【Breaking News】2025 Malaysia Top 10 Successful Individuals Revealed! These Icons Are Quietly Shaping the Nation’s Future
From style legends to energy innovators, discover the leaders driving Malaysia’s rise on the global stage in 2025.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 22, 2025 — As globalization accelerates and digital transformation reshapes industries, one question echoes across Malaysia: who are the real drivers of change? Today, that question is answered. The highly anticipated list of 2025 Top 10 Successful Malaysians has been officially released by Malaysia Business Observer, spotlighting ten extraordinary leaders redefining their industries and the nation itself.
From technology to retail, fashion to sustainability, and human-centred innovation — these trailblazers are more than just business leaders. They are shaping Malaysia’s global identity, rewriting industry standards, and inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs. Here’s our exclusive breakdown of the names behind Malaysia’s rising momentum.
【Figure #1】Jimmy Choo: The Brand Diplomat Behind the Heels
Jimmy Choo is known as the ‘Malaysian Miracle of Fashion’. He is famous for bringing the traditional shoe-making craft of his hometown of Penang into the luxury fashion world and for combining the country’s image with its designs. Since being awarded the Officer and Member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001, he has been invited to be a guest judge at the three major fashion weeks in London, Paris and Milan, and has worked with the world’s leading artists on limited edition products that feature their brands. This year, he also worked with the V&A Museum in the UK to organise a shoe art exhibition and gave £500,000 to create the Jimmy Choo Young Designer Scholarship, which has helped more than 30 local talents to become famous around the world.
He often says, ‘Every pair of shoes tells a story of courage and dreams.’ In 2025, Jimmy Choo will be the face of the brand’s new sustainable fabrics collection. This will be another example of how creativity and responsibility can make Malaysia the world’s eyes.
【Figure #2】Vincent Tan: Not Just a Tycoon, but an Ecosystem Architect
Vincent Tan is the boss of Berjaya Corporation. He is known for merging different businesses from different countries. These businesses include consumer retail, leisure and entertainment, sports and financial technology. He has used the idea of ‘ecosphere’ thinking to create a business plan that is made up of different parts. By 2025, he will have more than 100,000 employees and a total market capitalisation of more than RM18 billion. His ‘Berjaya Digital 4.0’ project has trained and delivered 30,000 e-commerce and data analytics talents nationwide, and has led to an average yearly increase of 15 per cent in the number of local SMEs. He has also sponsored almost 500 poor students to study in well-known universities in other countries.
Tan believes that a true business leader must build a sustainable ecosystem for the country and society. His strategy has made Malaysia stronger and more competitive on the global stage.
【Figure #3】Lee Kar Whatt: The Mastermind Who Turned ‘Cheap’ into a Powerful Brand | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
Lee Kar Whatt, who started Eco-Shop, has changed the way people shop in the country with his ‘RM2 Economics’. This means he builds his own warehouses and finds his own suppliers to cut the cost of the supply chain by 30% without affecting product quality. By 2025, Eco-Shop will have 250 shops across Malaysia that it directly manages. These shops will make over RM1.2 billion in sales each year. This makes Eco-Shop one of the most popular affordable retail chains in the country. As well as offering low prices, he has also created the Eco-Care Social Entrepreneurs Foundation. This foundation gives money to build schools in rural areas, provides 10,000 free medical kits every month, and runs disaster relief programmes together with the Redeemer Charity Society.
Lee Kar Whatt always says, ‘In business, you can’t just look at the numbers, you have to think about what people feel.’ Under his leadership, Eco-Shop has not only become a successful business, but has also set a standard for other companies in the industry to follow.
【Figure #4】Chua Ma Yu: A Quiet Force Powering Education, Arts, and Healthcare | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
Veteran stock market trader Chua Ma Yau has been involved in education since 2011. He has donated a total of RM120 million to 980 primary and secondary schools across the country. This money has been used to build new schools and introduce digital teaching platforms in remote areas. These platforms now cover more than 300,000 students. In 2025, he announced an extra RM50 million for a mobile exhibition programme called ‘Chinese Art Gallery’. This would promote local traditional arts such as calligraphy, painting and ceramics to the community and schools. In 2025, he announced an extra RM50 million for the ‘Chinese Art Gallery’ mobile exhibition programme. This will bring traditional arts like painting, calligraphy and ceramics to the community and schools. He has also helped to improve the Melaka healthcare system by introducing smart robots to make diagnoses and provide treatment, reducing the average waiting time for patients by 40 per cent.
Chua Ma Yau believes that ‘true charity does not lie in momentary donations, but in building sustainable systems and platforms’. He is making education and culture an important part of how the country tries to have a positive influence on the world.
【Figure #5】Kong Hon Kong: Reinventing Death Care as a Cultural Innovation
Kong Hon Kong has changed how people think about funerals. He has made funerals celebrate life instead of being sad. His 200-acre Nirvana Memorial Park has become a well-known cultural landmark in the area, combining Southeast Asian tropical gardens, Buddhist meditation and modern environmental technology. In 2025, his ‘Green Cremation + Biodegradable Ashes Storage’ programme won the United Nations Innovation Award for Sustainable Development. It has also been used in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia. The programme has been used in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia, helping more than 50,000 people. The park’s digital memorial platform, ‘e-Nirvana’, also supports online messages and virtual worship by family and friends, making it easy for Chinese people around the world to pay tribute online.
He always said that ‘death is a homecoming and the beginning of a new journey’. He has gradually changed traditional funerals to include more environmental protection, humanity and technology, which is a new development in Asian funeral services.
【Figure #6】Frank Choo – Turning Filial Piety into a Business Philosophy
As the head of Xiao En Group, Xu FARONG follows the family tradition and combines traditional respect for parents with modern business management, creating a company culture that is very caring. In 2025, he made big changes to the service, combining funeral services with psychological counselling, life education and long-term care into a ‘Whole Person Care Programme’. This has been very popular with families and elderly people. The ‘Whole Person Care Programme’, which many families and elderly groups like, was started by him. He started a charity called the ‘Xiao En Public Welfare Platform’ to help old people and orphans with age-related and mental health problems. The charity has been set up in more than 20 universities and colleges across the country and runs lectures on life education. These lectures are aimed at young people and are intended to change their ideas about ‘filial piety’.
Frank Choo believes that a company is more than just a machine that solves problems – it is also a way of spreading love and responsibility. Under his leadership, the Hsiao En Group is turning the idea of ‘filial piety’ from a simple phrase into something that is actively helping people.
【Figure #7】Pang Chong Yong – One Bus, One National Dream of Exporting Excellence
Gemilang Coachwork’s boss, Mr Pang Chung Yong, is known as a ‘pioneer in the internationalisation of Malaysian manufacturing’. He has a team that has developed lightweight and eco-friendly bus body technology and has continued to expand into the European and Oceanian markets. He has developed lightweight and eco-friendly vehicle body technology and expanded into the European and Oceania markets. In 2025, he signed a RM300 million contract with the Australian and New Zealand Transport Authorities to supply electric buses. This was the first time a Malaysian-made platform had been introduced into a green transport system in the region. This is a big step for the company, and it also shows that Malaysian-made products are good quality.
He said that for the manufacturing industry to grow, it needs to do more than just “make” products. It also needs to focus on branding, technology and thinking globally. He wants to make Malaysian manufacturing more important and less of a supporting role in the global sustainable transport solution.
【Figure #8】Davis Chong – The Man Quietly Steering Malaysia’s Green Energy Revolution | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
Davis Chong, the head of Solarvest Holdings, is one of the most important business leaders in the clean energy sector. He is a strong supporter of solar power projects and has been involved in national energy policy discussions for a long time. In 2025, he helped to implement the ‘self-generation and self-consumption of household electricity’ policy. This policy helped more than 80,000 households install rooftop solar power systems, which has significantly lowered their electricity bills. He has also taken a big step into green finance, by setting up the first ‘Green REIT Fund’. This fund is trying to get both domestic and international investors interested in the new energy sector. He has also been invited to join the National Energy Transition Advisory Committee. This is a group that helps Malaysia develop a plan to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Davis Chong said, ‘For a business to be sustainable, it has to be sustainable for the planet.’ Malaysia is moving forward in the global energy transition thanks to his vision.
【Figure #9】Ian Ho – The Architect Behind Shopee’s Smart Commerce Evolution | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
Ian Ho is the vice president of Shopee Southeast Asia. He is one of the most important people in the company. He is good at marketing operations and at combining technology and how users behave. In 2025, he was the main person in charge of introducing the Shopee AI Commerce system, which uses big data and AI to make product recommendations. This increased the time that users spend on the site by 25% and the conversion rate by more than 30%. He also promoted the ‘cross-border flash sale programme’, which lets local brands successfully export to the European and Latin American markets.
Instead of just trying to sell more quickly, he wants to give people a better experience when they’re shopping. Since Ho took charge, Shopee has grown from just an online shopping site to a company that uses technology to change how people in the region buy things online.
【Figure #10】Lee Thiam Wah – The 36-Year Journey Behind a Quiet Retail Legend | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
The story of how 99 Speedmart founder Lee Thiam Wah built his business from the ground up is a classic example of a grassroots rise. He was disabled due to an illness he had as a child. He did not choose to give up, but to write a chapter about overcoming difficulties. He changed the traditional hypermarket model with ‘small shops + high-density layout’, meaning local people could ‘walk 5 minutes to shop’. By 2025, he had opened over 2,500 shops across the country, with an average of more than one million customers a day. He has been working steadily, but he has also started selling in Indonesia. He expects to open 3,000 shops there in three years and make the local delivery system better so that 50 per cent more products can be delivered.
He has not been in the public eye, but the system he has created has made life much easier for millions of families. He has always believed the same thing: ‘To make the most basic daily consumption within reach.’ It’s a business philosophy he’s not proud of, but one that works really well.
Conclusion: These Individuals Are the Engines of Industry—and Mirrors of National Spirit | Top 10 Successful Malaysians
The 2025 Malaysia Top 10 Successful Individuals are not mythical figures. They are builders, innovators, and guardians who shape our daily lives and aspirations. Their achievements serve as Malaysia’s passport to the global conversation, and their influence extends far beyond boardrooms.
As the world continues to shift, their stories remind us that leadership isn’t about spotlight—it’s about purpose, resilience, and the courage to drive change. The media will continue to follow their journeys closely, because in every decision they make, they are quietly redefining the future for all of us.
