Yeoh’s five children, who are all involved in the group, are well aware of it. They know that their father goes on merit and sets a high bar for them.
CNBC reports that when it comes time for Yeoh to step aside, it may not be one or more of his children who take over leadership of YTL.
“The next round they could be the same format, in this format,” the 61-year-old told CNBC.
“But, basically, most of our CEOs around the world are not from the family…We’ve got the best in class, non-family CEOs already, and they in turn train some of our next generation to hopefully be the next CEOs.”
Expertise is something the Yeoh patriarch has required of all the family members at YTL.
As he told the Wall Street Journal back in 2009, “I had to set a very high bar for members of our family. I insisted on an honours degree in engineering or similar degrees related to our industry. I didn’t want any molly-coddled sibling coming in. I didn’t want nepotism, cronyism and all that stuff.”
The report says none of the many Yeohs at YTL, including his own children, count themselves as shoo-ins as the company’s next leader.
More than 20 members of the Yeoh family are working at YTL, which stands for Yeoh Tiong Lay, the eponymous company Francis Yeoh’ father founded in 1955. Starting out in construction, it is now a global player in the power generation, infrastructure, hotels, property and telecommunications sectors, with five listed arms.
Francis Yeoh, who has frequently attributed his success to his religious faith, has been the chief executive of YTL since 1988.
CNBC quotes Jacob Yeoh, Francis’ second-eldest, as saying: “At a very young age we were told that you are all just family stewards of the YTL brand and the YTL name, but your ultimate role is to pass it on to the next generation.
“It’s never really for yourselves, so we never really had an ego trip to be amazing or be more amazing than the generation before us.”
Jacob, the deputy CEO at YTL Communications, the group’s newest venture, is an electrical engineering graduate,
Another son, Joseph, vice-president of YTL Hotels & Properties and YTL Land & Development, told CNBC that being part of the founding family was no protection from hard work at YTL.
“I think it is very easy, especially being family members to, for lack of a better word perhaps, abuse your power or to have a false sense of security.
“I think that’s where expectation pressure helps you to push your boundaries and to realise how hard one has to work, for example, in the hospitality industry.”
Yeoh’s eldest child, Ruth Yeoh, is YTL’s other CEO, as well as executive director of YTL Singapore, director of YTL-SV Carbon and the group’s chief environmental officer.
Ruth Yeoh was quoted as saying: “This generation, we borrow it from the next generation. Being a parent myself, I’ve got to think of the fifth generation, and I’d love for them to know the species that I know in this lifetime. Nature, wildlife as I know it now, I wouldn’t want it to disappear within the next few years.”
The two youngest Yeoh siblings – Joshua and Rebekah – work in the cement business and finance operations respectively. According to their father Francis, all five children ended up in their respective roles by following their natural inclinations.