The Billionaire’s Secret

He’s got mapping the mind of the ultra-rich down to a science, and made a fortune from that himself. Serial entrepreneur David Leppan tells Melissa Gail Sing why Asia is the place to be

f you follow global wealth reports, you’ll know that it’s been predicted that in 10 years’ time, Asia will have the largest concentration of ultra-high-networth individuals (UHNWI, defined as individuals worth US$30M and up), and that the region boasts the highest growth in billionaire wealth— about a third of 2014’s newly minted billionaires came from Asia. You may also know that the top passion investments for the affluent are art, private jets, travel and real estate. But if there’s one thing most people don’t know about the truly rich—and you can call it the billionaire’s secret—it’s that they often feel challenged when it comes to sharing their moolah. David Leppan discovered this after spending years studying UHNWI. The 42-year-old says, “I was surprised to find that one of the greatest challenges for the wealthy is determining how to give back and who to support. When constantly approached for investment or donations, one becomes concerned about how to best invest your charity dollars and who to trust.”

INSIDE MAN

A British national, David was raised in South Africa and has homes in Singapore, Ibiza and London. His background in real estate sales led to a string of entrepreneurial ventures on which his fortune is built. At 22, together with his then wife, he started World-check, a database used by banks to identify terrorists, corrupt politicians and organised crimes. This paved the way for his next company, Wealth-x, where his reputation as a thought leader on open-source intelligence was channelled into gathering data on UHNWI. The idea was to understand this group of slightly under 200,000 individuals who collectively represented a fortune of US$28T. “My co-founders first approached me with only US data in mind, but I had a clear vision of the idea that international data was of greatest value, especially from countries where data was hard to come by.” Today, Wealth-x is a global authority on wealth intelligence and a trusted information source for journalists, banks and company CEOS. David might have exited the company late last year, but the projects of this serial entrepreneur whose business interests range from publishing to technology continue to engage the ultra-wealthy and influence how they think and what they do. What’s become increasingly apparent in his work with the world’s wealthiest is that they are increasingly concerned about social responsibility. “Sustainability and environmental impact are areas all luxury businesses can improve upon and provide opportunity for them to stand out. Social responsibility and philanthropy are today a key part of the culture and ethos of most European luxury houses. This is an area that we in Asia, too, need to really open ourselves up to. We need to recognise the lessons others have learnt, and in this instance, it is that giving back is important to the wealthy.” This notion is the backbone of his pet project Billionaire.com, an online and print platform which combines a love for authentic luxury with a devotion to philanthropy and reaches out to the world’s wealthiest individuals. David also runs Gatehouse Publishing, which produces The Hunt Guides and coffee table books, and invests in property, primarily in London. Right now, there’s no place he’d rather be doing business in than Asia. The Singapore permanent resident, who moved here eight years ago, says, “You have several billion people with an appetite to dramatically improve their circumstance, and that

means opportunity for entrepreneurs who get it right.” This hunger for greater affluence in the region translates into opportunities to prove the notion that local is on par with or better than foreign. He says: “As societies mature, one moves from the ‘international is best’ or ‘anything but local’ mentality to recognising local artisans, craftsmen and artists who can compete at an international level. We must acknowledge that world-class is at home. Good examples of this here in Singapore are Ethan K and Kevin Seah, and we have remarkable chefs like Janice Wong and Andre Chiang who are without question at the top of their game.”

PASSIONS AND PURSUITS

And David is quite the fan of our local culinary stars, revealing that Restaurant André is one of his favourite places to dine at in Singapore. When he is at home, the father of three also enjoys entertaining and cooking for family and friends. His passions offer an idea of how well acquainted he is with the good life as we know it: a classic car enthusiast since young, he has a collection of Bentleys and “God knows how many bloody 1950s and 1960s Rolls-royces”; he travels by private jet and has spoken at high-level private aviation conferences; and the collector of Spanish, Italian and Dutch 16th- and 17th-century art is a self-professed impulse buyer with a portrait of the great Spanish Master Velázquez, attributed to Del Mazo, among his collection. Artists, musicians and composers have always inspired him, but the greatest influence in his life is his South African friend Dimitri Cavaleros and his family, and how they do business. (The Cavaleros Group’s core business is commercial, industrial, hotel and retail property investment development.) “It was the elegance, grace and discretion with which they do business. Our families go back three generations and quite possibly the best thing our fathers did was to introduce us to each other,” shares David. Indeed, elegance would aptly sum up how this gentleman conducts business and his life, but it’s more than that, it’s elegance with heart. His personal mission says it all: “I want to ensure that my children are happy and that I help others to help themselves. It costs so little to be complimentary, friendly and supportive of people around you, even total strangers.”