WESTPORTS Holdings Bhd founder and executive chairman G. Gnanalingam died this afternoon, his family said. He was 78.

The company, in a statement, also extended its condolences to the family of its chairman.

“It is with profound sadness that Westports Holdings announces that Tan Sri Gnanalingam has passed away.

“We extend our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy to his family.

“Our thoughts are with them at this most difficult time,” the statement read.

Gnanalingam made his mark as marketing director in British American Tobacco in 1968. He later went on to become a corporate consultant overseeing the commercial operations of RTM from 1988 to 2000. 

He founded Westports Holdings, a multi-cargo port operator with Ahmayuddin Ahmad, upon on securing the concession to run a port terminal in 1994.

The company then won a 60-year concession to operate and expand its container terminals in Pulau Indah and Port Klang, which will end in 2054.

Forbes lists the tycoon as the 13th richest Malaysian with a net worth of US$1.4 billion (RM6.52 billion) in 2023.

His son, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam Abdullah, is group managing director while daughter Shaline Gnanalingam is a non-independent, non-executive director of the company.

Gnanalingam attended the Royal Military College from 1960 until 1964, before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Universiti Malaya in 1968. 

He was also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA, having attended its Advanced Management Programme in 1983.

Westports said further announcements will be made in due course. – July 11, 2023.