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The co-founder of Grab, Tan Hooi Ling, has announced that she will step down from both her operations role and the company’s board by the end of 2023. This comes in a tumultuous time for Grab, which is facing falling share prices.
Tan, 39, helped found the company with fellow Malaysian Anthony Tan in 2012, but left briefly to work in other firms, including Salesforce.
In 2015, she returned to Grab fulltime and has since overseen the operations and technological aspect of the company, seeing the company through its public listing in what was the largest blank-check merger at the time.
Tan, despite her success and importance, said in a 2017 interview with The Straits Times that she “prefers to be behind the scenes” and “out of the news”.
In her statement, Tan proclaims herself to be an "adventurer at heart”, and that she has put aside many personal passions to build Grab.
According to Bloomberg News, an internal memo stated that a succession plan for Tan has been in place for some time, while CEO Anthony Tan thanked his co-founder “for the many years of trust and partnership” and wholeheartedly supported her decision to “pursue her personal passions at this time”.
“With the strong leadership bench we currently have, I believe now is the right time for me to pass on the baton,” she said.
Tan will transition into an advisory role moving forward, the company said.
Top photo via Grab