7. TAN SRI DR CHEN LIP KEONG Flagship: NagaCorp Ltd Net worth: RM13.11bil

THE 71-year-old billionaire medical doctor has overseen his business empire flourishing, thanks to the burgeoning casino operations in Cambodia. Climbing fast up the rankings from 10th last year, the 41% increase or RM3.8bil rise in his net worth to RM13.1bil was down to the robust growth in his Cambodian casino operations. NagaCorp Ltd, listed in Hong Kong, is the largest hotel, gaming and leisure operator in Cambodia.

Its property NagaWorld is Phnom Penh’s only integrated hotel-casino entertainment complex. The site has 1,700 guest rooms, 600 gaming tables and more than 5,000 gaming machines.

It holds a 70-year casino licence in Cambodia that runs until 2065 and has a monopoly within a 200-km radius of Phnom Penh except for the Cambodia-Vietnam border area, Bokor, Kirirom Mountain and Sihanoukville until 2035.

The prized asset of his empire is NagaCorp, which has been bolstered by the opening of Naga 2. Located adjacent to NagaWorld, this allowed NagaCorp to almost double its gaming capacity and revenue and earnings are expected to follow suit from 2018 onwards. In the first half of last year, NagaCorp saw an 83% growth in revenue to US$733mil from US$402mil in the same period a year earlier.

Chen’s company has Naga 3 in the planning stage and its Russia gaming project is expected to open for operations later this year. Its Russia venture is under the name Primorsky Entertainment Resort City and Chen’s company is expected to make an investment of no less than US$350mil in the development of the resort in Russia.

The driver of growth was mainly from the large influx of visitors from China to its resorts and the contribution from VIP high-rollers from China.

With Naga 3 being planned, Chen has relocated to Phnom Penh to better manage the group’s operations.

Chen’s other companies are based in Malaysia and they are FACB Industries Incorporated Bhd and Karambunai Corp Bhd. He delisted Petaling Tin from Bursa Malaysia last year.