Malaysia has the most billionaires in South East Asia

Malaysia has the most billionaires in South East Asia

A Malaysian newspaper, The Star, reported that Malaysia has the most number of billionaires in South East Asia.

Malaysian tycoon, Tan Sri Robert Kuok named the 33rd richest man in the world with a net worth of US$14.5bil (RM48.1bil).

The former Sugar King, was among nine Malaysians who made it into the 2010 Forbes List of the World's Billionaires which listed a total of 1, 011 billionaires.

Kuok shared the spot with Microsoft's Steven Ballmer.

The Kuok Group patriarch moved up from the 62nd spot last year was also named the seventh richest man in Asia.

According to the The Star, Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan was listed as the 89th richest man in the world and the 14th richest man in Asia with a net worth of US$7.6bil (RM25.2bil).

Three other Malaysians made it into the top 300 list of billionaires with IOI Corp Bhd's Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng ranked 189th with US$4.4bil (RM14.6bil).

Hong Leong Group's Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan and Public Bank's Tan Sri The Hong Piow shared the 277th spot with their worth of US$3.4bil (RM11.3bil) each.

Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, YTL Group chairman and family came in 421st with their US$2.3bil (RM7.6bil) family fortunes while Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary of the Bukhary Foundation was ranked 655th for his US$1.5bil (RM4.98bil).

Berjaya Group's Tan Sri Vincent Tan made it back to the list and was ranked 828th with US$1.2bil (RM3.98bil) while Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King of Rimbunan Hijau Group was ranked 937th with his US$1bil (RM3.3bil).

According to The Star, both Malaysia and Philippiness had the highest number of billionaires in the South East Asian region.

China (including Hong Kong) had the most number of billionaires outside the US with 89. However, India still had the most numbers of billionaires within Asia, taking 10 of the 25 spots for Asia's richest.

By Shaza Dzulkifly, 3/12/2010