This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 26, 2026 - November 1, 2026

IN 2017, Wong Thean Soon debuted at 33 on Forbes’ list of Malaysia’s richest with a net worth of US$330 million, based on his shareholdings in My E.G. Services Bhd, since renamed Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX).

Forbes said of Wong and Zetrix AI back then, “In 2000, he launched MyEG Services to better manage the interactions Malaysian citizens have with their government in areas such as immigration, licensing, utilities and tax payments.

“The company’s growth potential is huge, given the vast swath of services it can still tap into in the country and the chance to replicate the model in neighbouring countries.”

The company was an investors’ darling back in the day. From the 13th general election (GE13) in May 2013 to January 2018, its share price climbed more than 1,700%, buoyed by its monopoly of the various lucrative electronic government services and renewals, particularly for foreign workers’ insurance and permits as well as rehiring. Its market capitalisation was north of RM7 billion then.

Wong’s 39.52% stake in the company was worth RM3.5 billion in January 2018, four months before GE14. The stock was valued at a price-earnings ratio of 69 times at the time.

At its close of 7.5 sen last Friday, Zetrix AI had a market cap of RM592.3 million.

Wong has been managing director of the company since March 2000.

Datuk Norraesah Mohamad, a senator from 2005 to 2008 and a supreme council member of the ruling Umno between 2000 and 2013, was the executive chairman of MyEG until last Friday.

She was known to have close ties to former prime minister, the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“Zetrix AI was always said to be close to Umno,” one market watcher says. “As such, things took a turn for the worse after 2018 [when Pakatan Harapan wrested control from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in which Umno was the lead partner].”

In its heyday, despite often being criticised for its monopoly of government renewal services which appeared to violate the Competition Act 2010, the company seemed to have the business locked in tight.

In January 2015, the Malaysia Competition Commission commenced investigations into allegations of a monopoly by Zetrix AI on e-government services, specifically for the renewal of foreign worker permits.

However, a month later, the company’s fortunes took a turn for the better. The government made it mandatory for employers to renew foreign workers’ work permits online, as opposed to over the counter. Its monopoly became more lucrative. In addition to the RM125 processing fee for the service, there was also a RM38 fee per transaction, causing a public uproar.

Zetrix AI had been offering renewals for foreign maid permits since 2011 and renewals for foreign workers in labour-intensive industries since 2013. In addition to Malaysia, it had expanded to the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Everything ground to a halt after Pakatan Harapan came to power in 2018. However, despite the challenges, it survived.

In April 2019, the then domestic trade and consumer affairs minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that Zetrix AI was one of four companies being investigated by a special cabinet committee chaired by the then economic affairs minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, for their monopolistic practices.

Soon after, there were news reports that Umno, reeling from the loss of power after the elections, had sold stakes in four entities including Zetrix AI, raising RM2 billion via proxies.

In response, the company said in an announcement to Bursa Malaysia: “MyEG Services notes with regret and disappointment the unfounded claims about the group. The group wishes to categorically state that assertions made in the article that MyEG has Umno or its proxy as a substantial shareholder are entirely erroneous, speculative and baseless.”

While it no longer had a monopoly, Zetrix AI ventured into new frontiers. This was when it started investing in China’s technologies.

The company announced plans to invest in education technology group Jingle Magic (Beijing) Technology Co, which was involved in the development of virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence (AI)-based educational equipment and software, about a year after the change in government.

It also invested in Beijing DeepScience Technology Ltd, a leading virtual livestreaming, real-time animation and digital human company, and inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a strategic cooperation with the Institute of Industrial Internet and Internet of Things of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, to establish an international extension of China’s national blockchain network, Xinghuo Blockchain Infrastructure and Facility, in 2019.

By April 2022, the company had completed the foundational development of its Layer-1 blockchain functionalities, which set the stage for its next course of growth. In the same year, it signed an MOU with MIMOS Technologies Solutions Sdn Bhd to jointly develop and operate the national Layer-1 public blockchain, to be used as a component of the Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure.

Zetrix AI’s profit has been reaching new peaks each year, except for 2018, despite the political changes that did not augur well for its home operations over the past seven years.

Its net profit shrank to RM125.97 million in the financial period (FP) ended Sept 30, 2018 compared with RM200 million in the financial year ended June 30, 2017, due to impairments on capital expenditure and receivables related to the abolishment of the goods and services tax regime.

Nevertheless, its earnings growth trend has been uninterrupted. In addition, its double-digit net profit margin of over 60% is surely the envy of companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Zetrix AI’s net profit rose from RM303 million in FP2019 — which comprised results for the 15 months from Oct 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2019 — to RM398.66 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022) and RM870.66 million in FY2025.

It recorded revenue of RM593.5 million in FP2019 and breached the RM1 billion mark in FY2024. Annual revenue was RM1.33 billion in FY2025.

For the first six months of its financial year ending Dec 31, 2026, Zetrix AI chalked up a net profit of RM540.58 million on the back of RM813.01 million in revenue.

It is worth noting that the company changed its financial year end twice, in 2018 and 2019. On June 13, 2018, it changed its financial year end from June 30 to Sept 30. On Sept 27, 2019, it changed its financial year end from Sept 30 to Dec 31.

However, the music has stopped abruptly at its party.

Earlier this month, Minister of Transport Anthony Loke announced that Zetrix AI owed the Road Transport Department RM314 million as it had failed to remit collections from May to September this year, and that the company would face a suspension of its duties from Oct 5.

Other than the above and Zetrix AI’s other government-related businesses, HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU) said in an email response to questions from The Edge that Zetrix AI has not been a technology partner for the National Immigration Integrated Systems (NIISe) project since April 2025 when the agreement lapsed. (See “HeiTech Padu: Collaboration with Zetrix AI for NIISe project lapsed”.)

Zetrix AI also has a 49% stake, via wholly owned PayMe Sdn Bhd, in My Blockchain Infrastructure Sdn Bhd, which designs, develops, markets, operates and upgrades the Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure and its related applications.

A check on the Companies Commission of Malaysia website indicates that PayMe had no revenue, and posted a net loss of RM7.37 million in 2024 and RM8.39 million in 2025.

Zetrix AI’s biggest assets are its investments in blockchain and personal artificial intelligence, in which it had invested RM3.7 billion as at June 30, accounting for 56% of its total assets.

To put things in perspective, Zetrix AI’s development costs were RM599.13 million as at end-2022, RM1.21 billion as at end-2023 and RM1.85 billion at end-2024. These investments are booked as development costs on the balance sheet.

It also owned digital assets amounting to RM532.88 million as at June 30, up from RM376.61 million at end-2025 and RM256.7 million at end-2024.

Questions have been raised as to the veracity of these assets and figures.

Other than the above, the company owns Zetrix Tower in Empire City, in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The 22-storey building, which is about 10 years old, and its surrounding structures have a net book value of about RM215 million, according to Zetrix AI’s annual report for FY2025.

As at end-June this year, the company had RM541.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, and long-term borrowings of RM1.34 billion as well as short-term borrowings of RM853.06 million.

With so many uncertainties, the outlook for Zetrix AI is now bleak. From being the controlling shareholder, Wong now has less than 2% interest as a result of his shares being force-sold.

Last Friday, bondholders of its RM2 billion sukuk met to discuss the issues at the company. A covenant relating to the paper — namely that Wong has to remain the single largest shareholder — has been breached.

Both parties failed, however, to reach a deal at the meeting. Another bondholder meeting will be held on a date to be decided later.

Read also:
Cover Story: How T S Wong lost Zetrix AI’s tech narrative
Cover Story: Rudderless, with no clear controlling shareholder
Cover Story: HeiTech Padu: Collaboration with Zetrix AI for NIISe project lapsed