Casinos investors slip in Forbes Malaysia’s 50 Richest list
The Malaysia’s 50 Richest list shows that the wealth of NagaCorp and Genting Group’s founders decreased.
Malaysia.- Forbes features two major casino investors in this year’s Malaysia’s 50 Richest list but both saw their net worth fall in the past year. Lim Kok Thay, founder of Genting Group, now ranks as the 14th richest person in Malaysia, down five places from 2024. The Chen family, behind NagaCorp, is down from 18th to 30th.
Lim Kok Thay’s is reported as having fallen from US$2.3bn to US$1.8bn. He stepped down as Genting CEO in February after nearly two decades at the helm of the group but remains as executive chairman. Dato’ Sri Tan Kong Han is now CEO.
Genting comprises the listed and unlisted companies Genting Malaysia, Genting Plantations and Genting Singapore, Genting Energy, and Resorts World Las Vegas. Genting Singapore operates Resorts World Sentosa, which is one of the two integrated resorts licensed to operate in Singapore.
For the full year, Genting Malaysia’s revenue increased by 7 per cent to RM10.7bn (US$2.41bn) while adjusted EBITDA grew by 1 per cent to RM2.92bn (US$658.4m). In Malaysia, the group’s leisure and hospitality operations reported a 6 per cent growth in revenue to RM6.28bn (US$1.42bn) while adjusted EBITDA was up 1 per cent to RM2.1bn (US$473.5m).
The Chen family – the heirs of NagaCorp founder Chen Lip Keong, who died in 2023, has an estimated wealth of US$775m. Following Lip Keong’s death, his son Chen Yiy Fon was appointed as chief executive of the casino operator.
For full-year 2024, NagaCorp posted GGR of US$542.9m, up 5.5 per cent year-on-year. Net gaming revenue was US$480.3m, an increase of 8 per cent in year-on-year terms. The casino operator posted net profit of US$109.6m, down by 38.3 per cent in year-on-year terms mainly due to a non-cash impairment loss of US$89.1m related to the company’s Vladivostok project. Unaudited preliminary earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$202.8m, down 31.3 per cent year-on-year.
