Koh Becomes Billionaire, Sheds Love Hotel Image
24.05.12
Koh Wee Meng, who develops property
and runs a budget hotel chain in Singapore, has joined the ranks
of the world’s billionaires as a surge in shares of Fragrance
Group Ltd. (FRAG) boosted his fortune to $1.1 billion.
Koh and his wife, Lim Wan Looi, own an 84.2 percent stake
in Fragrance worth almost $1 billion, which has almost doubled
in the last 12 months. The rest of his net worth is derived from
stakes in other public holdings and dividend income.
“I just continue to do my business,” Koh, 49, said in an
interview after the company’s March 28 annual shareholders
meeting, while five dozen attendees nibbled on fried rice
noodles and egg sandwiches at Fragrance’s headquarters in an
eastern suburb of Singapore. He said that he hadn’t valued his
assets recently, and that his fortune can be easily calculated
from his public holdings.
Fragrance shares reached a record 48.5 Singapore cents on
March 22 after the company said it will spin off its hotels
business and may pay shareholders a special dividend. Koh is
riding gains in tourism as visitors arrive in record numbers,
lured by Singapore’s two casinos, which opened in 2010, and more
budget airlines flights to the city-state.
Source: BusinessWeek