KUALA LUMPUR: Westports Holdings Bhd founder and executive chairman Tan Sri G Gnanalingam passed away Tuesday afternoon at the age of 78.
The company confirmed this in a filing with Bursa Malaysia Securities late evening.
"Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam was the founder of the company and a source of inspiration; he touched our lives and the community with his compassion, generosity and kindness. His vision and stewardship of the Company have built and transformed Westports and Port Klang into the preeminent gateway port in Malaysia and one of the transhipment hubs in South East Asia," the company said in the announcement.
In 1994, Gnanalingam successfully secured the concession to operate Westports. He has been executive chairman of Westports since Sept 1, 2013.
He attended the Royal Military College from 1960 until 1964 before obtaining his Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of Malaya in 1968.
He was also an alumni of the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA, having attended the School's Advanced Management Programme in 1983.
His efforts were recognised when he was named Transport Man of the Year in 2001 by the Ministry of Transport.
Gnanalingam was included in Forbes' 2021 billionaires list, with a net worth of about US$1.7 billion at the time.