SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — Over a decade after a highly publicised failed leadership transition, Temasek Holdings announced today that its chief executive officer Ho Ching will retire and be replaced by Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara with effect from October 1.

Ho, who is also the state investment firm’s executive director, will step down from its board on the same date. 

Pillay will succeed Ho as executive director and CEO of Temasek Holdings. He will concurrently hold his current appointment as CEO of Temasek International.

In a media statement, Temasek’s chairman Lim Boon Heng said that leadership succession is a strategic responsibility of the board and it had put in place an annual review since the early 2000s. 

"Ho Ching has been very much part of this process. Indeed, she has been very active, working over the years to identify various potential successors both inside and outside of Temasek,” he said. 

"She has also played a key role in nurturing a strong leadership bench in Temasek, several of whom have gone on to CEO appointments beyond Temasek.”

He also paid tribute to her "many achievements” and noted that Pillay had joined Temasek 10 years ago as a leading corporate lawyer heading a major law firm "with a sense of mission and purpose”.

Ho, who is the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said that she is happy to be passing the leadership baton to Pillay at this time.

"I have been privileged to be part of an incredible journey over these two decades at Temasek,” she said.

"The one thing I am most proud of is the people of Temasek. They are highly dedicated and driven, methodical and passionate, but always with a heart for the larger good, always trying to make a difference, especially for the less fortunate and those in need,” she added.

Pillay said he was honoured to take on the new appointment. 

"In continuing our mission to generate long term sustainable returns beyond our current generation, core to our success will be our commitment to build a better, more sustainable world.”

In 2009, an attempt to hand over the reins to former BHP Billiton head Chip Goodyear fell through. The firm had attributed it to "differences regarding certain strategic issues that could not be resolved”. — TODAY