Clockwise from left:Paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang, medical devices firm founder Li Xiting and tech billionaire Forrest Li clinched the top three spots respectively. -LIANHE ZABAO, MINDRAY WEBSITE, SEA LIMITED
SINGAPORE: Paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang clinched the top spot among Singapore’s richest, according to Forbes’ annual list of global billionaires released on April 1.
Joining him are medical devices company founder Li Xiting in second place and tech billionaire Forrest Li in third.
The trio are among 49 Singaporean billionaires who made it to the list, up from 39 in 2024. Globally, they are ranked 182nd, 185th and 347th, respectively.
Singapore’s billionaires’ collective net worth came to US$145.2 billion (S$195 billion) in 2025, compared with US$115.5 billion in 2024.
Goh, who holds a majority stake in Japan’s Nippon Paint Holdings, overtook Li Xiting, co-founder and chairman of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, to claim the top spot with a net worth of US$13 billion.
Li Xiting, who topped the local list in 2024, has a net worth of US$12.8 billion.
Forrest Li, chief executive of Singapore-based internet company Sea, more than doubled his net worth from US$3.6 billion in 2024 to US$8.6 billion in 2025.
Sea reported profits for a second consecutive year in 2024, buoyed by growth in its e-commerce arm Shopee and fintech unit SeaMoney.
Shares of the US-listed company have surged more than 140 per cent in the past year to hit US$132.46 on April 2.
The Republic’s billionaire roster saw no dropouts in 2025.
New entrants include Quek Leng Chye, managing director of Hong Leong Holdings, who ranked 2,790th globally with a net worth of US$1.1 billion; and Lim Kaling, founding investor of gaming company Razer, with US$1.2 billion.
Other familiar names include the three sons of late banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw: UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong and his brothers, Wee Ee Chao and Wee Ee Lim.
The trio have a combined fortune of US$6 billion in 2025, up from US$4.2 billion in 2024.
Meta co-founder Eduardo Saverin, a Brazilian national and permanent resident in Singapore, ranked 51st globally with a net worth of US$34.5 billion.
The Forbes World’s Billionaires List is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 7. It considers various assets, including private companies, real estate and art.
The 2025 list features a record 3,028 billionaires – 247 more than in 2024. Their collective net worth hit US$16.1 trillion, up nearly US$2 trillion from the previous year.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk took the crown from French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault.
Musk’s net worth surged 75 per cent to an estimated US$342 billion, following new valuations of SpaceX and xAI, and a 12-month rise in Tesla stock.
He is the first person to surpass the US$300 billion mark, and has a US$126 billion lead over the next richest person: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who ranks second for the first time.
In third place is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, followed by Oracle’s Larry Ellison and LVMH’s Arnault.
US President Donald Trump ranked 700th, with an estimated net worth of US$5.1 billion, more than double from the previous year, driven by his stake in Trump Media and Technology Group and recent gains from his cryptocurrency ventures.
With a record 902 billionaire citizens, the US is still the country with the biggest triple comma club.
China remains in second place with 516 billionaires, while India ranks third with 205 billionaires. - The Straits Times/ANN
