China’s hotpot king Zhang Yong shoves aside real estate magnates as Singapore’s richest man as Haidilao’s stock price doubled
- Zhang Yong, a new citizen of Singapore takes the No 1 spot in Singapore from Sino Land’s Ng Brothers, says Forbes Asia
- The move to Singapore could foreshadow a migration of wealth from Hong Kong to Singapore amid concerns over Hong Kong’s political stability
Zhang Yong, mainland China’s “hotpot king,” has displaced a couple of property developers as Singapore’s richest man according to Forbes Asia’s latest listing, as a doubling in the stock price of Haidilao International Holdings bolstered his wealth.
Zhang, who was on the China rich list last year, has since become a naturalised Singaporean citizen. His debut at the top of Singapore’s rich list displaces Philip and Robert Ng, who own property developer Far East Organisation and Hong Kong’s Sino Land, for the No 1 spot.
The Ng brothers, with a combined wealth estimated at US$12.1 billion, had been Singapore’s wealthiest people every year this decade, according to Forbes Asia.
China-born Forrest Li – founder of Shopee and Garena, the latter which created e-game Free Fire – has seen his wealth balloon to US$1.57 billion from last year’s US$738 million. Li is on the list after his naturalisation as a Singapore citizen.
The combined wealth of Singapore’s 50 richest tycoons increased by more than 12 per cent to US$130 billion from last year, Forbes Asia said.