Ruben stepped up to helm the company following the passing of the group’s founder G Gnanalingham, who was also his father, on July 11.

The 46-year-old earned his degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1998.

In 1999, he began his professional career as a trainee at Westports. He left a year later to found The Makmal Group, a startup incubator.

In 2005, he rejoined Westports as a board director and later assumed the CEO position until Dec 31, 2017. Subsequently, on Jan 1, 2018, he took on the role of group managing director for Westports.

Ruben currently holds 105.64 million shares or a 3.1% indirect stake in the port operator.

Shaline Gnanalingam, his sister, joined the group’s board last month as its non-independent and non-executive director.

At 10.37am, Westports’ share price was down 1 sen or 0.27% at RM3.64, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM12.41 billion.