I was born in Kuala Lumpur, the youngest of five sons, to Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, and Toh Puan Hajjah Rahah Noah.
St John’s Primary was the first school I attended. This picture was taken in January 1976 on my first day back at school after my father passed away. Hoisting me on their shoulders, the boys succeeded in cheering me up.
I moved on to the Alice Smith School where I went to classes with girls for the first time and made international friends. One of them introduced me to the Bee Gees. Unlike that friendship, my love for the trio has stood the test of time.
I became a boarder at Oundle School in Northamptonshire, England. In an almost exclusively white school, I was their definition of diversity. I loved my time there: I made some lifelong friends, became Head of House and represented the school at rugby (I was 1st XV left winger)
Bristol University introduced me to a broader range of people than the public school boys of my past 5 years. I left knowing myself a little better, with a BSc in Economics and Politics in hand.
I earned an M.Phil. in Economics and Politics and learned some fashionable left-wing philosophies at the University Of Cambridge.
My first job was in the corporate finance department at a small bank named Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad. I was employee number 69.
Moving to CIMB Securities was a heady “Wolf Of Wall Street” experience as international funds discovered our Asian Tiger Economies.
In a lucky stroke of anticipation, I was transferred back to CIMB as Deputy CEO just before the Asian Financial Crisis hit.
My appointment as Managing Director and CEO of CIMB was only eclipsed by becoming a father to twins, Arman and Marissa, in the same year.
I was invited to sit on the Investment Panel for the Employees Provident Fund. I served here for 15 years until 2017.
The EPF is a world-class pension fund and great Malaysian success story. So long as it continues to be led with integrity by a strong leadership team and follows its established institutional processes, the EPF will continue to grow from strength to strength. My gratitude to everyone who served on the panel with me and all the EPF staff who had to put up with my questions!
The listing of CIMB Investment Bank was a good lesson in life, where dogged determination combined with daring paid off 3 years later as stock appreciated 343%!
We spent the next 7 years making acquisitions and new bank launches that included GK Goh (Singapore), Bumiputra-Commerce Bank (Malaysia), Southern Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Bank Niaga (Indonesia), Bank Lippo (Indonesia), CIMB Thai (Thailand), CIMB Cambodia, and CIMB Singapore; to transform into an ASEAN universal bank.
After 15 years as CEO of the CIMB Group, I was appointed its Non-Executive Chairman.
I was also privileged to be invited to serve on the board of Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
After a thrilling 29 years, I retired as Chairman of CIMB. I put the lessons in transformation I had learned on the job to good use, dusted off my golf clubs and discovered there are other things I like to do.
I launched Zak Capital
A family-owned investment firm, we believe in investing in strategic sectors. We invest in developed and developing markets across different asset classes including private equity, real estate, venture capital, non-investment credit, and public equity.
Through our philanthropic and research arms, we also committed to delivering positive social change. The firm is currently engaged in public health and socio-economic campaigns.
As Chairman and Co-Founder of Ikhlas Capital I am dedicated to regional development and growth.
I became non-executive chairman of PLS Plantations. Their diversification into agri-food areas is an exciting expansion. Also, Durian is King.
I find myself back in banking. Honoured to be appointed Non-Executive Chairman of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad.
BPMB is a key development finance institution tasked to support companies and projects that promote socio-economic growth. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve a government institution and make productive use of the years of experience I have in the financial sector.
I continue to look at the Man in The Mirror, question my strengths and weaknesses and ask myself if I am still the right person for every role that I have. When the answer is no I will move on.
A proponent of ASEAN economic integration, I was the inaugural Chair of the World Economic Forum ASEAN Regional Strategy Group in 2016.
I am campaigning for a national reset starting with the setting up of the Better Malaysia Assembly.
As a prostate cancer survivor myself, I hope more men who are at risk of prostate cancer will seek early detection and treatment, because #OnlyMenCan survive prostate cancer. I joined the Board of Trustees for the Urological Cancer Trust Fund in August 2020.
In 2009, I was the Chevening Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and in 2019 the Transformational Leadership Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. At BSG, my focus was on a “national recalibration” which helped grow my conviction that Malaysia needs a national reset and develop ideas on how to get it done.
I was recognised as Malaysia’s top executive/CEO on several occasions and was the youngest recipient of Finance Asia’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2009.
