Lim Kok Thay (pictured in a file photo), executive chairman of Malaysia-founded gaming and plantations conglomerate Genting Bhd, is ranked 15th on Forbes’ 2026 edition of “Malaysia’s 50 Richest”.
In world terms, his position is 2,429. That is via his estimated real-time net worth – as of Wednesday – of nearly US$1.7 billion, up 0.74 percent, or US$12 million, from his previous worth. He is classified under the business sector “gambling and casinos”.
In February it was announced that Mr Lim, 74, had been made chairman and director of Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd, the operating entity of Singapore casino complex Resorts World Sentosa. The latter property is part of the Genting portfolio via the Genting Singapore Ltd unit.
The group also runs Malaysia’s first and so far only casino complex – Resorts World Genting – at Genting Highlands outside the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur.
Later the Genting group branched out into casino cruise business, a Singapore casino licence, and operations – via Genting Malaysia Bhd – in the United States, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom and Egypt.
An associate of the Genting group, Empire Resorts Inc, runs gaming in upstate New York in the U.S. In December last year, the Genting group was awarded a downstate licence to convert its Resorts World New York City gaming facility to a full-service casino. The Genting group also runs Resorts World Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the U.S.
Genting Bhd has been moving closer to a 75pct stake in Bursa Malaysia-listed Genting Malaysia, that would allow the parent to take the unit private.
At number 20 on Malaysia’s 50 Richest for 2026, is the ‘Chen family’, with a combined worth of US$1.4 billion, also stemming from “gambling and casinos”.
The Chen family consists of the heirs of casino tycoon Chen Lip Keong, who died in December 2023, aged 76.
He founded Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp Ltd, which holds a gaming licence for the NagaWorld casino complex (pictured above) in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, running to 2065, with a guaranteed monopoly until 2045.
Mr Chen’s son, Chen Yiy Fon, is currently NagaCorp’s chief executive and an executive director.
Moody’s Ratings said in a note this month that it expected a final budget for Naga3 – an extension to the complex – would be “materially lower than the initial US$3.5 billion estimate,” and that it would be “largely funded through internally generated cash flows”.
