As demand continues to climb, gains from the real estate market drive wealth growth for a few.
文｜Naazneen Karmali，Jane Ho
Since we measured the wealth of Malaysia's wealthy 11 months ago, the depreciating Malaysian ringgit has offset a 9% gain in the country's stock market. As a result, the combined wealth of Malaysia's top 50 richest people increased by just 2% this year to US$83.4 billion.
Malaysia's richest man remains corporate tycoon Robert Kuok, who celebrated his 100th birthday last October and is one of the world's longest-lived billionaires with a net worth of US$11.5 billion.
Seventy-five years ago, Kwok founded the Kuok Group in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, where what started as a small company trading sugar, rice and flour has grown into a thriving conglomerate. In second place remains Hong Leong Group (Malaysia) executive chairman Quek Leng Chan, whose net worth has declined to US$8.8 billion.
The other three in the top five have changed their rankings. The Cheng siblings inherited their late father, Teh Hong Piow's stake in Public Bank, and reached a net worth of $5.4 billion, rising to third place. The Koon Poh Keong family, the third-ranked aluminium tycoon last year, slipped to fifth place due to weaker aluminium prices and market demand. The increase in real estate income also put another group of heirs, brothers Lee Yeow Cho and Lee Yeow Seng of IOI Group, into the top five for the first time, with a net worth of $5.35 billion. Led by his younger brother Lee Yiu Sheng, publicly traded IOI Properties has quietly built a portfolio in Singapore and is poised to build a multibillion-dollar office complex in Singapore's central business district.
Of this year's 50 richest people, 22 have seen their wealth increase from last year, with the Francis Yeoh family having risen the most, both in terms of net worth and percentage, and their net worth has more than quadrupled from last year to $4.7 billion, jumping from 14th to seventh. Their strong share in YTL, which has partnered with US tech giant Nvidia to build AI infrastructure in a data centre campus in Johor, has been a strong performer. Jeffrey Cheah, the founder of Sunway Group and a real estate mogul, has more than doubled his net worth to $2.4 billion for his first time in the top 10, ranking eighth because of his bet on the healthcare sector.
第7名杨肃斌（Francis Yeoh）
There are four groups of new faces on this year's list, two of which are heirs: the Chen family, who inherited the legacy of gambling tycoon Chen Lip Keong, who died last December, and the Gnanalingam family, who inherited port tycoon G. Lip Keong, who died last July. The other two new faces are Lim Siow Jin, founder and executive chairman of DXN Holdings, a listed health care company, and Ooi Eng Leong, co-founder of NationGate Holdings, a listed electronics manufacturing services company.
Three of last year's list missed this year's minimum threshold for inclusion (up slightly from last year's $320 million), including property developer Yu Kuan Chon, whose family-owned YNH Property has plummeted, raising financial concerns.
Ranking Method:
The list is based on equity and financial information obtained from households and individuals, stock exchanges, annual reports, analysts, government agencies, and other sources. The wealth valuation of the wealthy is calculated based on the stock price and exchange rate as of the close of trading on April 2, 2024, so it may differ from the real-time rich list data on Forbes (Forbes.com). The valuation of a private company is based on the transaction information of a similar public company. This list reflects personal and family wealth, including wealth shared with relatives, and therefore may differ from the data on the 2024 Forbes Global Billionaires list, which is statistic as of March 8. This list may also include foreign nationals who have a business, residence, or other relationship with the country, or citizens who do not reside in the country but have a significant business or other relationship with the country. The editor reserves the right to modify any information or remove any entrant based on new information.
This article is translated from https://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2024/04/15/malaysias-50-richest-2024-some-tycoons-hit-the-jackpot-in-a-year-of-moderate-growth/?sh=e5983a7727d5
Forbes China exclusive manuscript, please do not reprint without permission
Header image source: Getty Images
Never miss out on exciting information
▽