Lee
Shin Cheng Lee Shin Cheng, born in 1929, grew up northeast of Kuala Lumpur where his father ran a small Chinese food shop. He left school when he was 11 to help support his family, selling ice cream on a bicycle for four years before returning to finish high school. When he was not hired in the first palm oil plantation because he didn’t speak English, he applied in another palm oil company and became a field supervisor. By 1982, Lee Shin Cheng was in control of a small company related to property development and used it to buy a listed gas outfit, Industrial Oxygen Inc., followed by oil palm plantations in 1985. In 1995, he changed the name Industrial Oxygen. Inc., to its current name, IOI. The IOI Group has four large-scale palm oil refineries – 3 in Malaysia and 1 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His refinery in Rotterdam is the largest palm oil refinery in Europe. In addition, IOI has 12 palm oil mills with a total milling capacity of 4,100,000 metric tons per year. His plants produce specialty oils and fats that are used in manufacturing soaps, detergents, cosmetics, and food additives. It has been written several times that IOI’s Lee Shin Cheng is a master at squeezing every drop from his vast plantations. Lee Shin Cheng’s plants yield an average of 2.4 metric tons an acre compared to the average of 1.6 tons an acre across Malaysia. Lee Shin Cheng said that the secret to the high production yield of his plants is in the proper planting and fertilizing. He is also very hands-on and revealed that he still walks through the fields to personally ensure that each tree is producing the way it should. He developed his hands-on managerial style during his stint as field supervisor. Palm oil produces 70% of IOI group’s revenue. The rest of the group’s income are from property development and real estate like townships (http://www.ioiproperties.com.my), urban residential and commercial projects (http://ioijohor.com), IOI Mall (http://www.myioi.com/), and a golf and country resort (http://www.palmvilla.com.my). The IOI Group also practices its corporate social responsibility (CSR). Lee Shin Cheng established The Yayasan Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng in 1998. The foundation has a scholarship program being offered to bright students who wish to pursue their studies and take up courses on engineering, agriculture, horticulture, bio-industry, forestry, marketing, business administration, accounting, landscape, architecture, and town planning. It also donates to people affected by epidemics and natural disasters. Sources: Gatsiounis, Ioannis. Pumping Palm Oil. (posted June 18, 2007). Retrieved on August 11, 2009 from http://www.forbes.com/global/2007/0618/030.html. Corporate websites: http://www.ioigroup.com/ Photo credits: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/84/malaysia-09_Lee-Shin-Cheng_HZCA.html  |
He was not accepted at a supervisory job he applied for in a palm
oil plantation during his early twenties. Today, Lee Shin Cheng
is running the world’s largest palm oil producer, IOI group
(http://www.ioigroup.com/), a global integrated palm oil player
whose products are used in everything from make-up to soap.