Southeast Asia/Media Tycoons

Gulf Daily News (Bahrain): Media tycoon is East Asia's richest person

"Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, whose vast empire includes media, hotel and mining properties, is Southeast Asia's richest person with an estimated wealth of $5.3 billion, Forbes magazine said. Malaysians and Singaporeans dominated the list. Kuok had also topped last year's inaugural Forbes roster of the region's wealthiest individuals."

"The 82-year-old Kuok increased his estimated wealth by $1.2bn over the past year as he reaped huge returns from investments of more than $5bn in China's booming economy, the US business publication said.Collectively, the region's wealthiest 40 individuals were worth more than $62bn, up $15bn from last year, Forbes said."

"Malaysia's Ananda Krishnan, who owns cable TV operator Astro and phone company Maxis, remained number two with a net worth of $5.1bn. Third was Singaporean hotelier Kwek Leng Beng, whose wealth is valued at $4bn."