Page 88 - Forbes - Asia (July - August 2018)

Singapore’s 50 Richest

GORDON TANG:
GOOD CONNECTIONS
Tang, a Chinese-born permanent resident
of Singapore, joins the ranks of the top
50 for the first time. His interests include
a controlling stake in listed property firm
SingHaiyi Group, which he ran until 2013,
when he handed over operations to his
wife, Celine. Now a nonexecutive director,
Tang is focused on developing townships in
the southeastern Chinese city of Shantou.
Tang’s business partner and SingHaiyi’s
chairman is Neil Bush (right, in archive
photo), the brother of former U.S. president
George W. Bush. (In 2015, Tang donated
$1.3 million to Neil’s brother Jeb Bush for
his 2016 presidential campaign.) Tang and
his wife also own valuable stakes in Suntec
REIT, Cromwell European REIT and OUE
Commercial REIT.

FORREST LI: GAME ON
The Tianjin-born Stanford grad founded
and runs online gaming firm Sea, which
also has interests in e-commerce (Shopee)
and e-payments (AirPay). Li enters the
top 50 ranks after listing Sea (formerly
known as Garena) on the New York
Stock Exchange in October. Backed by
Tencent, which has a 35% stake, Sea’s
other investors include Wilmar billionaire NICKY LOH/BLOOMBERG (BOTTOM)
Kuok Khoon Hong and private equity firm
General Atlantic. The $5.3 billion (market
cap) firm, whose shares are trading close
to its IPO price, has yet to turn a profit.

86 | FORBES ASIA JULY / AUGUST 2018