Jeffrey Cheah’s 10-Generation Vision: How Sunway Is Building A Malaysian Family Empire Beyond One Founder

Kuala Lumpur, 28 April 2026 – Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Sir Dr Jeffrey Cheah wants the Malaysian conglomerate he built to last not just for the next business cycle, but for the next 10 generations — a rare ambition in Asia’s family-business landscape, where succession, debt discipline and professional management often decide whether empires endure or fade.

Cheah, now ranked as Malaysia’s eighth-richest person with an estimated net worth of about US$5.3 billion, has seen Sunway survive two defining crises: Malaysia’s sharp economic recession in 1985 and the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, when the group’s gearing reportedly reached 200% and interest rates climbed as high as 28%.