The Kuok Group (MY) I Shangri-La I 5/5

The Kuok Group feeds cities, builds skylines, and reshapes borders. From sugar to shipping, hotels to high finance, it powers modern Asia in ways few truly understand.

Robert Kuok sits quietly at the heart of this story, a man guided by discipline, driven by vision, and guarded in privacy.

He didn’t chase the spotlight. He chased scale. From the chaos of war-torn Malaya to the boardrooms of Beijing, Kuok built his empire with patience, precision, and a belief in long-term power over short-term profit.

He never raised his voice. But when he moved, industries followed.

This is the story of the Kuok Group — how a young man from Johor Bahru, Malaysia, rose from rice sacks and ration books to build Southeast Asia’s largest sugar empire and, ultimately, to shape the future of China, one power move at a time.

Episode 1: Foundations

Japanese bombs fall over Singapore. Sixteen-year-old Robert Kuok begins a long walk home. He is angry, disillusioned, but determined to change the world.

Episode 2: Sugar Rush

Rice built Kuok Brothers Ltd. But sugar? That’s what will make them legends. When global prices spike and contracts fall apart, Robert learns the true cost of sweet ambition.

Episode 3: Sugar Crash

To move beyond importing sugar, Robert sets his sights on building Malaysia’s first refinery. But foreign partners try to box him in. In response, he rewrites the rules - mastering policy, strategy, and global trading - until the Kuok name commands respect from London to Kuala Lumpur.

Episode 4: The Sugar King

To control sugar from source to shelf, Robert ventures into Indonesia and strikes a deal with a powerful, but unpredictable, ally. But as politics sour, he must fight to hold onto the empire he’s built before it slips away.

Episode 5: Shangri-La

Kuok bets on hospitality. The result? A new kind of empire, one made of glass, steel, and silence. But while others chase the West, Robert looks East.

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