Yeoh Pei Xien: YTL’s third-gen scion with a pastor’s heart
The young leader talks about being a ‘nepo baby’ and the strong bonds of blood, childhood and memories
Add BT as a preferred source
“SHOULD I HAVE DRESSED UP MORE?” asks the bubbly Yeoh Pei Xien, comfortably attired in a shirt and jeans, as we meet in the YTL Singapore office in Wisma Atria. She’s on a tight schedule, squeezing in an interview while transiting through the city-state.
The 25-year-old has just flown in from Kuala Lumpur (KL), where she is based. In a few hours, she will catch an overnight flight to London, where she will spend two nights, followed by three nights in New York, before heading back home.
It is par for the course for the vice-president of strategy and transformation at YTL Hotels – a role bestowed upon her as the youngest grandchild of Yeoh Tiong Lay, the founder of Malaysian multinational conglomerate YTL Corporation.
The group’s global businesses include construction, utilities, hotels, property development, telecommunications and technology. Yeoh Pei Xien’s father, Mark Yeoh, is the youngest offspring of the late billionaire and philanthropist’s seven children, as well as executive director of the group’s hotels and resorts division.
YTL Hotels’ portfolio today encompasses 38 properties across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. They include those which YTL owns and operates, as well as others that are managed by brands under Marriott International, Hilton, InterContinental Hotels Group and The Ascott.
Since Yeoh joined YTL 1.5 years ago, it’s been a busy time. There were three hotel openings and two acquisitions in 2025; two openings are taking place this year – Moxy Niseko Village in Japan and JW Marriott in Johor Bahru; and another property, The Rawai Phuket, is launching in early 2027.
Still, there is more to be done. YTL now owns the franchise for Marriott’s AC Hotels brand across Malaysia, and is committed to growing it from the current five hotels to at least one in each of the 13 Malaysian states. There are also plans to build more hotels in Niseko.
In Brabazon, on the former Filton Airfield near Bristol where the supersonic Concorde planes used to be assembled, YTL will be developing hotels alongside an entire township.
A privileged life
Growing up, Yeoh says it was strange being told by YTL employees that she would be their boss one day. “These aunties and uncles were just joking, but as a kid, you’re like, ‘What does that mean?’”
She learnt to laugh it off. But in adulthood, when the long-awaited transition to real responsibility took place, there was pressure. As a history buff, Yeoh found it sobering to learn how empires rose and fell depending on their leadership.
“If you expect people to pander to you, then you’re not going to be a successful leader,” she says. “First, I need to understand the business and the people around me.”
Thankfully, senior colleagues have supported and even protected her at meetings when she stumbled. “I really try my best. The strongest thing about YTL’s culture is that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from them, and are committed to not making them again.”
The work, she says, has been both invigorating and humbling. The University College London graduate in history, politics and economics spent two years as a consultant at Deloitte KL prior to assuming her current role.
Upon entering the family business, she quickly realised there were projects she’d put much effort into which couldn’t take off because of “too many limitations”.
She has since learnt to treasure the small wins first, and follow her father’s advice to shake the dust off her feet and pick herself up during setbacks.
Of course, she is keenly aware of her privileged position in one of Malaysia’s wealthiest clans.
“I’m a ‘nepo baby’. I have to acknowledge that. But maybe it’s my determination or my stubbornness – I want to break that stereotype and work harder and be more passionate and more hands-on with the work that I do.”
A family affair
Yeoh may be an only child, but her 26 cousins – many of whom help run different divisions of the YTL empire – are like siblings to her.
“My cousins are all quite smart, and many of them went to Oxford and Cambridge. I’m not as smart, but it’s okay – I just try to make sure I’m the best version of myself.”
The extended family is very close-knit and she laughs as she tells of “very fun” Sundays of “organised chaos” when everyone visits her 96-year-old grandmother. The home houses four generations of Yeohs – branching from her third uncle and father of seven, YTL Power managing director Yeoh Seok Hong.
“Whenever there’s a new significant other coming in, I tell them, ‘Don’t worry, it’s always like this!’”
Business updates are often done over family meals, where ideas are shared. “It’s very unique because the leaders of entities in many larger companies will not be so close. But we’re bonded by blood, childhood and memories, so we’re a lot stronger.”
Still, with so many relatives involved in the family business, surely there are tensions between them? Yeoh demurs.
“Our family is built on love. Yes, sometimes, someone says: ‘Hey you should try this.’ And you think: ‘I’ve already tried it, why are you telling me this?’
“But they’re not saying it because they think you’re weak. They’re saying it because they want the best for you and the company, and are just giving you an idea.”
In fact, views exchanged and requests made over meals often lead to collaborations between YTL’s divisions. Her cousins are also the ones who understand what it’s like to navigate being a young boss.
“I haven’t watched Succession (a TV series about power struggles in a wealthy family), but I don’t think we work like that as a family. We’re very united and very transparent with each other.”
A worldview shaped by legacy – and faith
Yeoh and her cousins grew up listening to stories of resilience and hard work shared by their grandfather, who started YTL as a construction business in 1955.
“We were so close to our ah kong it never seemed right for us to be like, ‘We’ll take your money, thank you so much for the ang pao. Now, let me go to Louis Vuitton and just buy up the whole store.’”
Instead, they see the business as a legacy of their grandfather’s that parallels Malaysia’s nation-building journey.
“To now say we’re a global company and we’ve been able to meet and host some of the world’s leaders – like the then prince Charles and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang – is insane,” says Yeoh, pointing out her grandfather’s humble beginnings. His family of nine shared one room in his parents’ attap house, where his seven siblings and their families also lived.
Greatly intertwined with the family legacy of hard work and integrity is their faith – which has strongly shaped her worldview.
Her uncle Francis Yeoh, YTL Corporation executive chairman and the Yeoh patriarch’s eldest offspring, is known to be a devout Christian. She credits her “low-key” mother, a lawyer who works in her own firm, for dragging her to church before she had her own epiphany as a teenager.
Yeoh, who was active in Christian student groups, is very much a “people person” with a passion for mentoring youth.
She became her KL church’s youth pastor last year, but relinquished the role this year when she realised she couldn’t handle two jobs at the same time. She remains active in church and looks to the scriptures for leadership lessons.
If she weren’t involved in the family business, what would she be doing instead?
“My dream was always to run an orphanage in Cambodia,” Yeoh confesses, adding that when she was 14, she spent a month in a rural Cambodian town, helping to build a school and teaching kids English. “There’s so much we could do out there, so I’ve always wanted to go back and serve.”
But for now, she just enjoys showing up at work every day. “There’s so much variety in what I get to handle. There’s never a boring day.”
Photography: Darren Gabriel Leow Fashion direction: CK Assistant stylist: Haz Hair & make-up: Sophia Soh, The Suburbs Studio, using Chanel Beauty
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
