The 10 richest billionaires in Malaysia in 2024 – net worths, ranked: from Genting Group CEO Lim Kok Thay and Shangri-La luxury hotel boss Robert Kuok, to Quek Leng Chan and Ananda Krishnan
Despite a staggering GDP last year at just 2.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2023, Malaysia’s economy is projected to expand as much as 4.3 per cent this year, according to the recently published “World Bank Malaysia Economic Monitor: Raising the Tide Lifting All Boats” report.
But the sluggish GDP over the past year has done little to dent the net worths of the country’s richest. According to Forbes, the collective fortune of the top 50 wealthiest families and individuals in Malaysia is estimated to be US$81.6 billion.
Here’s a look at Malaysia’s 10 richest families and individuals, and how they made their billions from diverse industries, including gambling, F&B, telecommunications and retail, according to Forbes.
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10. Chia Song Kun & family
Combined net worth: US$1.8 billion
Patriarch Chia Song Kun co-founded QL Resources, specialising in seafood production. The family’s business has since expanded to include other food items, including palm oil and livestock feed. It is Southeast Asia’s largest producer of fish paste used to make imitation crabmeat and other faux seafood products.
9. Tan Yu Yeh, Tan Yu Wei and family
Combined net worth: US$1.9 billion
At 100 million richer is Tan Yu Yeh, Tan Yu Wei and family who specialise in retail. Most their wealth stems from the publicly traded Mr D.I.Y. Group, which owns the 2,000-plus outlets of retail chain Mr D.I.Y. across Asia. The family regularly donates to charitable causes, including the University of Malaysia.
8. Lim Kok Thay
Net worth: US$2.3 billion
Lim Kok Thay has amassed a fortune thanks to his global hospitality, gambling and tourism operation Genting Group. Though the group’s Genting Hong Kong arm and its fleet of cruises took a brutal hit during the pandemic, Lim, the chairman and CEO of Genting Group, has managed to maintain a net worth of US$2.3 billion.
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7. Chen Lip Keong
Net worth: US$2.8 billion
Also in the gaming industry is Chen Lip Keong, whose net worth was estimated to be US$2.8 billion as of May 2023, before his death at the end of last year. The doctor-turned-businessman, who founded gaming and casino group NagaCorp, remains on the Forbes rich list and is succeeded by the eldest of his three sons, Chen Yiy Fon, who now assumes the position of CEO.
In 2006, the company became the first business to operate exclusively in casinos and gaming to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, according to its website. The former doctor had exclusive rights to operate casinos in Cambodia and played a key role in facilitating mass vaccination in the country during Covid-19, donating US$5 million to obtain vaccines, per Khmer Times.
6. Lee Yeow Chor and Lee Yeow Seng
Combined net worth: US$4.6 billion
The Lee brothers inherited the IOI Corporation from their late father, Lee Shin Cheng. The IOI empire specialises in palm oil production and has property development interests across Asia. The late Lee Sr was instrumental in funding the development of Chinese community schools in Malaysia, and his two sons have also spoken about continuing their father’s legacy in education, per New Straits Times.
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5. Ananda Krishnan
Net worth: US$4.7 billion
Telecommunication giant Ananda Krishan reportedly took a hit in the past six months since he made it to the No 4 spot on the Forbes rich list. His fortune was reported to have fallen from US$5.2 billion to US$4.7 billion as of early February.
The Harvard Business School grad’s India telecoms company, Aircel, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018. However, he continues to hold stakes in the Malaysia-based telecoms firm Maxis as well as an oilfield service company, Bumi Armada.
4. The Teh siblings
Combined net worth: US$5.2 billion
The banker family’s wealth comes from the Public Bank that Teh Hong Piow established in 1966. His four children – daughters Lilian, Lillyn and Diona, and son William – now control the family’s fortune after their father’s death in December 2022.
3. Koon Poh Keong and siblings
Combined net worth: US$5.8 billion
The five Koon brothers started the aluminium extruding company Press Metal Aluminium Holdings with just US$50,000. Since 1986, the siblings have amassed a net worth of US$5.8 billion. Koon Poh Keong is the CEO of the family’s operation.
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2. Quek Leng Chan
Net worth: US$9.9 billion
With a reported net worth that comes in at almost twice that of the Koons’, the second richest person in Malaysia’s fortune was said to be a whopping US$10.2 billion last year. However, Forbes updated its estimate, putting Quek’s wealth at US$9.9 billion at the time of writing. He co-founded Hong Leong Co. in 1966, which controls 14 listed companies with diversified interests ranging from F&B to property.
1. Robert Kuok
Net worth: US$10.1 billion
Kuok operates, among many businesses, a sugar production operation earning him the nickname “Sugar King” among local media. He also founded the luxury hotel chain Shangri-La. Despite his net worth shrinking more than a billion since May last year, the tycoon still sits on a US$10.1 billion fortune.
- Malaysian billionaires have pieces of the pie among the world’s richest, from Ananda Krishnan’s telecoms billions to the Teh and Quek clans’ banking wealth in the multicultural Southeast Asian country
- Both Lim Kok Thay and Chen Lip Keong are in the gaming industry, while the Lees’ IOI empire specialises in palm oil; meanwhile, Chia Song Kun is the largest producer of fish paste in the region