Malaysia’s 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. The two, who have topped Forbes Asia’s Malaysian rich list since it debuted in 2006, are also the two wealthiest 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 rich lists. 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.
Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, who lost his billionaire status earlier this year, is back up top, worth $1.1 billion, thanks to a rebound of his Malaysia Mining Corp. stock.
Top 40 Richest Man In Malaysia For 2009 are:
Read Malaysia's 40 Richest For 2009 By Forbes
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He also vowed to continue updating his Malaysia Today news portal in a day or two.
