Robert Kuok tops Malaysia's richest list again

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok has maintained his position as Malaysia's richest man with a wealth of RM45.7 billion, despite a 8.0% drop in his fortune, followed by T. Ananda Krishnan and Public Bank's Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow.

IOI Corporation Bhd’s Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng maintained fourth spot while the richest bumiputra entrepreneur in the country is Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary who came in fifth, according to Malaysian Business in a report on the 40 richest Malaysians.

AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was ranked the 15th richest Malaysian with a wealth of RM1.77 billion.    

Malaysian Business said the wealth of the top 40 richest Malaysians was based on the value of their stake in listed companies as at Jan 20, 2012.

Ananda narrowed the gap with Kuok with a wealth of RM42.99 billion, but it was down by about 6.0% this year, from 2011.

Teh had a fortune that has remained relatively intact at RM12.64 billion, a 1% decline from before.

Despite a 10.8% fall in his worth to RM11.36 billion, IOI Corp's Lee Shin Cheng maintained his fourth position while Syed Mokhtar of the Albukhary Foundation – whose flagship is the DRB-Hicom Group – saw his wealth grew by 8.0% to RM9.53 billion.

The publication said that the combined wealth of Malaysia’s 40 richest individuals declined this year as the global credit crisis and weak equity markets took a toll on them.

Malaysia’s 40 richest were collectively worth RM193.2 billion as at Jan 20, a decline of 7.0% compared with RM206.37 billion a year ago, said Malaysian Business in its Feb 16 issue.

On the bright side, there were 30 billionaires this year – three more than in 2011.

Hong Leong Malaysia’s Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, unchanged at number six, is valued 25% less at RM8 billion.

Genting Group’s Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay slipped two rungs to the seventh perch at RM7.58 billion. His wealth is down by about 30%.

His mother Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua, returns to the number eight spot with a fortune estimated at RM6.58 billion, down by some 11%.

Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King of the Rimbunan Hijau Group and Singapore-domiciled tycon, Ong Beng Seng, maintained their ninth and 10th spots respectively.

Tiong’s wealth is estimated at RM6.41 billion while Ong’s soared by 23% to RM4.92 billion.

There were three newcomers to the list, including Datuk AK Nathan of Eversendai Corporation Bhd and Ngau Boon Keat of Dialog Group Bhd, who made it to the top 40 for the first time while Datuk Abdul Hamed Sepawi of Ta Ann Holdings Bhd returned after a lapse of four years.

The full list of the 40 tycoons and details of their wealth appears in the magazine. It also presents a list of the 10 richest tycoons on the ACE Market.

Here's the complete list Top 20 Richest Malaysians 2012 (Wealth as at Jan 20, 2012):

 

Name	Wealth (RM million)	Flagship
Robert Kuok Hock Nien T.  Ananda Krishnan Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng  Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary                Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay       Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King  Ong Beng Seng Tan Sri Azman Hashim Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir Datuk Lee Yeow Chor     Tan Sri Tony Fernandes    Lee Yeow Seng Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun         Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay    Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian Datuk Lee Hau Hian	45,700.00 42,998.00 12,642.01 11,356.55 9,530.00 8,002.92 7,585.07 6,588.33 6,411.46 4,919.56 3,470.00 2,541.74 1,937.27 1,787.85 1,772.42 1,746.00 1,721.64 1,711.84 1,589.97 1,586.18	Kerry Group/Kuok Group Usaha Tegas Public Bank IOI Group Albukhary Foundation Hong Leong Malaysia Genting Group Genting Group Rimbunan Hijau Hotel Properties Ltd Arab-Malaysian Corp Berjaya Group Kencana Petroleum IOI Group AirAsia IOI Group Hap Seng Consolidated YTL Group Batu Kawan Batu Kawan