AS MALAYSIANS GAWK AT JHO LOW’S ‘RM1 BILLION SUPERYACHT’, NAJIB PROPAGANDISTS HELP SPREAD RUMORS ROBERT KUOK PAID RM20 BILLION FOR AN EVEN MORE EXTRAVAGANT SOLID-GOLD SHIP – BUT WOULD A MAN AS SHREWD AS ROBERT, A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS, SPEND ‘MORE THAN A THIRD OF HIS ASSETS ON A BLINGED-OUT VESSEL’?

(Business Insider) – An anonymous Malaysian businessman just dropped an incredible $4.8 BILLION (RM20 billion) on a solid gold yacht.

That’s 10 times the amount Russian mogul Roman Abramovitch spent on his megayacht, the Eclipse, which previously held the title of the world’s most expensive yacht.

There aren’t many people in the world who could afford such an extravagance, let along that many Malaysians.

According to Forbes billionaires’ list, only three Malaysians have a net worth of $5 billion or more.

If the $4.8 billion figure is accurate — and a representative from Stuart Hughes, the yacht’s maker, assured us that it is — the most likely buyer is Robert Kuok, the richest man in Malaysia, with a net worth of $12.5 billion (the rep would not confirm or deny that the owner is Kuok).

Kuok is notoriously private and an astute businessman, so it’s somewhat shocking to think he would drop more than a third of his assets on a blinged-out vessel.

But hey, stranger things have happened.

– http://www.malaysia-today.net/