By THOMAS HUONG
KUALA LUMPUR: Billionaire Tan Sri Vincent Tan pledged to donate RM600mil in shares to his Better Malaysia Foundation (BMF) for charity, as part of his promise to give away half his wealth.
Tan, whose wealth is worth US$1.2bil (RM3.6bil) according to the Forbes magazine, is the founder and controlling shareholder of the Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) group of companies. He just retired.
In March last year, he had made the pledge, saying, “When you are wealthy, you can afford to give back to society.”
The RM600mil donation will be in the form of BCorp's 10-year, 5% ICULS (irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks) valued at RM200mil, and RM400mil worth of shares in U Mobile Communications Bhd which is expected to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in the third quarter of 2012.
BMF was founded a few years ago by the tycoon, and was formerly known as the Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Foundation.
"BMF should receive RM10mil annually from the ICULS, which pays 5% interest per year. Together with the future dividend income from U Mobile shares, the foundation will be well-funded to carry out charitable efforts," said Tan in his speech during the second Berjaya Founder's Day celebration held at Berjaya Times Square.
When he turned 60 two days ago, Tan announced he had relinquished his position as chairman of the group after earlier giving up the CEO post to his eldest son, Datuk Robin Tan.
"It is by no means an easy decision to make as Berjaya has been a part of my life. As I turned 60, I had to reset my priorities to seek rewards other than financial so I could devote more time for other causes," he said.
At Saturday's celebration, Tan also handed over donations worth RM11.6 million to 61 charitable bodies.
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