He received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1959 and later pursued a law degree at Lincoln's Inn.

On 15 July 1965, Abdul Razak announced the Government's decision to provide $5 million as the initial capital for Bank Bumiputra.

Ubaidulla (president of the United Chamber of Commerce), L.E Osman, K. Mushir Ariff, Wan Yahya bin Haji Mohamad, K.D.

The general manager of the bank was Wong Aun Pui, a prominent local banker with 20 years of experience and director of many rubber and palm oil companies.

PERNAS (Perbadanan Nasional Berhad or National Corporation) was set up in November 1969 as a wholly owned government company to carry out the resolutions at the Second Bumiputera Economic Congress.

[17] In view of the very low participation of Bumiputeras in the private sector and industries at the time, PERNAS' principles were to: To achieve its objectives, many subsidiaries were subsequently set up.

Razaleigh became involved in what became known as the Haw Par imbroglio of the mid-1970s, working in concert with the Singapore-based Haw Par Brothers International Ltd, then one of the subsidiaries under the control of British wheeler-dealer Jim Slater, to acquire control of the British-owned tin conglomerate known as the London Tin Company, and the plantations conglomerate Sime Darby.

[23] As a result, Fleet Holdings Sdn Bhd was formed in 1972 by Razaleigh as the Treasurer of UMNO on the instructions of Tun Abdul Razak.

This company was started with Razaleigh's own money and its purpose was to take control of the local media not just in the form of capital, but in management terms as well.

[24] After its successful venture in media, Fleet Holdings expanded into other fields, including banking, car rental, leasing, communications, filming, insurance, and others.

Razaleigh suggested the formation of a company instead of a statutory body where the former would distribute profits equally between the Federal and the State governments.

Upon Razaleigh's return to Kuala Lumpur, the Prime Minister tasked him with drafting, in secret, the Petroleum Development Act to be completed before the 1974 Malaysian general election.

Razaleigh told Rahman about the abolishment of the concessions system and that 5% of oil revenues will be redirected back to the respective oil-producing States as royalty payments.

[28] While all other oil-producing States in Malaysia signed the petroleum agreement, Tun Mustapha, the chief minister of Sabah, stubbornly refused, complaining of the meagre 5% oil royalty.

In the 1976 Sabah State elections, Tun Mustapha was successfully ousted by BERJAYA and Stephens was installed as Chief Minister in his place.

[29] With Sabah entering into the agreement, PETRONAS had finally achieved total control of all oil and gas reserves in Malaysia.

On 6 September 1974, Prime Minister Abdul Razak announced the appointment of Razaleigh as Chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS.

Owing to this tough stance, Razaleigh served a notice to all foreign oil companies that after 1 April 1975, they would be operating illegally in Malaysian waters if they do not start negotiating with PETRONAS.

As the former president of the Malayan Students Union in London and the secretary of the Malay Society in Britain, Razaleigh has been in politics since the early 60s.

[33] Tunku Abdul Rahman was a very close friend of Razaleigh's father as they shared similar backgrounds, both were from Royal houses.

At the time, Razaleigh had gotten a reputation for being an ultra nationalist due to his hard line stance in the negotiations for PETRONAS' oil rights with the Americans.

Eventually, Razaleigh did relinquish his positions in PETRONAS as he was juggling between many different jobs which prohibited him from focusing on his main role as Finance Minister.

[9] In an election where few observers were willing to predict the outcome, a decisive victory for UMNO in Kelantan both at the Federal and State level meant that Razaleigh had solidified his position as one of the foremost political personalities on the national stage.

This was reflected in the UMNO elections that year when he garnered the most votes for the Vice President post and was reelected to another three-year term.

[36] There were many who changed camps at the last minute, including Najib Razak who was then the leader of UMNO's Youth Wing, who ended up endorsing Mahathir.

[42] The event did not please Mahathir began making heated attacks on the judiciary and it was considered a judicial intervention of the political dispute triggering the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis.

[49] Among notable leaders that joined Semangat 46 were including Marina Yusoff, Ilyani Ishak, Rais Yatim, Harun Idris, Suhaimi Kamaruddin, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Othman Saat, Salleh Abas, Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar and Ibrahim Ali.

[54] Mahathir dismissed allegations that he brought Razaleigh back to check the influence of Anwar Ibrahim in the party and government.

[61] After the 2018 general election (GE14) which see the downfall of BN federal government and Najib's resignation as President of UMNO, Razaleigh contested the post of party president for a second time in the 2018 UMNO leadership election but lost to former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a three-corner fight along with former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

[63] Razaleigh is one of many Malaysian politicians, celebrities, and other well-known personalities who appear in Pete Teo and Namewee's public service announcement voter education video "Undilah" on YouTube, released in 2011.