PENANG TAXI DRIVER's SON IS NOW A BILLIONAIRE
Alongside glove makers, one Penang-grown entrepreneur has seen his stock rise amid the pandemic, becoming Malaysia’s latest billionaire with a net worth of a little over US$1 billion (RM4 billion, reported FMT.
Tan Eng Kee is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Penang-based Greatech Technology, a firm which produces industrial automation equipment for various manufacturers, from medical device makers to green energy producers.
Forbes reported that the firm, set up in 1997, has seen its shares jump to 330% in 2020 following the surge in demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy. More than half of its business is derived from foreign markets, primarily the US.
Greatech’s customers include Fortune 500 companies. (Photo by Greatech Technology)
But Tan, who is fondly known as EK by his friends, comes from humble beginnings and never had any aspirations to become a billionaire.
"I did not expect this at all. I have a simple life. I come to the office, do my job and I go home. Nothing changes because of this,” he said in an interview with Forbes.
Growing up in a poor family in Penang and as the only son of four siblings, he was forced to shoulder more responsibility at a young age after the death of his father, who was a taxi driver. His father died when Tan was just 13, and at 16, he was already working part-time at a bakery.
He continued to juggle the responsibilities he had, going on to acquire a certificate in mechanical engineering in 1991 and then working as a production planner in a precision tooling company.
Just two years later, he decided to venture out on his own by setting up Greatech (M) Sdn Bhd, after borrowing RM10,000 from his mother and enlisting the help of his friends to kickstart the business, including his schoolmate Khor Lean Heng. The business focused on manufacturing components for engineering equipment.
In 1997, he started another firm with Khor, known as Greatech Integration, producing semi-automated and automated equipment for the consumer electronics industry.
While Greatech (M) Sdn Bhd was forced to shut down in 2001, Greatech Integration continued to grow steadily, expanding into the semiconductor business in 2002 and then into solar power in 2010. Now, Khor serves as Greatech’s chief operating officer.
While the lockdown caused by the pandemic saw some downtime for Greatech, Tan said all of the company’s factories are up and running, with the business getting ready for further growth.
In October, Public Investment Bank projected Greatech’s revenue to grow upwards at a compounded rate of 47.5% in the next three years, describing the firm as well-positioned to ride on the growth in the solar photovoltaic segment.
Greatech had also opened its first office in the US in the third quarter of 2020, a testing facility in Michigan, with several more to be set up in the third quarter of this year in Illinois and Arizona.
There are also plans to open up an office in Germany by the end of this year and to further expand into Europe and India.
“We will benefit from the importance being placed on ESG (environmental, social and governance) as companies move toward achieving zero-carbon status,” said Tan.
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