Forbes: Malaysia’s40Richest

By now it is no surprise that the rich around the world are gettingpoorer. Malaysia is no exception: Its 40 wealthiest are worth$36 billion, down from $46 billion a year ago.
That loss is largely in line with the 21% drop in the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index and not too bad considering the fact that the Malaysian ringgit has lost 10% against the U.S. dollar, the currency in which net worths are measured.
Malaysia’s billionaires continue to dominate. The country’s two richest people, Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan, both again No. 1 and No. 2, are worth a combined $16 billion and account for 44% of the top 40’s wealth. They are also the two richest people in Southeast Asia.
The country’s nine billionaires are worth $30 billion, or 84% of the total, the biggest wealth disparity among any of FORBES ASIA’s other richlists. Vincent Tan is the only Malaysian to have dropped out of the billionaire ranks in the past 12 months as share prices in his companies declined.There are signs of recovery.
The nation’s stock market index has been climbing in the past two months. Kuok’s fortune is up$2 billion since March, when he appeared on the world’s billionaires list. Five other billionaires have posted a combined $800 millionin gains since then.
Kua Sian Kooi grabbed the last spot onthe list as a result of a big rally in his insurance firm Kurnia Asia’s stock, up 50% since the start of April. Three newcomers debut, thanks to the discovery of better or new information.
They include software executive Goh Peng Ooi, IOI board member Chan Fong Ann and gaming tycoon Chen Lip Keong, who operates a casino in Cambodia and a tourism business in Malaysia. Four people have returned to the ranks after an absence of a year or more.
Among them are Syed Mohd Yusof Tun Syed Nasir and Tan Teong Hean, who cashed out of Southern Bank several years ago and are now making new investments. Among those who dropped off the list are several tycoons whobarely missed the cut, including CIMB bank’s Nazir Razak and OSK finance group’s Ong Leong Huat.
Malaysian citizen Ong Beng Seng,who has lived in Singapore for decades, is wealthy enough to qualify but stands to be listed among that nation’s 40 richest in September, largely due to the fact that he and his wife, Christina,who is a citizen of Singapore, share a number of holdings.