So who is likely to succeed him as Boustead’s CEO? While Wong has stopped short of naming his eldest son Wong Yu Loon as his successor, he has hinted that the latter is a frontrunner. “I’m sure you can guess the market has speculated that my eldest son [will succeed me]. He has been groomed by a few of my colleagues and the board members,” Wong says in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
Since taking control of Boustead Singapore in his early 50s, chairman and group CEO Wong Fong Fui has transformed the conglomerate and taken it to greater heights. From a company valued at just $80 million, it now has a market capitalisation of about $341 million. Its pivot into industrial properties and downstream energy-related engineering solutions, as well as retaining the geospatial technologies business, have anchored much of the company’s fortunes.
But as Wong turns 77 this year, his time at the helm of the company may be drawing closer to the end. Wong is aware of that as the company has been putting in place a succession plan over the last few years. In fact, if he were to retire now, Wong is confident that all the company’s businesses can survive without him.
