12 M’sians in Forbes’ latest annual ranking of billionaires
PETALING JAYA: There are 12 Malaysians in Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest billionaires, which was released today.
The richest Malaysian on the list is Robert Kuok (pix), ranked 115 with net worth of US$11.4 billion (RM50 billion). At 93, Kuok is the oldest Malaysian billionaire.
The other Malaysians on the list are:
• Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (ranked 202, net worth: US$6.8bil)
• T. Ananda Krishnan (219, US$6.5bil)
• Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng (348, US$4.7bil)
• Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow (348, US$4.7bil)
• Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun (973, US$2.1bil)
• Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay (973, US$2.1bil)
• Tan Sri Tiong Hew King (1,030, US$2bil)
• Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary (1,161, US$1.8bil
• Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong (1,290, US$1.6bil)
• Kuan Kam Hong (1,940, US$1bil)
• Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon (1,940, US$1bil)
A record 2,043 billionaires made it to the 31st annual ranking of the world's billionaires. The list will be featured in the March 28, 2017 issue of Forbes magazine. In 2016, Forbes listed 1,810 billionaires.
The total combined net worth of this year's billionaires was US$7.67 trillion (as of Feb 17), up 18.4% from US$6.48 trillion last year.
In this year's list, there are 21 Singaporean billionaires joining the club.
Top on the Singapore's list again are property magnates Robert and Philip Ng, the brothers who own hotel and mall conglomerate Far East Organisation and Sino Land. Their net worth of US$8.7bil has them as the 150th richest in the world.
Paints tycoon Goh Cheng Liang, who owns a 39% stake in Japan's Nippon Paint, holds second spot. The 89-year-old added US$1.5mil to his wealth to lock in a US$6.5bil net worth. He is the world's 219th richest.
The Kwee family, who is behind Pontiac Land Group, is now Singapore's third wealthiest with a net worth of US$5.1 billion. The four siblings — Kwee Liong Keng, Kwee Liong Tek, Kwee Liong Seen and Kwee Liong Phing — are placed 316th in the world.
Asia-Pacific boasts the most number of billionaires at 720, followed by the US with 565 and Europe with 530.
For the fourth year in a row, Bill Gates remains at the top spot, with a fortune of US$86bil .
The others in the Top 10 are Warren Buffett (net worth of US$86bil), Jeff Bezos (US$72.8bil), Amancio Ortega (US$71.3bil), Mark Zuckerberg (US$56bil), Carlos Slim Helu (US$54.5bil), Larry Ellison (US$52.2bil), Charles Koch (US$48.3bil), David Koch (US$48.3bil) and Michael Bloomberg (US$47.5bil).
US president Donald Trump ranks 544th with net worth of US$3.5bil.