This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 20, 2026 - July 26, 2026

Emergence of Jeffrey Epstein-linked Sultan Ahmed Sulayem as executive chairman raises eyebrows

WHEN MMC Port Holdings Bhd’s new executive chairman ­Sultan Ahmed Sulayem sent out a memo to staff last week about the departure of CEO Datuk ­Azman Shah Mohd Yusof, it caught those outside the port operator by surprise and raised many questions.

One of the main questions was whether MMC Port’s indirect owner, tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, had sold his interest in the port operator, held via his flagship vehicle MMC Corp Bhd. 

When asked at a press conference last Friday, Minister of Transport Anthony Loke said the ministry had not been notified of any change in MMC Port’s ownership.

That aside, not many knew that Sultan Ahmed, who resigned from global logistics giant DP World in February this year, had been appointed to such a powerful position at MMC Port. They would have been perplexed by Azman Shah’s abrupt departure — making him the third high-level executive to leave MMC Corp and its stable of companies in a short span of time.

“I didn’t know he had been appointed executive chairman of MMC Port. [As someone in the same industry] I would expect to know about these movements, but I had no clue about this one,” one source says.

The surprise may also have been due to the fact that Syed Mokhtar, founder of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, is a philanthropist and known to be religious, while Sultan Ahmed was in the news earlier this year when the US Justice Department highlighted his numerous email exchanges with convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial.

Sultan Ahmed’s memo to MMC Port staff, with the subject “Interim Reporting Arrangement”, dated July 12, was terse. It stated that Azman Shah’s departure was immediate and that “pending further announcement, and to ensure continuity of leadership, governance and decision-making across the group, the management of MMC Port, all chief executive officers of the operating ports and their respective management teams shall report directly to me with immediate effect. This interim reporting arrangement shall remain in force until further notice.

“Matters requiring executive direction or approval that would previously have been referred to the group chief executive officer should be escalated directly to my office,” he wrote, signing off as executive chairman of MMC Port.

A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia shows that Sultan Ahmed was appointed a director of MMC Port on July 1. This means he took over the company’s reins and saw the exit of Azman Shah within two weeks of his appointment.

Azman Shah could not be reached for comment.

Sultan Ahmed, 71, was ranked seventh in Forbes Middle East’s Top CEOs 2024 and is said to have been with DP World for more than 40 years.

DP World arose in 2005 from the merger of Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Ports International, and has since grown into a behemoth. According to its website, it moves 10% of global trade daily and has a capacity of 110 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The group has a presence in 85 countries and has invested US$10 billion in its global logistics network.

For its financial year 2025 (FY2025), DP World chalked up net profits of US$1.07 billion from US$24.42 billion in revenue. It had total assets of US$55.37 billion as at end-FY2025. Much of this growth was attributed to Ahmed, who charted the rapid expansion via acquisitions such as that of the world’s fourth largest port operator P&O for £3.9 billion in March 2006.

He was also the founding chairman of the Jebel Ali Free Zone, played a key role in establishing giant property developer Nakheel Properties and was chairman of the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation from 2001 to Feb 2026.

Another source from the port industry who is familiar with Syed Mokhtar’s empire says the local tycoon has aspirations to make MMC Port a global player.

“This is where Ahmed Sulayem fits in. He has very good contacts. I have heard of his business connections in Bangladesh and many other parts of the world,” he says.

Of late, there has been news of MMC Corp-linked investments in Bangladesh.

News reports last month said that Red Sea Gateway Terminal Co Ltd, in which MMC Corp has a 20% stake, is slated to beef up operations at the Patenga Container Terminal in Chittagong, Bangladesh this month, after the requisite machinery and other equipment have been deployed. 

It has operated Patenga Container Terminal since 2024 under a 22-year concession with the Chittagong Port Authority. Chittagong Port, which handled 3.41 million TEUs in 2025, is the busiest container terminal in the Bay of Bengal. Red Sea Gateway Terminal also operates a container terminal within the Jeddah Islamic Port.

It is not clear if MMC Port is looking to participate more actively in such global ventures, or if Sultan Ahmed’s presence as executive chairman will help.

MMC Port has grown substantially over the last two decades but venturing abroad would take it to another level. (See also “How MMC Port built Malaysia’s largest port empire”.) 

Other than Sultan Ahmed being appointed executive chairman of MMC Port, DP World has also made inroads into Malaysia. In September 2024, DP World entered into an agreement with Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, a wholly-­owned unit of Sabah state-controlled Suria Capital Holdings Bhd (KL:SURIA), to establish DPW Sabah Sdn Bhd to manage and operate Sapangar Bay Container Port. DPW holds a 51% stake and Sabah Ports the remaining 49% stake in the venture.

As to whether he is still attached to DP World, the port executive familiar with Syed Mokhtar’s operations says Sultan Ahmed left in February this year and “no longer has any ties to DP World”.

While Sultan Ahmed is seen as a professional manager, Newsweek in February this year put his net worth at an estimated US$7 billion (RM28.6 billion) to US$8 billion based on his real estate holdings and strategic investments. If indeed his wealth is as stated, he could be eyeing a stake in MMC Port himself, sans DP World.

Another question is how Port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd’s (PTP) shareholder APM Terminals would react to a new shareholder coming in at MMC Port. APM Terminals owns 30% of PTP while MMC Corp holds 70%.

APM Terminals is a leading global ports group with a network in 74 countries. It is a unit of Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk, which contributed a chunk of PTP’s 14 million TEU throughput in 2025.

While insiders say it is unlikely that Sultan Ahmed will take a stake in MMC Port, his position as executive chairman of the port operator is a powerful one.

MMC Port owns 70% of Port of Tanjung Pelepas, and 100% of Penang Port Sdn Bhd, Johor Port Bhd and Northport (M) Bhd in Port Klang, as well as Tanjung Bruas Port Sdn Bhd in Melaka and Andaman Port in Kedah.

At end-June last year, MMC Port’s draft prospectus was published on the Securities Commission of Malaysia’s website. The initial public offering (IPO) was aimed at raising RM8.5 billion from an offer for sale of 4.27 billion shares, or 30% of the share base, valuing the port operator at a staggering RM29.6 billion.

Syed Mokhtar would have been flush with cash, pocketing RM8.5 billion had the IPO gone through.

The IPO, which was slated for the fourth quarter of 2025 and was later reported to have been delayed to mid-2026, was later scrapped, with analysts pegging the port operator’s valuations at a significantly lower RM20 billion.

Other than the MMC Port IPO, the largely low-profile Syed Mokhtar has been in the news lately for various reasons.

In April this year, it was reported that Syed Mokhtar and Australian developer Walker Corp were looking to list their joint venture WM Senibong Bhd to raise RM500 million. It is understood, however, that there were problems with the flotation exercise, which could have valued the property development company at RM2 billion. (See “Hiccup in Syed Mokhtar’s property JV listing” on Page 13.)

Interestingly, in May, the businessman emerged as a 30.1% shareholder in another property developer, Eco World Development Group Bhd (KL:ECOWLD). This also gives him an interest in EWI Capital Bhd (KL:EWICAP), formerly Eco World International Bhd, which is involved in property development projects overseas but plans to expand into Malaysia as part of a renewed strategic focus.

There has also been talk of Syed Mokhtar looking to sell a 70% stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, which is held via his 55.92% DRB-Hicom Bhd (KL:DRBHCOM), but there have been no takers. It is understood that the sale would have been a cash sale.

Why the businessman, who turns 75 this year, is looking to raise cash is unknown.

MMC Port chalked up after-tax profits of RM761.12 million on the back of RM4.36 billion in revenue for its financial year ended Dec 31, 2024. It paid out RM628.73 million in dividends in FY2024, bringing the total dividends paid out from FY2021 to FY2024 to a whopping RM1.68 billion.

At end-FY2024, MMC Port had total assets of RM15.36 billion and total liabilities of RM9.56 billion.

As these corporate exercises were panning out, there were also questions raised about Syed Mokhtar’s health but this remains conjecture at press time. One market watcher notes that he may be considering slowing down and making succession plans. At MMC Port, there is his 33-year-old daughter Sharifah Sofia Syed Mokhtar Shah. His son, 30-year-old Syed Danial Syed Mokhtar, is involved in his media business as well as Padiberas Nasional Bhd, which has a monopoly on the import and distribution of rice for the government.

“Most businessmen, when they pass 70, start to look at things differently. Often, they prefer their children not to take the same path as they have, to take things easy, no need to kowtow to anyone, politician or otherwise,” one market watcher says.

It is worth noting that Azman Shah’s departure follows that of Tan Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, who had been MMC Corp’s managing director since July 2013, at end-February this year, and long-time Syed Mokhtar general Datuk Ooi Teik Huat, who was appointed to the board of MMC Corp in May 2008, and left in December 2024.

It is understood that while Ooi had left all of Syed Mokhtar’s listed entities, he was still attached to the private businesses in Syed Mokhtar’s portfolio.

Sources familiar with the businessman’s empire says Azman Shah’s departure after Che Khalib’s exit in February could be linked to MMC Port’s botched listing.

“Different people have different expectations of CEOs. Azman Shah, who is 57, had his strengths, as seen in how he handled Northport (one half of Port Klang). But perhaps at this stage in MMC Port’s journey, it needs a different type of CEO, who will drive the port operator to different heights,” another source says.

In the meantime, it remains to be seen whether Sultan Ahmed or any of his associates will buy into MMC Port, and give Syed Mokhtar the funds he has been seeking. 

Read also:
Hiccup in Syed Mokhtar’s property JV listing