Tan Sri Robert Kuok
KUCHING: Business mogul Tan Sri Robert Kuok retained his position as Malaysia’s richest person according to the latest numbers from Forbes’ 2019 Billionaires list.
Heading a list of 14 Malaysians who made the annual Forbes’ 2019 Billionaires list of the richest people in the world, Kuok stayed on top with a net worth of US$12.8 billion (US$1 = RM4.09), which was down from US$14.8 billion last year.
The 95-year-old founder of Shangri-La Hotels and owner of Kuok Group – owning interests in various industries such as property, tourism and commodities – ranked 104th in the overall global list, down from 96th place in last year’s edition.
Kuok was followed by Hong Leong Group founder Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan in 149th place and Public Bank Group founder Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow in 233th place.
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 14 Malaysians on the list are:
1) Tan Sri Robert Kuok, (Wealth: US$12.8 billion)
2) Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (Wealth: US$9.4 billion)
3) Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow (Wealth: US$6.7 billion)
4) Ananda Krishnan (Wealth: US$6.2 billion)
5) Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng (Wealth: US$5.4 billion)
6) Tan Sri Chen Lip Keong (Wealth: US$5 billion)
7) Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (Wealth: US$4.4 billion)
8) Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun (Wealth: US$3.4 billion)
9) Kuan Kam Hon (Wealth: US$2.4 billion)
10) Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary (Wealth: US$1.7 billion) and Tan Sri Koon Poh Keong (Wealth: US$1.7 billion)
12) Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah (Wealth: US$1.3)billion
13) Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai (Wealth: US$1.2 billion)