Syed Mokhtar Albukhary

Not long after, an outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease collapsed the company. This led to Syed Mokhtar abandoning his studies a few months prior to completing his Secondary 5, as his family could not afford to pay for his examination fees. With money saved from his involvement in his father’s cattle business, Syed Mokhtar began venturing into business on his own.

In 2015, the British Museum announced the opening of a new gallery to redisplay all the collections of the Islamic world. The gallery would be known as The Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World and is set to open in October 2018.

The Albukhary International University was founded in 2010 and is located within the Sharifah Rokiah Centre of Excellence. The University is housed within a purpose built campus and is spread over 30 hectares in Alor Setar.

Founded in 2005, Albukhary Scholarship program supports economically disadvantaged students worldwide. The scholarships are offered to students of the Prince's School of Traditional Arts, Oxford University, IBN Haldun University, University of York, Philanthropy University and 17 universities in Malaysia, including AIU. The program offers five types of scholarships, the Albukhary Equity Scholarship, Regional Awards, Leadership, Academic & Service Excellence Awards, Campus Residence Grant, and the Refugee Education Dream (RED) Scholarship which is available to all refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR Malaysia.

The museum was founded in 1998 and is located within Kuala Lumpur’s Lake Gardens. It houses more than ten thousand artefacts from across the Muslim world, as well as a library of Islamic art books. The museum has a total of 12 Galleries.

Syed Mokhtar began his philanthropic work in 1976 when he pledged half of his salary to 15 underprivileged families and the other half to his mother and siblings. Twenty years later, in 1996, he founded the Albukhary Foundation and today remains its primary benefactor. As of 2013 his donations have exceeded $500 million. In 2014 he was recognized by Forbes Asia as a Hero of Philanthropy due to his contribution to refugees in Pakistan, orphans in Guinea and disaster victims in China, Indonesia and Iran.

In 1961, Syed Mokhtar moved to Johor Bahru where he spent the next 6 years before returning to Alor Setar where he attended St. Michael's Institution. While still schooling, he got involved in his father’s cattle business.

Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Albukhary (born December 12, 1951) is a Malaysian businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Albukhary Foundation, an international non-profit charity organization that focuses on social development.