SINGAPORE — There were more Singaporean billionaires in the Forbes 2023 World's Billionaires List, increasing to 35 individuals from last year's 26.
Three new entrants from Singapore – Kwek Leng Keow, son of banking tycoon Kwek Hong Leong (No. 2,020), hotel tycoon Michael Kum (No. 2,540), and Raffles Medical Group co-founder Loo Choon Yong (No. 2,540) – made their debut on the annual wealth rankings this year. CEO of gaming company Razer, Tan Min-Liang (No. 2,405), was a returnee on this year's list with a net worth of US$1.1 billion.
Li Xiting, the founder of medical equipment company Mindray, once again tops this year's rankings as the richest Singaporean on the list – though his ranking fell to No. 103 from No. 94 last year. His total wealth fell from US$17.6 billion in 2022 to US$16.3 billion this year.
Li is followed closely by paint manufacturing tycoon Goh Cheng Liang as the second richest Singaporean to make the list at No. 123 and Far East Organization Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Phillip Ng as the third richest Singaporean at No. 290.
Other Singaporeans on the list include chairman of hotpot chain Haidilao Zhang Yong (No. 299), founder of online gaming and e-commerce firm Sea, Forrest Li (No. 591), former stockbroker Peter Lim (No. 1,164) and property tycoon Raj Kumar, who made the list along with his son Kishin RK in the same position (No. 1905).
Richest people in the world
The number of billionaires around the world fell for a second straight year in 2023 given the challenging market conditions. The total number of billionaires fell to 2,640, down from 2,668 last year. Collectively, the world's billionaires are now worth US$12.2 trillion, down from US$12.7 trillion in March 2022.
French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault tops the World's Billionaires ranking for the first time, with an estimated net worth of US$211 billion, on the back of a strong year for his LVMH group.
He unseats Elon Musk, who dominated most of 2022 as the year's richest person but has now fallen to second place with a net worth estimated at US$180 billion – US$39 billion less than a year ago following his controversial takeover of Twitter, and Tesla's falling share price.
-
Also read: Singaporean chef Mathew Leong featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list
-
Also read: Li Xiting, founder of ventilator maker Mindray, is richest Singaporean on Forbes list
-
Also read: Wealth of Singapore's 50 richest on Forbes list falls by over 20%
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos takes the third spot with a net worth of US$114 billion, a steep drop from his wealth last year which stood at $171 billion. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison came in at No. 4 with a net worth of US$107 billion followed by the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffet, at No. 5 with a net worth of US$106 billion.