KUALA LUMPUR: A declining ringgit offset a 9.0 per cent rise in Malaysia's stock market since the fortunes of the country's richest tycoons were last measured.
As a result, their collective wealth on the 2024 Forbes list of Malaysia's 50 Richest rose by a modest two per cent to US$83.4 billion this year.
Business mogul Robert Kuok, who turned 100 last October, continues to rank No. 1 on the list with a net worth of US$11.5 billion.
Kuok, one of the world's oldest billionaires, founded the Kuok Group 75 years ago in Johor Bahru as a modest business trading sugar, rice and wheat flour and built it into a thriving conglomerate.
At No. 2 with US$8.8 billion is Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, executive chairman of Hong Leong Group, who retained his ranking despite a dip in his net worth from US$10.2 billion last year.
Other fortunes in the top five saw a reshuffle with the Teh siblings, who inherited a stake in Public Bank from their late father Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow, gaining slightly and moving up to third place with a net worth of US$5.4 billion.
They displaced aluminum magnates Tan Sri Koon Poh Keong and siblings, who slid to No. 5 amid weaker prices and demand for the metal and their net worth fell to US$5.3 billion from US$5.8 billion last year.
Property gains propelled another set of inheritors, brothers Datuk Lee Yeow Chor and Yeow Seng (No. 4) into the top five for the first time with US$5.35 billion, up from US$4.6 billion last year.
Older brother Yeow Chor runs the family's palm oil company IOI Corp Bhd while younger sibling Yeow Seng oversees IOI Properties Bhd, which is preparing to open a multibillion-dollar office complex in Singapore's central business district.
The biggest gainers on this year's list, in both dollar and percentage terms, among the 22 fortunes that were up this year are Tan Sri Francis Yeoh and siblings.
They more than tripled their combined fortune to US$4.7 billion and jumped seven spots on the list to No. 7.
Shares of their flagship YTL Corp Bhd, which partnered with US tech giant Nvidia to build AI infrastructure at its data center park in Johor, have been on a tear.
Another notable gainer is property magnate Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, whose Sunway Group is betting on healthcare for future growth.
Cheah more than doubled his wealth to US$2.4 billion to enter the top 10 for the first time at No. 8.
There are four newcomers on this year's list.
Among them are two sets of heirs: the Chen family (No. 18, US$1.1 billion) inherited the wealth of casino mogul Tan Sri Chen Lip Keong, who passed away in December; and the Gnanalingam family (No. 12, US$1.6 billion) which consists of heirs of late ports magnate Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam, who died last July.
The minimum net worth to qualify for the list was US$320 million, up from US$315 million in 2023.
The complete list can be found at www.forbes.com/malaysia, as wellas in the April/May issue of Forbes Asia
This list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, annual reports, analysts, government agencies and other sources.
Net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on April 2, 2024 and private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded.