Page 43 - Forbes - Asia (March 2020)

MALAYSIA’S
has annual revenue of almost $1.8 billion,
Artist rendering 50 RICHEST
of NagaWorld up 19% last year, and a market capitaliza-
Vladivostok tion of HK$48 billion ($6.2 billion).
A former doctor, Chen got a sweet deal in
1994: a 70-year license that includes a gam-
ing monopoly in Phnom Penh and the sur- 1. ROBERT KUOK
rounding 200 kilometers that was recently
extended to 2045, and special tax breaks. $11.5 BILLION
“Dr. Chen was in the right place at the right KUOK GROUP 41
AGE: 96
time,” says Michael Zhu, senior vice presi-
dent at U.S. gaming consultancy The Inno-
Coloring Up vation Group. 2. QUEK LENG CHAN

CHEN LIP KEONG From his first casino on a river barge, $9.7 BILLION MALA Y
Chen built NagaWorld into a major resort, HONG LEONG GROUP
Despite the coronavirus outbreak taking becoming a billionaire. He then invested AGE: 78
a toll on gaming, Chen Lip Keong is trying $369 million to build Naga2. Now he’s
his luck in Russia: his NagaCorp is building building the $3.5 billion Naga3, slated 3. ANANDA KRISHNAN
a $300 million casino hotel outside Vladivo- to open in 2025, with 3,500 rooms plus SIA ’S 50 RICHES
stok, due to open in 2021. “I like the entre- convention and entertainment facilities. $5.9 BILLION
MAXIS
preneurial spirit behind the development,” This latest extension will be linked to the AGE: 81
Chen says. Booming growth at his Cambo- current complex underground, similar to
dian casino complex helped push Chen’s net the NagaCity Walk retail corridor linking T
worth up 6% to $5.3 billion, now at No. 4 NagaWorld and Naga2. “Naga3 may sound 4. CHEN LIP KEONG
on our list. NagaCorp’s share price has near- ambitious and at first blush appears out- $5.3 BILLION
ly doubled since November 2017 when the sized, but this company understands the NAGACORP
Naga2 extension opened in Phnom Penh. dynamics of the market,” says Klebanow AGE: 72
Chen, 72, has used the monopoly license Consulting’s Andrew Klebanow, who is
he won in 1994 to ride Cambodia’s eco- based in Las Vegas. 5. TEH HONG PIOW
nomic reemergence from decades of war Chen says his Russian project represents
$4.85 BILLION
and, more recently, a wave of investment as big an opportunity as he found in Cam-
PUBLIC BANK
and tourism from China into Cambodia. bodia when he launched Naga in 1994. AGE: 89
In 2006, NagaCorp became the first casino “The entry costs should not weaken our
operator—and the first Cambodia-based ability to travel a long journey ahead to see 6. LEE YEOW CHOR
company—to list in Hong Kong; today it success,” says Chen. —Muhammad Cohen
& YEOW SENG

$4.8 BILLION
IOI CORP.,
IOI PROPERTIES
AGES: 53, 41

7. LIM KOK THAY

$3.2 BILLION
GENTING
AGE: 68

8. KOON POH KEONG,

POH MING & POH WENG

$3 BILLION
PRESS METAL
AGES: 58, 63, 65

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