Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Ng Teng Fong - Singapore's Richest Man Dies


Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore billionaire Ng Teng Fong, the city-state’s richest man, died today after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on Jan. 23, Far East Organization Pte, the company he founded, said in a statement.

Ng, 82, was taken to hospital for an operation after the injury occurred, the statement said. He started Far East, Singapore’s largest private property developer, in the 1960s, and Sino Group, parent of Hong Kong-listed Sino Land Co.

The two companies have revenue of $5.5 billion and hold assets of $40 billion, including 4,727 hotel rooms on 12 properties, according to Far East’s Web site. Far East developed Singapore’s Fullerton Hotel as well as the Orchard Central mall in the city-state’s Orchard Road district. The company’s residential developments include the Icon and SOHO at Central in Singapore.

“I don’t expect a sudden shift in Far East or a change of heads,” said Nicholas Mak, a lecturer in real estate at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore. “His children have been running the company for more than a decade. He was a shrewd businessman. They’ve had a reputation of launching their residential condos at rather aggressive prices. They are prepared to wait out a longer marketing period and that shows they had the holding power.”

Forbes Asia listed Ng as Singapore’s wealthiest man in 2009 with holdings of $8 billion. The Khoo family, descendants of banker Khoo Teck Puat, were ranked as Singapore’s second-richest persons with $5.5 billion, according to the rankings released in September.

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