This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 1, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Johor Corp (JCorp) president and chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim passed away yesterday at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer, according to a Bernama report.

Muhammad Ali died at about 3.30pm at KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital. The report stated, citing close family members of the deceased, that he was admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment two months ago.

According to the World Islamic Countries University Leaders Summit Secretariat, Muhammad Ali was recognised as an outstanding Malaysian corporate entrepreneur after a successful 28-year career as CEO of JCorp between 1982 and 2010.

At the end of his tenure as CEO, JCorp was recognised as one of Malaysia’s outstanding corporations with more than 280 companies and 65,000 employees. Eight companies were listed including New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), bringing a total market capitalisation of RM18.1 billion at end-2010.

Most of these companies have been privatised such as KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd, Sindora Bhd and QSR Brands Bhd, as well as NBPOL, which was delisted from LSE in 2015. Kulim has sold its stake in NBPOL to Sime Darby Bhd.

Among the JCorp companies that are still listed on Bursa Malaysia today are KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Al-Aqar Healthcare Real Estate Investment Trust and Damansara Realty Bhd.

Muhammad Ali was also president of the Malaysian Islamic Chamber of Commerce and chairman of Awqaf Holdings Malaysia Bhd — Malaysia’s first community-driven Corporate Waqf.

In October 2015, he was listed as one of the Muslim 500 — the World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2016, by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre headquartered in Amman, Jordan.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in his tweet yesterday, expressed his condolences to the family of the late Muhammad Ali, saying the latter had made a huge contribution to JCorp and the corporate sector.

For former managing director and independent non-executive director of KPJ Healthcare Tan Sri Datin Paduka Siti Sadiah Sheikh Bakir, Muhammad Ali is remembered as a man who had dedicated himself to the corporate world.

“His tagline was ‘Business Jihad, Corporate Waqf’, which was a community driven waqf for all Ummah,” she told The Edge Financial Daily.