Xinhua, Kuala Lumpur :
The combined wealth of Malaysia’s 40 richest individuals surged to RM217.82 billion (about 70 billion US dollars) as at January 18, 2014, rising 11. 73 percent from a year ago, says Malaysian Business in its Feb. 16 issue.
The magazine said when it first started computing the wealth of Malaysia’s 40 Richest individuals in 2002, their combined assets stood at RM41.7 billion (about 14 billion dollars) .
Since then, 81 tycoons have joined the 40 Richest Malaysians list and 15 have managed to remain on it continuously.
“Overall, the steady increase of their wealth can be attributed to share market performance and price inflation, given that their wealth is largely based on their shareholdings,” it said.
“It is also reflective of the performance of their companies and Malaysia’s positive economic growth over the past 12 years,” the business magazine said in a statement Thursday.
This year 33 billionaires appeared on the list, two more than last year, and 29 of the 40 in the list see their assets increasing from last year, according to the magazine.
