Syed Mokhtar richest Malay on Forbes list

He’s noted for enjoying a monopoly in sugar and is also a big player in the rice market.

KUALA LUMPUR: Self-made tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, 63, who never had much of a schooling, is the richest among several Malays, according to Forbes Magazine which tracks the rich and famous.

He’s worth USD2.9 billion, no small beef in a country like Malaysia where local wages have remained stagnant for decades, workers even in the industrial sector are underpaid by 45 per cent vis a vis their stagnant productivity and foreign workers are as many as local workers.

Syed Mokhtar, based on the list of 50 richest Malaysians, is in 8th place. He’s noted for enjoying a monopoly in sugar and is also a big player in the rice market.

Azman Hashim, formerly with Maybank and who now heads AmBank Group is the second on the Malay list with USD865 million. His group had its beginnings as Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank founded by the late Hussain Najadi, who was shot dead at point blank range in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, not so long ago.

The rest of the list:

• Oil and gas industry players, the brothers Shahril Shamsuddin and Shahriman Shamsuddin with an accumulated net worth of USD860 million;
• Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim at USD740 million who runs Westar Aviation;
• Mokhzani Mahathir, the son of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, at USD700 million;
• Co-founder of Westport Holdings Ahmayuddin Ahmad at USD600 million;
• Air Asia Executive Chairman Kamarudin Meranun at USD540 million.