Tycoons on the 2021 Forbes Malaysia Rich List saw a rebound in their collective wealth as it rose 14% to nearly US$90 billion this year, after declining for two years.
The country’s wealthiest people were well ahead of the economic recovery curve. After two years of decline, in 2019 and 2020, their combined wealth rose 14% to nearly $90 billion.
February 24, 2021 | 5:19 pm Font Size
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Latex gloves on hand-shaped molds move along an automated production line at a Top Glove Corp. factory in Malaysia in 2020. PHOTO BY SAMSUL SAID/BLOOMBERG
IN THE HEALTH-CARE industry, the coronavirus pandemic led to big fortunes, fast. Now some of them are evaporating just as quickly.
Take Seegene, Inc., a maker of COVID-19 test kits, and Alteogen, Inc., a biotech with subcutaneous-injection technology. Their founders became billionaires as the shares surged last year. Fast forward a few months to the vaccine rollout, and they’ve lost their title after both stocks sank more than 41%, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.