Malaysia's Richest 2018 How 'Accidental' Online Casino Hong Kong Billionaire Chen Lip

This story appears in the March 30, 2018 issue of Forbes Asia. Subscribe to Forbes AsiaThis story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Malaysia’s Richest 2018. See the total coverage hither. When Chen Lip Keong won Cambodia’s first of all Online Casino Hong Kong license in 1994, he had hardly ever stepped inside a Online Casino Hong Kong. He’d been to Malaysia’s Genting Highlands once on a date in the 1970s and visited Las Vegas once as a tourist. Online Casinos Hong Kong are “not in my blood; I’m not a gambler,” he says. Yet today, renowned Online Casino Hong Kong architect Paul Steelman calls Chen “one of the most powerful creators of these properties in the world.”This self-proclaimed “accidental” gambling billionaire is the chief executive and majority shareholder of NagaCorp. Its NagaWorld Online Casino Hong Kong-resort complex in the capital Phnom Penh boasts 1,700 invitee rooms, 600 gaming tables and more than 5,000 gaming machines. Despite his gambling aversion, he bet $369 million of his own money to build Naga2, an opulent twin-tower extension opened in November that features nine floors of invitee rooms for high rollers with adjoining private gaming rooms. And soon there’ll be a 2,200-seat theater where Chen is aiming to host the likes of Lady Gaga, a favorite of his. The addition makes Cambodia and NagaWorld first of all-rank contenders in Asia’s $51 billion Online Casino Hong Kong market. Along the way this native of Malaysia has helped Cambodia recover from decades of upheaval. The country’s gross domestic product has grown by 7.5% a year since 1994, putting it among the world’s top performers. Only 118,163 people visited the country in 1993, according to the ministry of tourism; that figure topped 5.6 million last year, with 7 million expected by 2020. Tourism accounted for more than 12% of Cambodia’s GDP last year — and Naga has claimed a manus in 25% of it. Amid the rising tide of tourists, Naga is booming. Last year net profits soared 23%, to $255 million, on an 80% jump in revenue, to $956 million. VIP roll — or losing bets — more than doubled, to $21.1 billion, accelerating after the launch of Naga2. NagaCorp’s $4 billion market capitalization represents an 11-crease appreciation since it listed in Hong Kong in 2006, and it consistently outperforms other gambling stocks. “We’re antigravity,” says Chen. Naga benefits from Cambodia’s low labor costs and Chen’s tight controls on capital expenditures. Naga says it spent $1.5 billion building the complex that commercial real estate specialist Colliers International now values at $5.4 billion. And, as he loves pointing out, Naga has no debt. All this is boosting his fortune — he’s worth $3.3 billion, up from $1.6 billion a year ago. Now 70, Chen is casting his net wider. He’s building a Online Casino Hong Kong in Russia’s far E, and he’s eyeing hotel and Online Casino Hong Kong projects in Australia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Then there’s a Borneo resort that’s the keystone of a multibillion-dollar Malaysian authorities eco-tourism master plan to be led by his Kuala Lumpur-listed companies Karambunai and Petaling Tin.

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Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/muhammadcohen/2018/03/07/malaysias-richest-2018-how-accidental-Online Casino Hong Kong-billionaire-chen-lip-keongs-cambodia-bet-paid-off/

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