The story
History
At the point of Singapore's independence in August 1965, the Government of Singapore had ownership or joint ownership of various local companies, such as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (later split up into Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines) and the Singapore Telephone Board (which became Singapore Telecommunications and subsequently Singtel). As part of its push for local and foreign private investment in sectors such as manufacturing and shipbuilding, the government's Economic Development Board (EDB) also bought minority stakes in a variety of local companies. During the first ten years after independence, the government acquired or established several companies, such as the Keppel Corporation (originally Keppel Shipyard, taken over from the Royal Navy after the British military withdrawal from Singapore), ST Engineering (originally a weapon manufacturer set up to supply the Singapore Armed Forces), and the shipping company Neptune Orient Lines.
On 25 June 1974, Temasek was incorporated under the Singapore Companies Act to hold and manage the assets previously held directly by the Singapore government, named for an early settlement on the island. The goal was for Temasek to own and manage these investments on a commercial basis, allowing the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to focus on policymaking.
In February 2020, Temasek announced a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay cuts for senior management in part to help fund community programs aimed at alleviating the impact of COVID-19.
On 1 October 2021, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, the current chief executive officer of Temasek International (TI), succeeded Ho Ching as executive director and chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings.
On 6 June 2025, Temasek announced that Senior Minister and former Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean would succeed Lim Boon Heng as chairman on 9 October 2025, after joining as deputy chairman on 1 July 2025.
On 28 August 2025, Temasek announced it would create three wholly owned entities effective 1 April 2026: Temasek Global Investments, Temasek Singapore, and Temasek Partnership Solutions. Temasek International would house the firm's group and corporate functions, providing enterprise-wide governance, strategic, and operational support to these entities. As part of the changes, Chia Song Hwee became CEO of Temasek Global Investments. Other appointments include Nagi Hamiyeh, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, to be concurrently appointed as Temasek Global Investments' President, and Png Chin Yee, CFO, concurrently appointed as Temasek Singapore's President.
2000s
Temasek's 2006 acquisition of Shin Corporation, owned by the family of then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was particularly controversial, with protestors burning effigies of Lee and Ho on the streets of Bangkok. The deal was a factor in exacerbating the Thai political crisis, which eventually led to the downfall of Thaksin and a review of the transaction's legality. The military junta that overthrew Thaksin later tried unsuccessfully to force Temasek to divest a large part of its investment in Shin Corp. As of 2015, Temasek's stake in Intouch Corporation (as Shin Corporation was renamed) had reduced to 42%. In 2016, Temasek sold a further 21% stake in Intouch Holdings, the Thai telecoms conglomerate formerly known as Shin Corp.
2010s
Beginning in 2015, Temasek began making large investments in agricultural and agricultural-related companies and ventures.
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By the end of the 2015 financial year, Temasek held a 51% stake in SingTel, valued at approximately $61.9 billion. In April 2017, Temasek made an investment into Intapp, a provider of enterprise software. The deal also included a stake in Intapp.
In June 2018, Temasek invested S$340 million in a minority stake in UST Global, a digital technology services company.
Temasek purchased 30 per cent of Haldor Topsoe's shares in March 2019. The investment company was selected in recognition of the value that it would add through its deep insights and connections in Asian growth and other emerging markets, according to the Danish engineering firm. The transaction price was not disclosed.
2020s
In August 2020, Temasek Holdings added a 3.9 percent stake in BlackRock Inc, worth about US$3.5 billion, becoming one of its largest shareholders. According to people familiar with the matter, Temasek was one of several players that bought the money manager's shares when PNC Financial Services Group Inc. sold a US$14 billion stake earlier in the year. Temasek and BlackRock created the joint venture Decarbonization Partners, which invests in companies that work to accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy.
In March 2020, for the first time since the forming of the company, Temasek held more investments in another country than in Singapore, with 24% of assets in Singapore and 29% in China.
Temasek purchased stock from Kuaishou Technology during its initial public offering in January 2021.
In January 2022, Temasek purchased Element Materials Technology for $7 billion from London-based Bridgepoint Group. Temasek already held a minority stake in Element, which it purchased in 2019.
In May 2022, Temasek was finalizing talks to lead a $50 million financing round for DotPe, an Indian startup backed by Google.
In August 2022, Temasek led a $100 million financing round for Animoca Brands.
In April 2023, Temasek announced that it would acquire an additional 41 percent stake in Bengaluru-based Manipal Health Enterprises (MHE), resulting in a total stake of 59 per cent. In October 2023, Temasek participated in a $1.7 billion fundraising round for parking technology company Metropolis Technologies.
In June 2024, Temasek was finalizing its sale of some assets from liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading company Pavilion Energy to Shell, with the deal worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.
In January 2024, Temasek and EQT sold the renewable energy platform O2 Power for $1.5 billion to JSW Energy.
In April 2025, Temasek invested together with TPG to acquire a substantial minority stake into the U.S. asset manager Cliffwater.
Temasek announced in August 2025, that it would divide its operations into Temasek Global Investments (TGI), Temasek Singapore (TSG) and Temasek Partners Solutions (TPS) to manage its portfolio segments. Temasek together with the Singapore sovereign wealth fund account for 20% of the Singapore governments budget.
In July 2026, Temasek said that it aimed to increase its exposure to artificial-intelligence companies from 6 percent of its portfolio to as much as 15 percent by 2031. It identified energy and data centres, semiconductors, cloud-service providers, foundation models, and AI applications and software infrastructure as five priority investment areas.
From Wikipedia’s article on Temasek Holdings, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5