Genting Empire Has New Day-to-Day Leader Following Abrupt Exit of Lim Kok Thay
Lim Kok Thay is out as president and CEO of Genting Group Genting owns and operates Resorts World casinos Genting posted disappointing 2024 results last week
Genting Berhad, a Malaysia-based conglomerate involved in an array of business sectors from casino gaming to oil palm production, is no longer under the day-to-day control of the billionaire Lim family six decades after it was founded.
Kok Thay is out as president and CEO of Genting Group, the Malaysia conglomerate he’s led for almost two decades. Lim took control of the organization following his father’s death in 2007. (Image: Bloomberg)
Lim Kok Thay shocked the gaming world late last week when he announced his sudden departure as president and chief operating officer of Genting Group. The 73-year-old will remain as the executive chairman of the Genting Board of Directors.
Genting announced that Tan Kong Han will succeed Lim as president and CEO. Tan is currently the CEO of Genting Plantations, which owns more than 600,000 acres of land where oil palm trees are grown. Tan will be replaced by Lim’s eldest son, Lim Keonh Hui, who is widely considered a future CEO and president of the group.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Tan Kong Han on his promotion and new appointment. He replaces me to lead and oversee the day-to-day operations of Genting Berhad, thus enabling me to focus on my duty as the executive chairman of the board and my other duties within the Genting Group,” Lim wrote.
Tan joined the company in 2007 and became a director in 2020. Lim said his promotion is part of a “multi-year succession plan.”
Genting Changes
Genting was founded in 1965 by Lim’s father, the late Lim Goh Tong, when he envisioned a mountainside resort in the Malaysian Highlands, which became what is today Resorts World Genting.
Over the years, Genting’s business expanded to include investments in plantations, power generation, oil and gas, property development, life sciences, and biotechnology. The organization has businesses in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, the United States, The Bahamas, Egypt, and the United Kingdom.
Its core gaming and hospitality operations include seven integrated resort casinos branded Resorts World. Along with the Malaysia property, they are Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, Resorts World New York City, Resorts World Catskills in Upstate New York, Resorts World Birmingham UK, Resorts World Bimini Bahamas, and Resorts World Las Vegas.
Lim’s exit from daily operations comes as Genting’s gaming and hospitality business struggles and management is being overhauled.
In Las Vegas, among Genting’s biggest investments in recent years, the group in December appointed former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren to Resorts World Las Vegas’ newly formed board of directors. Gaming industry veteran Alex Dixon was appointed CEO. RW Las Vegas has largely underwhelmed since the $4.3 billion destination opened on the Strip’s northern end in June 2021.
Business Struggles, Stock Selloff
Last Thursday, Genting revealed that its net profit dropped 11% in 2024 to $448 million. It recorded a net loss of $34.7 million in the fourth quarter, as business at its Singapore and U.S. properties slowed.
Along with the Lim exit news, Genting Bhd shares traded on the Bursa Malaysia closed at a four-year low of 3.29 ringgit, or less than three U.S. quarters.
In 2022, Genting winded down its Genting Hong Kong cruise business that was battered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group has since returned with Resorts World Cruises, but it was a costly makeover.
Genting is investing $1.7 billion at RW Sentosa in Singapore to revamp the property and bring 700 additional guestrooms to the complex. The company is additionally proposing a more than $5 billion overhaul of RW New York City should the destination win one of the three New York downstate gaming concessions.
Considered a front-runner, Genting’s recent issues and now change atop its leadership could slightly lengthen the Queens racino’s chances of procuring slots, live dealer table games, and sports betting.
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