(From left) CDL’s group CEO Sherman Kwek, executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng and group chief operating officer Kwek Eik Sheng at the company’s results briefing in 2023. - CDL
SINGAPORE: Executive chairman of property giant City Developments Limited (CDL) Kwek Leng Beng, 84, has made public a rift with his son Sherman Kwek, 49, filing a lawsuit on Feb 26 to deal with the “attempted coup” of CDL’s board.
More than 15 family members are involved in the Hong Leong Group, the conglomerate that controls CDL, according to Forbes. Here are some things to know about Kwek Leng Beng and his family:
1. Kwek Leng Beng is regarded as one of Singapore’s most successful hoteliers and businessmen
Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng is the executive chairman of conglomerate Hong Leong Group and property developer CDL. Under his leadership, CDL grew to become a major hotel and property developer, expanding beyond Singapore.
The developer owns several luxury hotels in Singapore, including boutique hotel M Social, St Regis and W Singapore. One of Singapore’s newest hotels in Orchard, The Singapore Edition, which opened in February 2024, is also his brainchild. Kwek and his wife Cecilia Kwek reportedly attended the official opening of the hotel.
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2. His late father Kwek Hong Png initially tasked him to grow the King’s Hotel (now known as Copthorne King’s)
Kwek Leng Beng’s father had wanted him, as the eldest son, to join the family business. Trained as a lawyer in London, Kwek Leng Beng got into the family business in the 1960s and focused on running CDL’s operations in Singapore.
Together with his father and his brother Kwek Leng Joo, they bought a controlling stake of a loss-making CDL in 1971.
What started out as a single hotel in Singapore has grown into something much bigger – he began acquiring several hotels to form the Millennium & Copthorne chain, a global hospitality management and real estate group that is headquartered in both Singapore and London.
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3. Together with a Saudi prince, he acquired and bought the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York
The Plaza Hotel in New York, which was accorded landmark status in 1969, has held roles in popular Hollywood films such as Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and The Great Gatsby.
In 1995, Kwek Leng Beng and the then Prince of Saudi Arabia Alwaleed Bin Talal reportedly bought the Plaza Hotel from Donald Trump at US$325 million.
(From left) Kwek Leng Beng with his younger son Kingston, wife Cecilia and elder son Sherman in 2008. - TNP FILE
4. His elder son, Sherman Kwek, was made CDL’s group chief executive in 2018
Sherman Kwek was made CDL’s CEO-designate with immediate effect after then CEO Grant Kelley tendered his resignation the day before in August 2017. He assumed full responsibilities as CEO in January 2018.
Prior to this, he had been the deputy CEO of CDL and the executive chairman of CDL China since April 2016.
In his previous roles, he established a presence for the company in Japan and Australia. He also spearheaded the expansion into China for the past seven years, helping to obtain prime sites in Shanghai, Suzhou and Chongqing, and investing in various innovative start-ups.
He has experience in areas of investments, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and hospitality, and has worked in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
But his father Kwek Leng Beng sought to remove him as CEO in February 2025, over disagreements related to the composition and constitution of the board and the board committees.
ALSO READ: Father-Son feud plunges richest Singapore clan into crisis
5. Kingston Kwek Eik Huih, the younger son of Kwek Leng Beng, is a stock trader who was appointed CDL’s non-executive director in March 2019
Kingston Kwek was appointed as CDL’s non-executive director in March 2019, and had previously worked for Hong Leong Management Services from 2010 to 2012.
Kingston Kwek and his mother spent $9.8 million on an apartment in Boulevard 88, according to an exchange filing in April 2019.
His cousin and CDL’s current group chief operating officer Kwek Eik Sheng also purchased another unit on Boulevard 88’s lower floors for $4.3 million that year.
6. Kwek Eik Sheng been named as an option to be interim CEO at CDL amid ongoing father-and-son feud
Kwek Eik Sheng, who is in his early 40s, is the nephew of Kwek Leng Beng. He is the current group chief operating officer at CDL.
In seeking to remove Sherman Kwek as CEO, the elder Kwek said on Feb 26 that his nephew could take on the mantle as interim CEO while the company searches for a suitable replacement.
A Cambridge graduate, Kwek Eik Sheng worked in corporate finance roles with the Hong Leong Group of companies in Singapore from 2006 to 2008.
7. Quek Leng Chan, cousin of Kwek Leng Beng, co-founded Hong Leong Group Malaysia
While Mr Kwek Leng Beng oversees the Singapore operations, his cousin owns and oversees the Malaysian operations of the Hong Leong Group. Mr Quek was appointed chairman of the board of real estate company GuocoLand in September 2022.
8. Kwek Leng Peck, CDL’s former non-executive and non-independent director, quit in 2020
Kwek Leng Peck, 69, is Kwek Leng Beng’s cousin and Sherman Kwek’s uncle.
He resigned in 2020 over disagreements and clashes with the board over CDL’s investment in Sincere, as well as the continuing provision of financial support to the Chinese property group.
The veteran, who was first appointed as director at CDL in 1987, also had reservations with the group’s approach in managing its London-based unit Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. - The Straits Times/ANN
