Singapore's Richest See Wealth Shift: Tech Tycoon Dethroned

Singapore's top five billionaires saw their combined net worth fall roughly 7% to $90.6 billion as of August 14, primarily due to a significant drop in the fortune of the richest individual, according to Forbes' annual rich list. The rankings also saw shifts among the city-state's wealthiest. Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, experienced a substantial decline of $10.1 billion in his net worth. This was largely attributed to a 25% drop in the shares of Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, over the past year. Meta's second-quarter results showed a 14% decrease in net profit, despite a 28% revenue increase, with rising expenses on AI infrastructure impacting earnings. Saverin, 44, who is a Singapore permanent resident and has held the top spot since 2023, draws the majority of his $32.9 billion fortune from his stake in Meta. He also co-founded venture capital firm B Capital. Meanwhile, Kwek Leng Beng and his family, who control prominent property developer City Developments Limited (CDL), climbed to second place. Their net worth increased by $1.8 billion to $16.1 billion. CDL has been focusing on its residential and hospitality businesses, shedding non-core assets, and reported a significant surge in net profit of 230.7% year-on-year for the first half of the year, with revenue climbing 61.1%. Brothers Philip Ng, 67, and Robert Ng, 74, who head Far East Organization, another major property developer, saw their combined fortune rise by about 1.4% to $14.3 billion. Their late father, Ng Teng Fong, founded the company after moving from China to Singapore in 1934 and became known as "The King of Orchard Road." The Lee family, associated with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), experienced the largest wealth gain, with their fortune jumping 78% to $13.8 billion, propelling them to fourth place. OCBC's shares have nearly doubled over the past year, driven by strong performance in its wealth management business. The bank is set to acquire HSBC's Indonesian retail banking and wealth management operations in 2027. The Goh family, with substantial holdings in Japan's Nippon Paint Holdings, saw their net worth climb 3% to $13.5 billion, though they dropped one spot to fifth. The family's patriarch, Goh Cheng Liang, who passed away last August at the age of 98, established a significant paint business in Singapore that developed into a partnership with Nippon Paint. The latest rankings underscore the impact of market fluctuations on tech fortunes while highlighting the continued significance of real estate, banking, and manufacturing in wealth creation within Singapore. While Vietnam's economic growth is robust, its context differs from Singapore's mature financial and real estate markets.