Is Robert Kuok Really Malaysia’s Richest? Report Claims Sarawak’s Ex-Governor is Much Wealthier

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s been quite the drama going around recently about 87-year-old former Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family, or more specifically his younger second wife, Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib.

Here’s just a quick recap before we get to the actual topic at hand.

Raghad is being sued by Taib’s children from his first marriage over the transfer of shares of a private company, Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, to Raghad.

And while all of this was going down, Raghad was also allegedly caught packing up the mansion she shares with Taib (causing speculation that she might be fleeing the country) and later apparently took him (against doctors’ orders) from a private hospital where he was allegedly under life support and returned him to their home, an allegation she has since denied.

Now, it appears that an old, yet shocking piece of information has once again come to light.

Is Robert Kuok really the richest man in Malaysia?

Robert Kuok has a net worth of $10.1 billion (RM48,141,650,000.00), putting him at the top of the list of Malaysia’s most wealthy. But, a report from 2012 apparently says otherwise.

A report by Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF) titled ‘The Taib Timber Mafia: Facts and Figures on Politically Exposed Persons from Sarawak, Malaysia‘ from 2012 has stated that Taib’s net worth is $15 billion (RM71,497,500,000.00), making him much wealthier than Robert Kuok.

According to the report, Taib’s wealth stems from his family’s diverse financial empire, with interests in Sarawak’s largest timber and logging companies, monopolistic control of log exports, plantations, construction (including Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad as mentioned above), electricity supply, property development, state media and more.

Hence, a question remains, why has Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud never actually been given the title of Malaysia’s richest? 

A quick online search found that even in 2012 when the report came out, Robert Kuok was still named as Malaysia’s richest under Forbes despite his net worth being lower than Taib’s. In fact, it appears that Taib was not mentioned at all.

Despite the report being published in 2012, it appears that it didn’t gain the necessary traction back then.

But now, with the drama surrounding his second wife, Raghad, and her alleged actions, the extent of Taib’s wealth has become the focus of Malaysians on social media.

What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

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