Report: Azman Mokhtar Slated To Replace Zeti As PNB Chairman

(MMO) – Former Khazanah Nasional managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar is leading the nomination for the next Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman, business daily Focus Malaysia reported today quoting anonymous sources.

The report said this is conditional on Azman accepting the job, which will see him replacing Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

Azman had stepped down from Khazanah in 2018 following then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s purported public criticism of the sovereign fund soon after his Pakatan Harapan administration took over Putrajaya.

This comes as Khazanah deputy managing director Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn is rumoured to be PNB’s chief executive, pending approval by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin, as the prime minister, is the chairman of PNB’s holding company Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera.

PNB’s youngest former president and group chief executive Jalil Rasheed had resigned earlier this week, claiming a series of harassments that made him fear for the safety of his family.

In his farewell email to staff members, Jalil said he received hate calls, and his corporate email account and LinkedIn social media profile were hacked.

In a brief statement, PNB’s board of directors said it has approved for an appointment for a successor and the announcement regarding the matter will be done after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.

Zeti and Jalil were appointed by the Dr Mahathir administration, in a plan to reform and diversify government-linked companies.

PNB holds around RM180 billion in equity investments in Bursa Malaysia which translates to around 10 per cent of the market capitalisation of Bursa Malaysia.