PROACTIVE - Vincent Tan

Tan Sri Dato 'Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (born 1952) is the owner of Cardiff City FC and is also Chairman and CEO of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, which control the various businesses which include golfing, property, resort and gambling in a group called Berjaya group. He operates two pay-television service in Malaysia, MiTV, which was launched in September 2005. In 2010 he entered the Forbes list of billionaires with an estimated value of US $ 1.3 billion (RM4.2 billion).

A person who starts from the bottom, Vincent Tan is a very ambitious and proactive person. The fourth of eight children, began working after school. He started as a clerk in United Malayan Banking Corporation (UMBC) while a part-time insurance agent for American International Assurance (AIA).

Profit from the sale of insurance policies pretty much interest him. In 1972, he was working full-time in the field of insurance and AIA agency supervising the youngest at 21 years old. This experience gave him the foundation of good relations with government officials and businessmen. At the same time, he manages the rental truck and transport before entering into the field of import cars and real estate.

A person who likes to read business magazines, he would study the the content of the magazine Forbes, Business Week and Fortune were always borrowed from the bank officers. Unexpectedly in 1973, he read about the McDonald's in Time magazine, something which later changed his life. He wrote to McDonald's and continue to do so until seven years until he brings the restaurant to Malaysia. In 1985, he bought Sports Toto in the early stages of the privatization of the government, that is a corporate measures that pave the way towards the construction of empire.

His business interests include property development, telecommunications, stockbrokers, manufacturing, trade, hotels and internet services, provision of public, media and insurance.

Tan also was the one who opened shopping complex, Berjaya Times Squere which started operations in October 2003. His son, Rayvin Tan Yeong Sheik, is the executive director of Berjaya Group, while his brother, Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing is a board member of several companies owned by Berjaya.