Those who are younger would be surprised with the reported RM2.2 billion wealth of the late Jamaluddin Jarjis. Those in the business world in the 1990s would know what Jamaluddin Jarjis did before he entered politics. JJ, as he was commonly known, was a graduate of University of Manchester and then got his PHD is Electrical Engineering from Canada. In the early 1980s he started his engineering consulting company called J & A Associates. By the year 1986, he then bought a company called EPE Power which manufactures electrical and power equipment. He then listed this company on the KLSE under the name EPE Power Corp Bhd in the early 1990s. EPE Power was one of the early recipients of Mahathir’s IPP projects and was one of the major shareholder of the Teluk Salut IPP in Sabah.
In August 2000, he was appointed the Chairman of Tenaga Berhad by Mahathir and held this position until the year 2002 when he was appointed Minister of Finance II (Mahathir was Minister of Finance 1 then).
JJ had made a fortune even in the 1990s which is now coming to 30 years ago. He could probably have invested his fortune in the share market and did well as news reports said RM2 billion of his RM2.2 billion estate are all in shares.
Although EPE was late rdelisted from the stock exchange and then bought by the Ranhill group, many of the company subsidieis still survive and prosper today.
As much as JJ’s fortune is now, it is nowhere near the new heroes of Pakatan – Tun Daim Zainuddin and Mahahtir & Family.
The person has died tragically and there no need to slander or second-guess him – or at the very least, please do try and search a bit more about the person before you accuse him.
