At the helm of Singapore’s largest real estate company is of course a man of great stature— Mohamed Ismail Gafoor. As CEO of PropNex, Ismail brings with him a rare fighting spirit that built for him a successful career in the army as a regular officer. His passion to be an outstanding entrepreneur prompted him to start PropNex and, through sheer dynamism, he has grown it from its tumultuous beginnings to what it is today: a property giant with thousands of associates under his stewardship.

Ismail holds a Bachelor in Land Economics (Hons) from the University of Technology, Sydney. He owned his first property at the young age of 22 and amazingly made his first million at 28. He is an investor, entrepreneur and success coach to many Million-Dollar Club Producers in the real estate arena.

A fervent advocate of training and life-long learning, Ismail has institutionalized a complete series of learning programmes that include developmental seminars, workshops, consultancy services and legal support for all his property consultants so that they can stay ahead of the competition and deliver the maximum value to their customers.

Under his guidance, PropNex property consultants won over 70% of the Awards in the Institute of Estate Agents Awards for 2003. In 2004, he clinched both the SMCCI Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Spirit of Enterprise Award. That year, COL (NS) Mohamed Ismail also clinched the prestigious NS Man of the Year Award. As battalion commander for 596 SIR, he was a pivotal figure in leading his men to clinch the best NS Infantry Unit for two years running.

In 2008, he went on to win the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises’ Top Entrepreneur of the Year and Overall Entrepreneur for eCommerce Awards, along with the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Overall Indian Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Large Enterprise).

With a strong desire to inspire others to do their best, Ismail wrote a motivational book entitled “You Can Fly”. It was officially launched on 20 July 2005, with His Excellency Mr S R Nathan, President of Singapore, coming in as both his foreword writer and special Guest-of-Honour for the launch.