Google ‘Jho Low’, and a litany of results will emerge, most of which unflattering given his involvement in the 1MDB imbroglio.
There is also a report on talk of how TV producers are planning a documentary on the Malaysian-born billionaire and seeking interviews with Las Vegas entertainers and VIPs who attended and performed at his three extraordinary, lavish parties that he bankrolled on the Las Vegas Strip.
There is also a slew of YouTube videos featuring Low, and in one of them, he reveals how a cancer scare motivated him to think in a “big and bold” manner as well as to set up a charitable foundation to ensure better access and information for cancer patients.
The description in the video reads: Low, CEO of Jynwel Capital and Director of Jynwel Charitable Foundation, accepts the Angel Gabrielle honor at Angel Ball 2014. Watch to learn how his family has been impacted by cancer and how, with MD Anderson Cancer Center and IBM Watson, Jynwel Foundation is taking bold steps to democratise access to cancer treatment around the world.
During his acceptance speech in New York, Low revealed that his grandfather had migrated from China to Malaysia in the 1940s.
“He made his wealth in the 1960s and took what he earned, and a lot of it, gave back to communities throughout Asia - schools, hospitals, community centres, orphans.
“Everything he did, everything he taught me, and everything he stood for, inspires me today. It is the reason I am standing before you today.
“And it was his plight with cancer that has led me to want to disrupt the status quo and find a solution that will disrupt cancer research and treatment,” he said.
Low said that he underwent an extensive medical examination in 2012 for the first time in his life, which changed his perspective.
“When the doctor called me in, he looked really, really serious. And for the first time in my life, I felt that my world had fall apart.
“The doctor told me that I may have had Stage 2 or Stage 3 cancer. This was one of the changing moments of my life and I did not know what to do,” he added.
Low said that on his flight to Abu Dhabi, he could not help but think that the world was coming to an end for him.
“That week I met a friend of mine, Mohamed Al-Husseiny, who is here tonight. Mohd immediately saw through that something was wrong. I shared with him what had happened.
“And he immediately sent a note to Dr Linda Chin... who is also in the room tonight... For the first time in my life in many, many years, I actually stopped work. They stopped me.
“And I travelled to Houston in the longest flight I ever experienced in my life, pondering what life would be next,” he added.
It is not clear if Low was referring to Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny, who together with Low, were among those named in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) forfeiture suit linked to 1MDB.
Badawy was the chief executive officer of Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar), the subsidiary of UAE's state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
Meanwhile, Low, in his speech, recalled how he felt so alone for the next six months, and after going in and out of the hospital, the medical experts concluded that he had no cancer.
“I was lucky, I was very, very lucky.
“However, those six months were a turning point in my life. In 2012, I came out of the hospital, and I was determined to think big and be bold,” he said.
During these testing six months, Low said, he resolved to set up Jynwel Charitable Foundation with a vision of making significant social impact investments that would change the world for many generations to come.
In November 2012, Low said he found out his grandfather had cancer and lamented how the latter did not have access to the right standard of care.
“If he had, he would have been diagnosed earlier. That was the first time, I could really see the benefit of sharing information and democraticising access to care.
“I put a team of doctors to look after his care, but unfortunately, it was too little, too late. I owe it to my grandfather for where I am today,” he added.
