KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 —  Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) confirmed today that it has accepted its youngest president and group chief executive Jalil Rasheed’s resignation effective today, following rumours since yesterday.

In a brief statement, its board of directors said it has also approved for an appointment for a successor and the announcement regarding the matter will be done after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.

"The Board of Directors and Leadership Team of PNB conveyed their appreciation to Encik Jalil for his leadership and contributions during his tenure with PNB.

"PNB wishes Encik Jalil every success in his future endeavours,” said the statement.

This comes as Focus Malaysia reported earlier that Jalil has told PNB staff in a farewell email that his decision was caused by a series of harrasments that made him fear for the safety of his family.

In the email, Jalil said he received hate calls, and his corporate email account and LinkedIn social media profile were hacked.

"In the end, I decided that it would be unfair to my family should matters escalate. We made a big financial and family sacrifice to relocate back to KL from Singapore because I truly wanted to contribute to nation building.

"I’m disappointed this has to come to an abrupt end,” he reportedly wrote.

Jalil’s exit was first reported after The Edge Malaysia wrote on Saturday that a board meeting of PNB’s directors was expected to be called soon to deliberate the matter. Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz is PNB chairman.

This comes as lawyer Rosli Dahlan was reportedly appointed to the board of directors. A former Covid-19 patient, he had in April delivered a RM150,000 donation to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to aid in the nation’s fight against the viral outbreak.

The 38-year-old Jalil became the youngest CEO at PNB following his appointment by the Pakatan Harapan government seven months ago.

In the last few days, there was scrutiny by detractors over his education and working credentials.

Astro Awani reported earlier today that Gerry Ambrose, the chief executive of Aberdeen Standard Islamic Investment Sdn Bhd, vouches for Jalil’s credentials.

Focus Malaysia also reported earlier that Credit Suisse Securities (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd country head Stephen Hagger also defended Jalil in a note to clients, saying Jalil was "now swimming with the sharks” and "would resign rather than cross a red line”.