12 Malaysians on Forbes’ super-rich list
TWELVE Malaysians made it to Forbes’ latest annual ranking of the world’s billionaires.
The richest in Malaysia is Robert Kuok, ranked 115 on the list with net worth of US$11.4 billion (Bt396 billion). He is also the oldest among Malaysian billionaires, at age 93.
The rest on the list are Quek Leng Chan (ranked 202, net worth $6.8 billion), T Ananda Krishnan (219, $6.5 billion), Lee Shin Cheng (348, $4.7 billion), Teh Hong Piow (348, $4.7 billion), Lau Cho Kun (973, $2.1 billion), Yeoh Tiong Lay (973, $2.1 billion), Tiong Hew King (1,030, $2 billion), Syed Mokhtar Albukhary (1,161, $1.8 billion), Dr Chen Lip Keong (1,290, $1.6 billion), Kuan Kam Hong (1,940, $1 billion) and Desmond Lim Siew Choon (1,940, $1 billion).
In a media statement, Forbes said a record 2,043 people made it to the 31st annual ranking of the world’s billionaires (there were 1,810 on last year’s list), as featured in the March 28 issue of Forbes magazine.
The total combined net worth of this year’s billionaires was $7.67 trillion (as of February 17), up 18.4 per cent from $6.48 trillion last year.
Forbes said that regionally, Asia-Pacific boasts the most billionaires at 720. This is followed by the United States with 565 and Europe with 530.
For the fourth year in a row, Bill Gates remains at the top spot on the Forbes list, with a fortune of $86 billion (up from $75 billion in 2016).
The others in the top 10 are Warren Buffett (net worth of $86 billion), Jeff Bezos ($72.8 billion), Amancio Ortega ($71.3 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($56 billion), Carlos Slim Helu ($54.5 billion), Larry Ellison ($52.2 billion), Charles Koch ($48.3 billion), David Koch ($48.3 billion) and Michael Bloomberg ($47.5 billion).
US President Donald Trump, incidentally, ranks 544th with net worth of $3.5 billion.
The richest Asians are Wang Jianlin from mainland China (18th on the list with $31.3 billion) and Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong (19th spot, $31.2 billion).
