It remains unclear whether Ong will plead guilty to one or both charges he faces in the case, namely abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts and abetting the obstruction of justice, according to court records for a pre-trial conference on Tuesday cited by CNA.

The tycoon was charged last October and initially set to plead guilty in early April but the hearing was postponed.

Before his name became associated with the graft case, tales of his bold personality and sharp deal-making skills had long circulated in business circles despite Ong being “notoriously secretive and media shy,” as The Independent would describe him.

Born in Malaysia in 1946 to a wealthy family, Ong moved to Singapore at the age of four. He attended Anglo-Chinese School before earning a degree in insurance in the U.K. He began his career in international insurance underwriting and broking.

In 1975, he joined Kuo International, an oil trading firm founded by his father-in-law Peter Fu Yun Siak. Ong’s knack for forecasting oil price movements at the firm earned him a fortune, which he would later channel into real estate and hospitality ventures, according to The Straits Times.

He founded Hotel Properties Limited in 1981 to spearhead Kuo’s push into real estate. The company was listed a year later and has since grown into a global player, with interests in 41 hotels across 17 countries under brands including Como Hotels and Resorts, Four Seasons, and Marriott International.

By the 1990s, national newspapers and business magazines gave him several nicknames, including “Prince of a Thousand Deals,” for his deal-making skills.

One of Ong’s most famous deals came in the mid-2000s, when he and then-junior trade minister Iswaran spearheaded Singapore’s bid to host a Formula One race. They managed to persuade F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to bring the sport’s first night race to the city-state in 2008. Ong owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and serves as its chairman.

The event has since become a highlight on the F1 calendar and a magnet for the region’s ultra-wealthy, mirroring the city-state’s rise as a luxury hub in the 2010s.

It has generated over S$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) in additional tourism revenue for the city-state since its launch, Bloomberg reported last October.

A businessman from Malaysia told the South China Morning Post that Ong had “successfully entrenched himself in the Singapore establishment and is good at dealing with kings and queens in the region.”

Commenting on the tycoon’s business approach, a Singaporean businessman familiar with his circles said: “His way of doing business is throwing in sweeteners all along the way, and you can be seduced if you are not careful. It can get to your head, the flattery.”

A source from the F1 business in London put it more bluntly: “If he wants something, there isn’t much that will stand in his way.”

“You don’t make many friends like that,” the person added.

Ong is married to Christina Fu, hailed as “the Queen of Bond Street” for the designer franchises she owns there. She owns high-end fashion retailer Club 21 and the Como Group, which operates Como Hotels and Resorts. The couple were worth US$1.7 billion in Forbes’ Singapore rich list last year.

Ong has recently been undergoing chemotherapy for bone marrow cancer. He was granted approval to travel abroad for treatment in April.

He stepped down as managing director of Hotel Properties that same month, with the company saying he “wishes to devote more time to manage his medical conditions.”