Genting Berhad, which operates casinos around the world including Resorts World Las Vegas, is shuffling its boardroom.
Current CEO Lim Kok Thay is stepping down on March 1, and will be replaced by president and chief operating officer Tan Kong Han. Lim will remain as executive chair of Genting’s board of directors.
“Tan joined the company in 2007 as its president and COO, assumed the role of director in 2020, and is now stepping into the CEO role as part of a multi-year succession plan,” Lim said in a Genting statement announcing the board changes.
Tan will also leave his position as CEO of Genting Plantations, a position he has held since January 2019.
It’s potentially a major shift for the Malaysian conglomerate. Filings on the Malaysia stock exchange suggest that Tan is not part of the founding Lim family, which has held the chief executive role since the company’s founding.
The filing announcing Tan's appointment as CEO notes that he has no ties to current directors or existing major shareholders, which would include the Lim family.
Genting did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for confirmation.
Investors, however, did not seem to be thrilled with the change. Genting's shares, which are traded in Kuala Lumpur, dropped 11.8%.
What is Genting?
Lim Goh Tong founded in Genting in 1965, starting with a resort in Genting Highlands, a hill station in the Malaysian state of Pahang. Genting holds Malaysia’s only casino license, granted in 1969, a rare accommodation in the Muslim-majority country.
The group also operates resorts and casinos in Singapore, the U.K., the Bahamas, and the U.S., in cities like Las Vegas, New York, and Miami. It also operates cruise lines under the Resorts World brand.
Genting, No. 54 on Fortune's 2024 Southeast Asia 500, also reported its annual results on Thursday. The Malaysian company reported revenue of 27.7 billion Malaysian ringgit ($6.2 billion), a 2% increase driven by leisure and hospitality in Malaysia, Singapore, the U.K. and Egypt.
In addition to leisure and hospitality, the conglomerate also has interests in plantations, life sciences, and energy.
Outgoing CEO Lim Kok Thay, the son of founder Lim Goh Tong, became a director in 1976, and chairman and CEO in 2007. In a statement, Genting credited the outgoing chief executive with expanding the group’s operations in leisure, oil palm plantations, and energy, and branching out into biotechnology.
A third generation of Lims is already involved in the company. Lim Keong Hui, grandson of the Genting founder, became deputy CEO in early 2019. Sometimes regarded as a possible successor to his father, the youngest Lim will now become CEO of Genting Plantations on March 1.
