PUBLISHED ONSeptember 03, 2026 9:55 AMBYKoh Xing YingEduardo Saverin retained his position as Singapore's richest person for a fourth straight year, while the OCBC-linked Lee family emerged as the biggest wealth winner in the Singapore 50 Richest List 2026.
According to Forbes Asia's annual ranking published on Thursday (Sep 3), Singapore's 50 richest people had a combined wealth of US$239 billion (S$318 billion) this year, unchanged from a year earlier, as gains in banking, retail and property offset losses in the technology sector.
The ranking comes as Singapore's economy grew 6.1 per cent in the first half of 2026, driven by strong growth in electronics and precision engineering manufacturing amid surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related products.
While 35 of the 50 listees were wealthier than a year ago, the combined fortune of the group remained flat. The minimum net worth required to make the list was US$1 billion, unchanged from last year.
Facebook co-founder and longtime Singapore resident Eduardo Saverin retained the top spot for the fourth consecutive year, despite his fortune falling by US$10.1 billion to US$32.9 billion.
Shares of Meta, Facebook's parent company, fell 25 per cent over the period after the social media giant reported a 14 per cent decline in second-quarter net profit, partly due to higher AI-related spending, according to Forbes Asia.
Real estate tycoon Kwek Leng Beng remained in second place, with his family's wealth rising by US$1.8 billion to US$16.1 billion.
The gain was supported by the family's flagship developer, City Developments, which has been divesting non-core assets while sharpening its focus on residential and hospitality businesses.
Brothers Robert and Philip Ng, whose family's property empire includes Far East Organization and listed developer Far East Orchard, retained third place with a combined wealth of US$14.3 billion.
Far East Orchard announced in November that it plans to expand into a global network spanning hotels, student housing and fund management by 2030.
The biggest gainer on this year's list was the Lee family, whose wealth is largely derived from a stake in Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC).
The family ranked fourth with a combined fortune of US$13.8 billion, up 78 per cent from a year earlier. OCBC shares nearly doubled over the period, helped by growth in its wealth management business.
Another notable gainer was Lim Hock Chee, co-founder and chief executive of supermarket chain Sheng Siong Group.
His family's wealth rose to US$2.7 billion as the company's shares climbed 54 per cent amid store expansion across Singapore's heartland estates.
However, tech fortunes faced a tougher year.
New York-listed tech conglomerate Sea, the parent of e-commerce platform Shopee, saw its shares fall by about a third amid competition from TikTok Shop and pressure on its e-commerce margins.
The decline wiped nearly US$5.9 billion off the combined fortunes of co-founders Forrest Li, Gang Ye and David Chen, who ranked seventh, 14th and 44th respectively.
[[nid:731319]]
xingying.koh@asiaone.com
