Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Peng Ooi, 60, may not be one who is easily understood, and he admits that investors once walked away because they could not understand his theories on mathematical intelligence, but he is having the last laugh.

For Goh was listed as Malaysia’s ninth richest on Forbes’ list, with a net worth of US$1.5 billion (RM5.52 billion). The founder and group chairman of Silverlake Axis Ltd has a 66.39% stake in the software company. As at last Friday, Silverlake had a market capitalisation of S$3.042 billion (RM11.19 billion). 

Goh’s wealth stems largely from his passion and relentless pursuit of mathematical intelligence. His passion for mathematics is evidenced by whom he considers his role models — Plato and Isaac Newton. 

“I was lucky that somebody needed my [software] solution, when UOB Singapore decided to buy from Silverlake which was a small company [then]. That laid the groundwork,” Goh said in an exclusive interview.

Despite being offered a position as a researcher at the University of Tokyo, where Goh obtained his Bachelor of Engineering, he came back to Malaysia.  Before setting up Silverlake, Goh spent nine years in IBM where he learnt management skills. 

On succession planning, Goh replied with a smile: “I’m happy to say that my children are mathematically inclined; both are not very worried about the father talking too much about mathematics, so that’s a good sign.” Goh said he is not worried about succession at Silverlake, acknowledging that there are better businessmen out there. Goh is no longer involved in running the day-to-day operations of Silverlake, but he is committed to researching mathematical intelligence. 

“Personally I will continue to research mathematical intelligence and there’s no way I can stop it. Even when I don’t want to ... I think about it,” he said. — By Wei Lynn Tang

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 30, 2015.

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