Shahril – rich but down to earth

by **Cals** Sun 13 Oct 2013, 21:52

Published: Saturday October 12, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday October 12, 2013 MYT 9:27:33 AM
Shahril – rich but down to earth
BY XANDRIA OOI AND TEE LIN SAY
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TAN Sri Shahril Shamsuddin hasn’t changed one bit from the time we first met some 8 years ago. At the age of 52, the oil and gas magnate has not lost his charm or his sense of humour.
After walking briskly into the restaurant, Shahril took his seat and broke out into laughter after saying in jest that he and his partner Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir are the biggest debtors in town.
(SapuraKencana has long-term debt of RM3.7bil and short-term debt of RM7.2bil).
It’s not that the company is in any way sinking under its indebtedness.SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, of which Shahril and Mokhzani are owners and the top executives of the company, has an order book totalling RM25bil.
With Shahril holding some 20% of the company via Sapura Holdings, and at SapuraKencana’s share price of RM3.79, Shahril is worth roughly RM4.5bil. He and his brother Shahriman are No. 12 on the 2013 Forbes Malaysia rich list.
Corporate Malaysia knows Shahril as the eldest son of Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir. Shamsuddin built Sapura Holdings from the ground up into one of the country’s largest privately-held conglomerates that employed 4,500 people at that time.
Since the early nineties, the then 30-year old Shahril began to take over the reins from his father.
Shahril feels it has been his innate character to want to achieve big things and he looks to his father as a mentor in preparing him for bigger responsibilities.
“For sure, my father was my mentor. Looking at him work hard for the sole purpose of educating his children gave me a very strong drive to be like him. I saw him employ so many people. I saw him being satisfied, not just from the profits made by the company but from providing jobs for so many people,”
Shahril also names Datuk Rameli Musa (Ingress Corp Bhd executive director) and Khoo Soo Keong as his other two mentors.
Shahril says that when people were talking about empowerment in the eighties, his mentors had been practising them in the seventies.
SapuraKencana may have a market capitalisation of RM22bil today with assets worth RM15bil and 11,000 employees, but being a juggernaut was never Shahril’s plan. It started off simply with the desire to create an organisation that was technically very strong and accorded value to customers.
“A team of us got together and asked what kind of service was underserved in Malaysia? In the late nineties, there were hardly any oil and gas service providers and we were an oil-producing country.
“So to us, it was putting together a team and filling that gap. While others were very interested in IT, we exited that area and went into oil and gas. Not many people understood the business at that time. Becoming a juggernaut was an outcome of doing things the right way. We put in the capabilities and capital. We were very committed in doing it ourselves.”
On the issue of connections and how SapuraKencana grows more from know-who, Shahril says people can say whatever they want. “Then I must know many people because we serve 20 countries. The biggest market right now is Brazil, which is 60% of our orderbook. I guess people know that we can deliver and we have a good track record,” says Shahril.
Still, this doesn’t stop him from worrying about delivering.
“I am concerned everyday. When we take on a contract, it is an obligation to deliver. What we make sure is that we don’t shortchange people who have trusted us,” he says.
Looking forward, he sees bright days ahead for SapuraKencana.
“We have capacity that is not filled up. Over the next two years, we are looking to fill this capacity. We will continue consolidating our position and bid for more jobs. We are addressing the Latin American market. Africa is very exciting but it is a developing market and we need to be careful,” he says.
For entrepreneurs keen to start their own business, Shahril’s advice is for them to have a good team that can help the top executives and owners of the company.
“Have proper financing and more importantly, a business model that is sustainable and adds value,” he says. -By TEE LIN SAY

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“YOU’RE the first billionaire I’ve ever interviewed.”
Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin guffaws at my comment, halfway through removing his jacket for the cameraman to place his clip mic.
“Me? I’m just a borrower,” he says nonchalantly, making me laugh as he settles into his chair, ready for our interview.
With that one comment, he makes it known that I don’t need to stand on ceremony with him.
Generally speaking, there are two types of bosses – some you speak to in hushed tones and some you can be jovial with. Shahril obviously belongs to the latter category.
He says he awakens before sunrise every morning for a jog, and just in case I’m harbouring any illusions about his incredible discipline and motivation to exercise, he declares, “It’s insomnia, you know. We borrow so much money that we cannot sleep!”
Charmed already and seeing that he doesn’t seem to mind talking about money, I jump right in and ask if money has become more or less important as he makes more of it.
He doesn’t view money that way, Shahril says after giving it a quick thought.
“As long as there’s enough money to eat, provide for your family and share with others, that’s what it’s for.”
While I feel I can relate to what Shahril is saying, it must be noted that there is a vast difference between our bank accounts.
Most of us have dreams of what we would do with our lives if money wasn’t an issue. And we will work to become financially independent towards that end. However, in the case of the very rich, that goal is moot.
Shahril nods in agreement, telling me how money isn’t his main motivation, before coming to a halt, as if having figured out he’s not answering my question.
“What was the question again? Lucky that we can rewind this,” he declares in mock horror, pointing at the camera.
After joining in the peals of laughter from the crew, Shahril talks about the 11,000 people in his company, explaining that for him, he has a responsibility that he can’t walk away from. “Not until you find someone, a successor to what you’ve built. Then, you’re really independent.”
“So, if you were free from all your responsibilities right now, what would you do?” I ask.
“Sail and learn how to ride a horse,” he replies, lending the belief that perhaps billionaires aren’t so different from you and I.
I bring up the subject of luck next and Shahril immediately says, “I think the harder you work, the luckier you get”, a line that is going to become one of my favourite quotes without a doubt.
“Hard work creates luck because opportunities will come,” he reasons, adding, “and we’ll be able and ready to capitalise on it.”
One thing he doesn’t deny, though, is that it’s always going to be a challenge trying to get people to step out of their comfort zones.
As a leader, he says, it is imperative to make your charges understand that it really is okay to make mistakes because the precursor to success is making as many mistakes as possible. He doesn’t see mistakes as painful and constantly debates with his children, all six of them, on what they intend to do in the future.
Shahril is amused when he speaks about his kids, breaking down the different areas of study they are all engaged in.
“Are you okay with them deciding for themselves what they want to do?”
“Absolutely,” he says.
“You have to believe that human beings by nature don’t self-destruct. Everyone will survive. And their survival instinct will drive their conduct or the way they behave to survive and succeed.”
It’s not everyday that I get to listen to someone putting life into perspective in such a way. I find it highly inspiring and tell him so.
“What is the one thing you want your kids to know?” I ask.
“That opportunities are allocated to every single person in this world to do what they want to do, to live life to the fullest and be useful to the next person and everyone they meet.”
The glass is clearly always half full when Shahril is around. And what a joy that is. -By XANDRIA OOI
Clothes: Courtesy of Zara
Restaurant: Eyuzu@Eastin Hotel[/font][/color]