Who are the 13 Malaysians on the new Forbes World’s Billionaires List?
- Robert Kuok, 95, founder of Shangri-La Hotels, is the nation’s wealthiest person, but where does he rank globally?
A total of 13 Malaysians have made the new Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2019, which ranks the wealthiest people around the globe.
According to the Forbes list, published on Tuesday, Malaysia’s richest person is Robert Kuok, with a net worth of US$12.8 billion – down from US$14.8 billion last year.
The 95-year-old founder of Shangri-La Hotels and owner of Kuok Group, which has interests in hotels, property and commodities, ranks 104th in this year’s overall ranking – down from 96th place in last year’s edition.
The next two Malaysians after Kuok are 78-year-old Quek Leng Chan in 149th place and 88-year-old Teh Hong Piow in 233rd place.
As the executive chairman of the conglomerate Hong Leong Company (Malaysia) – which has interests in finance, property and food – Quek has a net worth of US$9.4 billion.
Teh, founder of the Malaysian banking behemoth Public Bank, chaired the company for decades, and now has a net worth of US$6.7 billion.
According to Forbes, a total of 2,153 billionaires made the list this year – down from 2,208 in 2018 – the first decrease since 2016.
The richest person in Asia is Mukesh Ambani, from India, at 13th place with a net worth of US$50 billion.