Page 42 - Forbes - Asia (March 2020)
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THE LIST MALAYSIA’S 50 RICHEST
40
SLOW MOTION
The richest take a hit amid political uncertainty and virus fears.
BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI
M alaysia’s slowing econ- No. 9 moved into the top five for the first
time; he’s at No. 4 with $5.3 billion.
omy, now getting hit
Kuan
Kam Hon
by the coronavirus
Another gainer is Kuan Kam Hon,
outbreak, took a toll on who controls Hartalega Holdings, the
its tycoons. A weaker world’s largest maker of nitrile gloves.
ringgit and a nearly 10% decline in Five newcomers enter the ranks
the country’s benchmark stock index this year, the richest of whom are a
combined to pull the wealth of the pair of inheritors. Brothers Lee Yeow
country’s 50 richest lower for the sec- Chor and Lee Yeow Seng share a
ond year in a row. Their collective net $4.8 billion legacy left by their fa-
worth is $79 billion, down 7% from ther Lee Shin Cheng, the architect of
a year ago. (The surprise resignation a palm oil and property empire, who
of Prime Minister Mahathir in late died last June. This year’s new faces
February took the index down further include two tech entrepreneurs: Chu
after we had locked in net worths.) Jenn Weng, founder of electronics
Nonagenarian business legend Rob- maker ViTrox; and former Hewlett-
ert Kuok, with a net worth of $11.5 Packard engineer Oh Kuang Eng,
billion, remains at No. 1, a position he whose Mi Technovation makes semi-
has held for over two decades. Kuok is conductor equipment.
among four list members whose wealth Five from last year’s list are miss-
shrank by more than $1 billion in the ing this year, most notably Grab co-
past year. The hardest-hit in dollar founder Anthony Tan. With a lofty
terms was banking tycoon Teh Hong valuation of $14 billion, the ride-
Piow, the founder of Public Bank, who slipped to No. 5 from hailing decacorn Grab has grown from its Malaysian roots
No. 3 last year. to become a regional player headquartered in Singapore.
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun Tan, a Singapore citizen, therefore may be a candidate for
saw more than a third of their respective fortunes vanish. that country’s rich list. Four others didn’t make the cut this
Aside from the coronavirus onset curtailing air travel, an- year, including property developer Leong Kok Wah of Eco
other blow to their fortunes came in early February after a World, who was affected by a glut of new property that de-
UK court ruling implicated AirAsia and unnamed execu- pressed prices.
tives in an Airbus bribery case. AirAsia has denied all allega-
tions of wrongdoing and said it is investigating the matter. Reporting by Megha Bahree, Muhammad Cohen, Sean Ki-
In all, 22 listees saw their net worth decline from a year lachand, Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin, Suzanne Nam,
ago, but an equal number were modestly better off. Among Phisanu Phromchanya, Anuradha Raghunathan and Jes-
the latter group was casino mogul Chen Lip Keong, who sica Tan. Editing assistance by Lucinda Schmidt.
COURTESY OF HARTALEGA
METHODOLOGY
The list was compiled using information from the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private databases, government agencies and other
sources. Net worth estimates are based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on February 14. Private companies
were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar publicly traded companies.
F ORBES A SIA MAR CH 2020
