KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 9): Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KL:KLK) has redesignated its chief operating officer Lee Jia Zhang as chief executive officer, effective Oct 1.

Jia Zhang, 43, will fill the vacancy left by his father, Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian, who was redesignated as group executive chairman in 2024.

Oi Hian is also chairman of KLK’s controlling shareholder Batu Kawan Bhd (KL:BKAWAN). The Lee family owns more than 56% of Batu Kawan, which in turn holds a 48.24% stake in KLK.

In a statement, KLK said the board changes are part of the group’s orderly leadership transition and are intended to ensure continuity in its strategic and operational direction.

Jia Zhang, who joined KLK in 2010, has held various leadership roles within the group, with experience spanning its plantation, oleochemical, refinery, property and corporate businesses.

During his tenure at KLK, he held several leadership positions in the oleochemical and corporate divisions, including managing director of Palm-Oleo Sdn Bhd from January 2017 to December 2018 and CEO of KLK OLEO from April 2022 to September 2024.

He was appointed to the KLK board as executive director on May 16, 2018 and assumed the role of chief operating officer on Oct 1, 2021.

“We have full confidence that he (Jia Zhang) will build on the strength of the group laid over decades and take KLK towards robust and sustained growth as well as our vision of becoming a globally recognised agri-based organisation, with the aspiration to be a beacon of our industry,” Oi Hian said in a statement on Wednesday.

Jia Zhang, meanwhile, said he will build on Oi Hian’s achievements by leveraging the group’s strong business foundation, talent and corporate culture to sustain its growth trajectory.