In a previous case, we've explored Robert Kuok's journey to becoming the "Sugar King of the East". Fast forward to 2025 — While Robert hasn't officially handed the reins over to a successor, a key player in the next generation is his nephew, Kuok Khoon Hong. The merger of Khoon Hong's company, Wilmar International, with the Kuok Group’s edible oil, trading, and oil plantation assets saw Robert relinquish a considerable amount of control to Khoon Hong. And remarkably, this was done with a nary a fight.
It all started with Kuok Hock Swee, Robert's 14th cousin.
Like Robert, Hock Swee migrated to Johor Bahru from China to work for Robert's father, albeit at a later age. While Hock Swee knew little English, Robert observed that "he had very good business genes, was extremely street-wise, and had a fine sense of figures and a strong memory."
Like Robert, Hock Swee quickly became frustrated at the way that Robert's father ran the shop. Unlike Robert who chose to tough it out, Hock Swee broke out of the family business and left for the fishing town of Mersing to open his own shop. Nevertheless, the cousins kept in contact, even after Kuok Brothers was established in 1949. Robert, especially, would visit him for deep-sea fishing trips.
While Hock Swee struggled at the beginning, business soon began to take off. After a few years, he had become the largest shopkeeper in Mersing. Robert soon noticed Hock Swee's rise to wealth, and convinced him to return.
On one of my fishing trips to Mersing in about 1951, I took him aside and said, "Hock Swee, I don't see how you can go far in Mersing. You already have the biggest provision store here, and there are no other industries to go into." The main industry was rubber tapping, and the British owned all the big plantations. I said, "Come back to the family company. You are the only one who is outside. I am sure that we can make a good arrangement for you."
I offered him eight percent of Kuok Brothers at par, and agreed to buy his shop at whatever price Hock Swee thought was fair. We thus merged our two businesses. Hock Swee bought a house in JJB and brought his family down. While he spent more and more of his time in Johor, he continued to run the shop in Mersing, as he enjoyed the work.
History would later repeat itself with Hock Swee's son, Kuok Khoon Hong.
Khoon Hong was born in Mersing the same year that Kuok Brothers was established. Robert recalled, "I barely remember him from those fishing trips, as he and his older sister, Li Lei, would have been in their cribs or upstairs in the shophouse."
With Hock Swee's later return to the family business, Khoon Hong was slated to join as well. After he graduated from the University of Singapore in early 1970s, he joined Kuok Singapore immediately after, starting out in the grains commodities business. Like Hock Swee, Khoon Hong was an especially quick learner. Within months, he was working without managerial supervision and branching out to different varieties of grains. Yet he looked up to Robert enough to continue seeing him two or three times a week.
Robert soon realised Khoon Hong's potential.
One day, [Khoon Hong] told me about an enzyme process developed by a Swiss company to extract oil from soybeans. Soybean oil is a very fine quality cooking oil, and the soybean meal residue left over from the crushing process is still rich in oil and protein. In fact, it is probably the most nutritious component of animal feed. Would I give him permission to pursue the idea? That led to ordering and setting up a plant to do soybean crushing, and from that we later became quite big in the feed-milling industry. Around the same time, we also acquired large tracts of land in the East Malaysia states of Sarawak and Sabah, planted oil palms and began producing palm oil.
Khoon Hong became the driving force of these and other ventures, which later came to be known as Kuok Oils & Grains. After building these businesses in Malaysia, he planned and started, in the mid-1980s, the first edible-oil refinery, import base, storage base, and packaging base in Shenzhen, China, next to Hong Kong. He saw that edible oils were an enormous industry, and that China was a yawning market. He went on building up this segment of our businesses into a very major enterprise, developing horizontally, vertically and geographically.
Robert hadn't expected to find such a talent in the company. He recalled (bold emphasis added):
For the first time, I saw in one of my nephews a businessman who was at least as able as myself. It appeared that in Khoon Hong I had the most capable Kuok ever. That is not to take away from the managerial talent and hard work of my own children and other relatives. It is just that Khoon Hong has a special entrepreneurial talent to see an opportunity and turn it into a thriving business.
While Robert saw a capable potential successor, however, the relationship did not proceed as smoothly as he'd wanted. What came next was unexpected.
One day in early 1991, I was in Hong Kong preparing to attend a dinner party at the Kowloon Shangri-La for the first month celebration of my grandson. Meng Xin, Beau's son. Khoon Hong had arrived from Singapore that day, and at about 6 pm he asked if he could pop in to see me. Since I was getting ready to cross the harbour to attend the party, I was pressed for time and already a bit harried. He came in and said, “Uncle, I would like to take up a little bit of your time and discuss the bonus.”
I had been following the results of his department for 1990. That year, he wrongly went long or short (I don't recall which) on some of his major futures transactions. I had glanced at his monthly trading statements through the year and knew that he had made mistakes, and hoped quietly that he would change course in midstream. I strongly believe that no outsider should chime in and give an active trader advice, since that would only tend to upset his trading rhythm. Unfortunately, his rhythm was off that year. The results were very thin. There was no profit at the bottom of the barrel.
It was Khoon Hong’s practice to come to me once a year to approve his proposals for a bonus. That year, he made no proposal. He just said, “I want your thoughts on it.” I must have been a bit abrupt, although I don't recall being rude. I said, “Khoon Hong, unfortunately along the way during the year, you read the market wrong and you didn't change tack. There is nothing in the barrel. You know that we pay bonus from profits, so I do not know how to advise you. This is a difficult situation.”
He suddenly stiffened and said, “Uncle, I have been meaning for some time now to speak to you about striking out on my own. I now wish to tender my resignation.” Well, that took the breath out of my lungs, I remember saying quite quickly, “Khoon Hong, you are free to come, you are free to go, and you go with my blessing. I wish you luck.” I asked if he was going to attend my baby grandson's dinner. He said no. He was going to catch the first plane back to Singapore.
Khoon Hong left the company a few weeks later.
Not long after that, I was on a visit to Singapore and received a phone call in my hotel room. [Khoon Hong] said, “Uncle Nien, it's Khoon Hong here. Can I come up and see you?” I agreed to see him.
He came in and after pleasantries came straight to the point. After first telling me he sensed that morale was very low in the department that he had left behind and that a lot of good people may leave, he asked if I would sell the business to him. I was very taken aback and I put him off. After discussing the matter with my senior managers, it was decided that we would not sell such a large part of our business to anyone. So I turned down Khoon Hong, who was already starting his own business. There was no bickering; it was a straightforward attempt at a business deal.
Khoon Hong officially left Kuok Singapore in 1991 to co-found Wilmar Trading Pte Ltd with Martua Sitorus, a fellow trader.
Robert was left blindsided, but he took it in stride. In the years that followed, he paid little attention to Khoon Hong's development as his own companies demanded his full attention. Nevertheless, he would hear snippets of news here and there throughout Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and mainland China that indicated Khoon Hong was doing well. Robert and Khoon Hong remained professional but essentially estranged throughout the years, going 15 years without direct communication nor seeing each other at family gatherings. In his memoirs, Robert writes (bold emphasis added):
The only acrimony that I recall relating to the breakup was a legal challenge launched by Khoon Hong’s new company claiming that a brand that he had developed while working for Kuok Brothers belonged to them. The brand was first registered in Malaysia and Singapore as “Arawana” and in China it was called “Jin Long Yu” or “Golden Dragon Fish.” It is the leading brand for edible oils in China. We won the case and kept the brand. [...]
We were competing with them, but then we were also competing with everyone else. I have always felt that competition is a good thing. The market for edible oils was so big that the real overlap and competition was probably minimal, except that Kuok Oils & Grains had the leading brand in China. It was not something that I experienced personally, as I was busy on other matters and did not actually run Kuok Oils & Grains.
The two rekindled their relationship in 2006, when Wilmar was looking for shareholders. Kuok seized the opportunity immediately.
Some time in 2006, I was in my Singapore office chatting with the different heads of Kuok Group businesses in Singapore, as was my habit. I would start off with the Chairman of Kuok (Singapore) Ltd, Teo Joo Kim, whose specialty was the shipping business. I think it was Joo Kim who mentioned that Khoon Hong's company had gone into fertilizers and therefore was competing with our own fertilizer business. He had also gone into shipping, and therefore was competing with us in shipping as well. Joo Kim expressed his great admiration for the successes of Khoon Hong's business. He said, “You know, Khoon Hong is doing very well lately — very well.” And that was the first time I heard this stated in such strong terms. Joo Kim also mentioned that Khoon Hong's public company, Wilmar, was looking to place out a block of shares.
Kuok Khoon Kuan, another nephew of mine, is the Managing Director of our Pacific Carriers Ltd shipping line. At that time. I asked Khoon Kuan if he was in touch with Khoon Hong at all. He said he was, but not often.
I said, “Kuan, could you send word to him that I am interested in acquiring some of his Wilmar placement shares and whether he would consider an application for Wilmar shares from me.”
A few hours later, Khoon Kuan called up and said, “Khoon Hong was very interested, and he asked how much do you want?” I thought about taking the whole block since I had heard such good things about him and I am always a willing backer of a good horse. But not wanting to show myself to be greedy, I said, “Let's say US$15 million worth.” Within hours, I got an answer through Kuan that Khoon Hong was very happy that I was backing him, and his answer was “yes” to the whole amount. I was delighted.
Soon after that, I got an email from Khoon Hong. He sent me a brief, lovely message asking whether he could come and see me. Since he had communicated with me directly, I did not go through Khoon Kuan. I emailed back immediately, “Dear Hong, I am more than delighted anytime, now, tomorrow, whenever.” So we met, we chatted, and it was like old times again. Some months later, I managed to get permission from the local government authorities to land a plane on an airstrip near the Wuyi Mountains, one of the most scenic spots in southern China. I asked Khoon Hong and his mother and sisters to join me on the trip, and we had a wonderful time together. On the way back, we stopped in Fuzhou city to see my mother's little temple, which was in the process of being enlarged from a shrine into a full temple.
Then I heard from a friend that Khoon Hong was thinking of expanding further and was approaching investors for a large commitment. I had never suspected that he wanted to grow so fast. I said to myself, Khoon Hong should have come to me. So I called him up and said, “Is it true what I have heard?” Khoon Hong hesitated and seemed a little embarrassed. but admitted that it was true. I said. “Hong, you can go that way or you can talk with me about a possible merger. There is much more synergy in this direction. Such a merger would give enormous strength to your operations.”
He said. “I didn't know that you would be willing to talk with me about this.” I think he was nervous because of the earlier breakup. He seemed surprised that a merger could be contemplated, and I think he was delighted with my suggestion.
And from then on it was really a matter of mechanics. My team that handled the merger was headed by Chye, my eldest brother's older son who was then Chairman of Kuok Brothers Malaysia, and my son Beau, who by then had officially been appointed as my successor.
I said to both of them, “Get this done with no hiccups and no small-mindedness. If you think he's getting a slightly better part of the deal, give in. We've got to back this horse. Khoon Hong is the most fantastic businessman you can team up with.” In any merger there are on-going issues, different warlords fighting to preserve their little bases. That's why I told my side early on, “Give in, give in, give in.” I prefer to see life’s big picture. If you nitpick you will never get things done.
Khoon Hong asked me what we should name the combined business. “You decide,” I said. “If you like the name Wilmar, use it.” So the company is called Wilmar International Limited. Today it is one of the largest companies listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Wilmar International and Kuok Oil & Grains officially finished the merger and restructuring in 2007. By the time the dust settled, Kuok Group owned a 32% stake in Wilmar, while Wilmar acquired Kuok Group assets which included ”oil palm plantations and palm oil mills in Malaysia and Indonesia, edible oils refineries and trading operations in Malaysia, and edible oils and grains processing facilities in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Netherlands and Germany.” While Khoon Hong now had no official obligation to Robert, he continued to consult Robert before making any major decision.
Wilmar International has now become Asia’s leading agribusiness group, with a net revenue of US$73.4 billion in 2022 and an extensive distribution network covering over 50 countries and 100,000 workers. It is the world's largest palm biodiesel manufacturer and one of the world's largest producers of palm and coconut oils.
Looking back on the merger, Robert reflected:
On my part, for my entire adult life, I have strived to bring my cousins and their descendants together under one flag, to keep their bellies full and to send their children to the best schools. Unexpectedly, we came together again in Wilmar. We are working as a team and tackling business problems together. That is a source of great satisfaction to me.
Robert's emphasis on family continues to be reflected in his succession plans … or lack thereof.
In a 2013 interview with Malaysia newspaper The Star, Kuok declined the question of succession and further supplemented, “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.” As of 2025, Robert has not named an official successor, although he has taken a step back by passing down company positions to children and relatives. They continue to turn to Robert before making any major decisions.
A 2024 SAGE business case comments,
Robert Kuok’s approach to succession planning, as narrated by him in his autobiography, diverges from the traditional model, as he prioritizes instilling his business philosophy and values in his children rather than focusing solely on financial inheritance.
From the presence of a large number of family members throughout the Kuok Group, it appears that Robert Kuok’s goal is to have the family work together, not unlike the notion of a “big tent party” in politics. But whereas politics is characterized by compromise and negotiation, does this work for a family business group? Or does a family business group need one captain to prevent it from fragmenting into separate kingdoms?
Sources
https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the-star-malaysia/20130202/282480001175274
https://sk.sagepub.com/cases/robert-kuok-the-century-old-asian-legend