Thursday July 29, 2010

A millionaire before graduating

READ THIS too WHAT RECESSION? TYCOONS SPEND £1.8 MILLION ON CHAMPAGNE IN ST TROPEZ

KUALA LUMPUR: Businessman and Malaysia’s most famous socialite Jho Low made his first million – in US dollars – when he was barely 20 years old when he took a semester off from The Wharton School of Business to set up an investment fund that is today worth in excess of US$1bil (RM3.19bil).

In his first-ever interview with the media, Low said he was in the right place at the right time and also that he had gone to the right schools – Harrow School in England and The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, in the United States.

He tells of how at these schools he met and befriended Arab royalty, describing the relationship as being important since how they became friends at such a young age created a great amount of trust between them.

His private equity fund, called The Wyndon Group, started off with a capital of US$25mil (RM79.7mil) from his family and nine other investors made up of his schoolmates and their families. Low, 28, is the third and youngest child in the family of Datuk Larry Low, who founded the engineering company MWE.

Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low

Age: 28
Place of birth: Penang
Height: 1.7m
Weight: 88kg
Languages: English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teo Chew and Basic Arabic

Education
Primary: Union Primary School
Secondary: Chung Ling High School/Uplands School (O-Levels) Harrow School, London (1998-2000) (A-Levels)
Tertiary: The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2000-2005) (Bachelor of Science in Economics majoring in Finance)

Career

 At the age of 20, started an investment company called The Wynton Group with US$25mil from family and South-East Asian and Middle Eastern friends. The investment company in which he owns a stake is now worth in excess of US$1bil.

 Appointed to the board of UBG Bhd as group adviser and non-independent & non-executive director in 2008.

 Group adviser to several international corporations involved in global private equity, M&A and buyouts