Kwek Leng Beng (; born 1941) is a Singaporean

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman. He is the executive chairman of

Hong Leong Group Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad () is a conglomerate based in Malaysia. Founded as a trading company in 1963 by Quek Leng Chan and Kwek Hong Png, the company controls 14 listed companies involved in the financial services, manufacturing, distri ...

Singapore. In September 2019, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' estimated his net worth to be US$3.4 billion.

Early life

Kwek's father, the late

Kwek Hong Png Kwek Hong Png (; 1913 - 8 November 1994) was a Singaporean businessperson, known for establishing Hong Leong Group, of which he was also chairperson. Kwek became one of the world's richest men, with an estimated net worth of Singapore dollar, S$ ...

left Tongan,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

province, China as a penniless teenager for Singapore and subsequently founded the Hong Leong group there. Kwek Leng Beng was trained as lawyer in London, but chose to join the family business in the early 1960s.

Career

He became chairman in 1990 and went on to establish an international reputation for his leadership of the Hong Leong Group, which is now a conglomerate with more than 300 companies, including 12 listed ones. Kwek is the chairman of

City Developments Limited City Developments Limited (CDL), sometimes also known as CityDev, is a Singaporean multinational real estate operating organisation. Founded in 1963, CDL first developed projects in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, as well as in Singapore. Due to geo-po ...

(CDL), an international property and hotel conglomerate and the leading real estate developer in Singapore. It operates in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Australasia. CDL has over 250 subsidiaries and associated companies including 8 companies listed on the stock exchanges of Singapore, London, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, New Zealand and Manila. CDL has a market capitalization of US$5.8 billion and ranks just outside Singapore's top 10 listed companies. It is also the second-biggest property developer in Southeast Asia. Kwek chairs

Millennium & Copthorne Millennium & Copthorne Hotels is a global hospitality management and real estate group, with 125 hotels in 22 countries in Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The company is headquartered in Singapore and London. It was l ...

(M&C) Hotels, a London-listed international hotel group of which a 53% share belongs to CDL. M&C is ranked 40th among the world's top international hotel groups and has a portfolio of over 120 owned and managed hotels with about 36,500 rooms in 19 countries (including those in the pipeline). Kwek's Hong Leong Group also owns

Hong Leong Finance Hong may refer to: Places * Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and specia ...

, Singapore's largest finance company, with a network of 28 branch offices. Kwek is a member of the board of trustees of the

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

. He received an honorary doctorate from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...

. Kwek oversees the Singaporean operations of the Hong Leong Group, while his cousin and fellow billionaire

Quek Leng Chan Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (; born 8 December 1941) is a Malaysian tycoon who co-founded Hong Leong Group Malaysia. In 2018, Quek Leng Chan ranked #217 on the ''Forbes'' World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US$7.2 billion. As for 16 Febr ...

oversees the Malaysian.

Private life

Kwek is married to Cecilia Kok. The couple's son

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

is CDL's CEO since January 2018. His younger son Kingston was a private investor in the equity and debt markets who became a venture capitalist.

References

External links

Hong Leong Group Singapore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwek, Leng Beng Hokkien businesspeople Singaporean businesspeople Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Living people Singaporean billionaires 1941 births Singaporean chairpersons of corporations