While Kylie Jenner graced Forbes World Billionaires rich list as the youngest self-made billionaire, Malaysia’s richest man, Robert “Sugar King” Kuok received the unfortunate news that he had slipped eight unceremonious places out of the global top 100.
Having come in at 96th richest man in the world last year, the Hong Kong-based Kuok is now 104th, having gone from a net worth of US$14.5 billion in 2018, to a paltry (LOL!) US$12.8 billion this year.
However, the Sugar King’s fall from the graces of the top 100 is in keeping with a wider trend according to Forbes – many other billionaires was the fortunes take a downward turn over the last year. Compared to last year, there are 55 fewer billionaires, and 46% of those still on the list are “poorer [Ed. Note: LOL x’s 2] than they were last year. In total, the ultra-rich are worth US$8.7 trillion, down US$400 billion from 2018.”
We can already hear the whispers floating from the moored superyachts of St. Barth’s. Oh, the indignity!
This year’s list also saw the highest number of names dropped completely off the list, with 247 individuals losing jockeying position at the same table of the very well to-do. This was the biggest drop that the list had seen since the global financial crisis of 2008-9.
Malaysia’s second richest man is Quek Leng Chan, one of the co-founders of the Hong Leong banking group, whose fortune is estimated to come in at US$9.4 billion. However, on Forbes’ list, he only registers at #217.
Rounding out the Malaysian top five are Teh Hong Piow of Public Bank fame at number three with a fortune of US$6.7 billion, T. Ananda Krishnan of Astro media group at US$6.2 billion and Lee Shin Cheng of IOI developers at US$5.4 billion.
Meanwhile, we still can’t get over the rising cost of prawns at our local nasi kandar.
