We may often read about wealthy billionaires and get a sneak peek at how they live their lives via the media and news, but the real deal of how they got rich is in how they made their wealth.
In Singapore’s rich list, released by Forbes, we will take a look at the top 10 billionaires (and family) and explore their wealth and career journey to get to where they are today.
#1 Eduardo Saverin: US$16 Billion, Tech Industry
Based in Singapore, the 41-year-old Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and investor is one of the co-founders of Meta, formerly known as Facebook.
His net worth is US$16 billion (S$21.8 billion). He is said to own 2% of Meta from which derives most of his wealth. Eduardo moved to Singapore in 2009, and renounced his US citizenship in 2011, which was said to avoid an estimated US$700 in capital gains taxes.
He is a co-founder and co-CEO at B Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in early venture and growth-stage startups.
#2 Robert & Philip Ng: $14.8 Billion, Real Estate
The Ng brothers control Far East Organization (FEO), a group founded by their father Ng Teng Fong. FEO is one of Singapore’s largest property developers. The organisation prides itself on being a Christian Enterprise, and it develops real estate and operates businesses by serving with grace and love, integrity and honesty.
Ng Teng Fong founded FEO in 1960 and is a pioneer in Singapore’s property scene. He moved from China to Singapore in 1934.
The family also has a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, Sino Group.
Robert, 71, holds the role of Chairman at Sino Group while Philip, 64, is the CEO of Far East.
#3 Li Xiting: $14 Billion, Healthcare
Chinese-born Singaporean billionaire and philanthropist Li Xiting is co-founder, President, and co-CEO of Mindray, a medical equipment manufacturer in China.
The 72-year-old was born in Suzhou, Anhui China and he founded Mindray in 1991 in Shenzhen with co-founders Xu Hang and Cheng Minghe.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused a soar in the business’ stock price, with Li’s net worth estimated to rise by US$1 billion every month due to the great demand for ventilators.
#4 Goh Cheng Liang: $12.3 Billion, Manufacturing
The 96-year-old Singaporean billionaire is founder of Wuthelam Holdings, a manufacturer of paint and coatings.
In 1955, he set up his first paint shop in Singapore and became the main distributor for Nippon Paint in 1962. Wuthelam Holdings was founded in 1974 to consolidate the growing business of paint and property development.
In 2020, Goh’s son Goh Hup Jin concluded a deal that enabled Wuthelam Holdings to take control of Nippon Paint.
Goh’s son is the Chairman of Nippon Paint since 2018 and runs a privately held joint venture, Nipsea.
#5 Kwek Leng Beng & Family: $11 Billion, Real Estate
Kwek Leng Beng was trained as a lawyer in London, but he chose to join the family business in the early 1960s. His father, Kwek Hong Png founded Hong Leong Group in Singapore after he left his hometown in Fujian China as a penniless teenager.
Kwek Leng Beng, now 82, is the Chairman of City Developments Limited (CDL), an international property and hotel conglomerate and the leading real estate developer in Singapore.
He also created an international brand out of Hong Leong Group, as it is now a conglomerate with more than 300 companies, including 12 listed ones. He holds the position of Executive Chairman at Hong Leong Group.
The billionaire also chairs London-listed Millenium & Copthorne Hotels, of which 53% of shares belong to CDL.
#6 Zhang Yong & Shu Ping: $9.7 Billion, Food & Beverage
You can become a billionaire by just selling food too. Owners of popular restaurant chain Haidilao have over 400 direct-operated stores in operation in more than 100 cities worldwide.
Zhang Yong, 47, a Chinese naturalised Singaporean was born and grew up in Jianyang, Sichuan, China. He did not eat in a restaurant until he was 19 and worked as a welder.
He quit his job in a tractor factory in 1994 and opened a restaurant with only four tables for customers, the first Haidilao restaurant. The business was co-founded by two couples, Zhang Yong and wife Shu Ping, and Shi Yonghong and wife Li Haiyan. Shu Ping is a co-founder and non-Executive Director of Sichuan Haidilao Catering.
By 2010, the company grew to become so popular it opened its own training school on restaurant management.
Haidilao opened its first US restaurant in Los Angeles, California in 2013. The business then filed for an Initial Public Offering in 2018 at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company netted up to US$700 million from the IPO which helped them fuel international expansion.
#7 Khoo Family: $8.5 Billion, Real Estate
Heirs of late banker Khoo Teck Puat, the Khoo family inherited the fortune of investments in Standard Chartered Bank.
Mr Khoo invested in StanChart in the 1980s to help rescue the bank from a hostile takeover by Lloyd’s Bank. The Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore is also another venture of the late businessman.
Mr Khoo made a dramatic acquisition of a 5% stake in StanChart during the crisis and he subsequently grew his stake to almost 15% to become the single largest shareholder of the bank.
In 2006, the family sold their stake in StanChart for $4 billion.
The Khoos have been charitable in their endeavours, and have donated S$80 million to Duke-NUS Medical School as well as funded the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, which opened in 2010. The Khoo Foundation, a charity organisation, was set up in 1981 by Mr Khoo.
Some controversies, however, surround Mr Khoo. After he died of a heart attack in 2004, it was revealed that he had a larger stake in three of his listed firms Goodwood Park, Hotel Malaysia and Central Properties than was disclosed. My Khoo’s daughters (Jacqueline and Elizabeth) were fined a large sum because of that.
#8 Wee Cho Yaw: $7.1 Billion, Finance & Investments
Mr Wee Cho Yaw, 94, is Chairman of UOL Group, Chairman Emeritus and Honorary Advisor of United Overseas Bank and United Industrial Corporation.
His father, Mr Wee Kheng Chiang, founder of United Chinese Bank (now UOB) retired in 1974, and Mr Wee succeeded him. His son, Wee Ee Chong, then succeeded as Chief Executive Officer of the bank.
UOB is Singapore’s third-largest bank by assets. Mr Wee retired as Director of the bank in 2018, a position he had held for six decades.
Wee Ee Lim, the younger son of Wee Ee Chong, has a board seat in the bank.
In 2022, UOB bought Citibank’s consumer banking business across Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for about $3.6 billion.
#9 Leo Koguan: $6.5 Billion, Technology
Indonesian-born Chinese American businessman and philanthropist Leo Koguan, 68, is Chairman and co-Founder of SHI International Corp, an IT provider.
SHI International is a privately owned provider of IT infrastructure, end-user computing, cybersecurity, and IT optimization products and services. It has customers in the non-profit, private, and public sectors and about 6,000 employees in worldwide offices including Singapore.
Some of the company’s clients include Boeing and Johnson and Johnson. Leo’s ex-wife, Thai Lee, is the CEO of the company.
The business operates five integration centres globally, with one located in Tampines, Singapore.
Leo is also the third-largest individual shareholder in Tesla, behind Elon Musk and Larry Ellison. He amassed the shares during the pandemic period, and sold off his holdings in other stocks.
He currently lives in Singapore and was known to have paid S$62 million for a Singapore penthouse Guoco Tower’s Wallich Residence from British billionaire Sir James Dyson.
#10 Kwee Brothers: $6.3 Billion, Real Estate
Owners of privately held luxury real estate developer Pontiac Land Group, the Kwee brothers Kwee Liong Keng, Kwee Liong Tek, Kwee Liong Seen and Kwee Liong Phing collectively run the group.
The brothers’ father, Henry Kwee Hian Liong, migrated from Fujian Province, China, to Singapore in 1958. He was a textile trader and subsequently real estate developer. He founded Kwee Inc in 1959 and Pontiac Land Group in 1961.
The Kwee brothers, through Pontiac Land Group, own several luxury hotels in Singapore including Regent Singapore, Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Conrad Centennial Singapore, and The Capella Singapore.
They also own offices and malls, such as the Millenia Tower and the Centennial Tower. The group also developed and managed Camden Medical Centre.
In 2013, the brothers funded a $300 million equity injection for business development in New York. The family business also developed and supported hotel property development in the Maldives.
In 2017, the brothers acquired the Cappella Hotel group from legendary luxury hotelier, Horst Schulze, for an undisclosed sum.
Read Also: How Long Will It Take To Become A Millionaire If You Have A $4,000 Salary?
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