The 28-year old Malaysian who has been called Malaysia’s most famous socialite, The International Man of Mystery & reputedly The Most Wild-spending Twentysomething Malaysian Ever has finally talked to the Malaysian mainstream media, in an exclusive interview with The Star recently.

The gist of it:

- from Penang, 3rd and youngest in family

- Height: 170cm (5′ 7″)

- Weight: 88kg

- Languages: English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teo Chew and Basic Arabic

- father: Datuk Larry Low, founder of engineering company MWE

- he is not the big spender, but his Arab friends and investors are

- he IS a millionaire, having made his first million when he had not yet graduated (aged 20), when he “took a semester off from The Wharton School of Business to set up an investment fund that 8 years later is worth more than USD1 billion.” The fund, called The Wyndon Group, got off the ground with USD25 million, from his family and 9 others: schoolmates & families.

- he and 11 friends are staying at the Park Imperial apartment (5,000 sq ft) in New York, rented for reputedly a monthly amount more than what most people in Malaysia will earn in a lifetime, but he denied that it was him who pays the rent. For that kind of money definitely it has to be “a very nice apartment,” with probably faux wood blinds thrown in.

- on the board of UBG Bhd as group adviser and non-independent & non-executive director since 2008.

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

Still, I doubt there are many Malaysian 28-year old who can casually, yet truthfully say:

I am not going out with Paris Hilton but we have been to several parties together because I am a friend of her parents, Rick and Kathy Hilton. You can ask her yourself if you have any doubt. She just happens to be part of the group.

His advice, basically:

- luck plays a part in life: he was in the right place at the right time
- need to choose the right schools: in his case, it was the UK’s Harrow School (A-Levels) & The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA (BSc in Economics majoring in Finance)

And last but not least:

I am not an excessive person but I do have my breaks for relaxation with friends.

On average, MBAs from the top 45 business schools will make about USD2.5 million overall over 20 years.

But MBAs from Harvard will make almost USD4 million over the same period.

Less well-known B-schools like the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business will get less than half of that amount.

So you know where to go to, but beware the daunting initial outlay!

Still, I would imagine any in the top 45 will set you up for life, so you can indulge in little luxuries including to buy gold online.

- 57.8% earn less than RM3,000 a month, which is 3.4 million households.
- 20.7% earn at least RM5,000 a month
- 4.9% earn at least RM10,000 a month, which is 284,200 households.

Now for the top earners, some people might be very interested in a further breakdown, i.e.

- percentage of households earning at least RM50,000 a month
- percentage of households earning at least RM100,000 a month
- percentage of households earning at least RM500,000 a month
- percentage of households earning at least RM1 million a month

Now, if you do a graph, does the monthly income rise in direct proportion to the number of people who’ve even heard of the moniker Peg perego?

Probably the most expensive of all things purchased with taxpayers’ money can be found in the military.

The general perception could be that the people with connections are made so rich that they’re feeling side effects of diet pills they’re consuming.

On 19th June 2010, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was reported to have said during the book launch of “The Shafee Yahaya Story – Estate Boy to ACA Chief” that even during his time helming the Finance Ministry “military toys were very expensive,” and cited the costs of a patrol craft (RM280 million), and Exocet AM-39 missiles (RM2 million each).

What he said next was quite an eye opener:

When the UK went to war against Argentina [Falklands War, 1982], the UK government tried to borrow them from us because outside of the UK, we had the most of them in the world. We must have been under some extraordinary military threat which I did not understand.

Hence, if we lessen military spending, are we jeopardising the sovereignity of the nation?

It was estimated that The Man With A Glove / The Man Who Never Has To Look For best weight loss pills, has made more than USD1 billion since his death on 25th June 2009.

USD383 million of that was from his album sales, while the film This Is It has generated almost USD400 million. Then there are the publishing rights, licensing, touring and a new recording contract. Not that Sony Music is going to make him sing beyond the grave, but that it will release 10 albums of his music released over the next 7 years, including of course unreleased material. This deal has so far generated USD31 million, and guaranteed to earn his estate between USD200 and USD250 million.

Even tickets from the doomed This Is It tour generated profits – many fans opted to keep the tickets and hence no refund – USD6.5 million, and the tour merchandise pulled in another USD5 million.

MJ’s music publishing company, Mijac is estimated to have generated up to USD50 million in the past year.

Add into all that his share of Sony/ATV’s revenue, valued at USD80m a year.

Not enough? Add DVD sales, rentals, downloads, royalties and ringtones.

Son of a food stall operator, during his first year of college he dabbled in website design, and found it difficult to find good webhosters in Malaysia.

Yes, you saw it coming, it’s the classic stumble upon a problem – find no solution – provide that solution yourself formula.

As with the guy who created Hotmail, he saw the enormous potential, yet realised that if he didn’t act fast, somebody else would, hence scrambled to get his idea off the ground.

Started off in 2000, he set up Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd in 2002.

In its first year of operations, it was a reseller for a US-based company, and already managed to record an astounding RM100,000 in sales.

By 2005 his company was already MSC-status.

Now, he has 32,000 clients from 120 countries, a revenue of RM8.5 million in 2009, a staff of 55 and a growth rate of 20% annually.

But I think the most compelling / inspiring part of his experience is that day he decided to quit his studies due to “overwhelming response from clients” which caused him to initially skip lectures and finally exams.

He gave himself a year. If it didn’t work out, he’d re-enroll.

The rest, as they say, is history.

His next challenge: a globally managed company with improved work procedures and financial management.

His ultimate goal: turn Exabytes into a multinational IT conglomerate.

I think he’s well on his way to achieve that, and could very well be a billionaire before he needs any anti wrinkle creams…

It was reported in The Star on 29th June 2010 that whether / not a client wins / loses is immaterial: a bookie always laughs all the way to the bank, getting between RM10,000 and RM15,000 a month in commissions. And they stand to earn more than that – it depends on their rank in the “organisation.”

A bookie who was interviewed said:
- When he first started 8 years ago (presumably during the 2002 World Cup), he used to get 0.25% of all bets placed by clients, regardless if the match result. Doesn’t sound like a lot? Well, that translated to between RM10K and RM15K a month, for a collection of between RM4 million to RM6 million a month.
- The guy “above” him in the “organisation” made much more, as could be seen from his driving a luxury 4WD and presumably going for Royal Caribbean holidays.
- He was initially a customer himself, then decided that the grass is greener on the other side.

Before the tournament even started, each of the 32 countries received USD1 million to pay for “preparation costs.”

The 16 teams failing to advance beyond the group stage will get USD8 million each.
The 8 teams failing to advance beyond the round of 16 will get USD9 million each.
The 4 teams failing to advance beyond the quarterfinals will get USD14 million each.
The 4th placed team will get USD18 million.
The 3rd placed team will get USD20 million. Now I understand the significance of the 3rd-4th place match. Some said it was meaningless, but is the USD2 million difference meaningless?! At least it would buy new office furniture at the FA’s office.
The World Cup 2010 runnerup will get USD24 million.
The World Cup 2010 winner will get USD30 million, which is about RM100 million.

Some might say: RM100 million only? Bookies in Malaysia alone made an estimated RM300 million in the first 10 days of the 2010 tournament!

And one wonders how much the players would actually get from those amounts.

In addition, FIFA paid a total of USD40 million to the clubs of the players who represented their countries. Why? This is to cover any financial costs of injuries to the players during the tournament. I suppose this would also apply to players not playing for any European clubs.

So far police has raided more than 150 places all over the country and arrested more than 100 people, including a 15-year old student. A message to that youngster: better spend your time writing lipofuze reviews online lah…

Incredible, that is more than the prize given to the team who go on to win the World Cup itself (a mere USD30 million).

Each bookie reportedly earned between RM30,000 to RM40,000 in bets for each game. In the first round, there were 3 games a day, hence each bookie would earn at least RM100,000 a day.

Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin, vocalist, reportedly has assets worth RM50 million. She’s also an ambassador for Maybelline dan Olay. Has luxury cars: Ferrari, Audi, BMW & Mercedes, each worth more than RM500,000.

Norman Abdul Halim (Norman KRU), vocalist, composer, director, actor: built a studio taking in a 15 hectare land costing more than RM30 million. Also has 4 subsidiary companies set up with his 2 younger brothers: KRU Films, KRU Records, KRU Matrix & KRU Communications with offices in the US, Singapure, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Europe. Owns luxury cars Mercs, Ferrari Spyder & BMW.

Mizal Zaini (AC Mizal), host, actor, vocalist: owns AC Konsortium with reportedly received a RM200 million “cash injection”. He’s also a director at Ikhtiar Dimensi, with a paid up capital of RM16 million. Owns luxury cars including Toyota Vellfire, Porsche Carrera & Bentley Continental.

Asmawi Ani (Mawi), vocalist, has various lucrative contracts. Apparently has a bungalow worth more than RM1 million.

Aznil Nawawi, host, vocalist and actor reportedly has a contract with Astro worth millions of ringgit. But he says he only has a BMW 3-series as a car and rents a house.

Rosyam Nor

Source
Harian Metro, 20 Jun 2010