (; Hokchew: ''Guoh24 Houk5 Nieng55''; born 6 October 1923), is a Malaysian business magnate and investor. Since 1973, Kuok has lived in Hong Kong. According to ''Forbes'', his net worth is estimated at $12.6 billion as of ...
.
He was educated at Sri Mersing Primary, St Joseph's School and the English College, Johor Bahru.
His father, Kuok Hock Swee, had arrived in then British Malaya from Foochow in Southern China at the age of 18. He eventually set up a provision store in Mersing, which he expanded into a thriving business distributing foodstuffs along the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. This was subsequently merged for an equity stake in Robert Kuok's rapidly expanding Kuok Group, which by then already included the first Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.
The Kuok family traces its ancestry to the 8th century Tang Dynasty patriot and general
Guo Ziyi
Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and pol ...
, the commander of the Tang army who crushed the rebellion of An Lushan.
Kuok is married with four children - 3 sons and 1 daughter.
His eldest son, Kuok Meng Han, is a biotech entrepreneur and the founder of Camtech. His second son, Kuok Meng Ru, was an amateur singer/songwriter before co-founding the popular social music creation platform
BandLab Technologies
BandLab Technologies is a Singaporean company that operates a social music platform, called BandLab, and also owns a variety of music-related brands. Founded in 2015, these include Harmony and Heritage Guitars; ''Guitar.com'', ''NME'', ''Uncut'' ...
.
References
{{Reflist
1951 births
Living people
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Singaporean people of Chinese descent
Singaporean billionaires
People from Johor
Malaysian emigrants to Singapore
McGill University Faculty of Management alumni
Singaporean chairpersons of corporations