Koh Wee Meng

Source of wealth: Real estate, hotels

62 years male Real Estate 🇸🇬 SG

Net Worth

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Earnings per second

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The scale of their wealth

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Health

The price of life

Let's compare Koh Wee Meng's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country

Koh Wee Meng could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 1.0 years.

But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country

On the other end, Koh Wee Meng could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.4 years.

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Education

Buying the future

Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country

Koh Wee Meng could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 0.6 years.

And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country

But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Koh Wee Meng could pay for it entirely for 0.9 years.

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Research

The monopoly on progress

Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country

Koh Wee Meng could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 3.6 years.

And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide

But even if we compare the total wealth of Koh Wee Meng with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.1 years.

While billions of people struggle to access basic healthcare, education, and research, a single individual could fund entire national systems for centuries.

Gold

Everyday luxuries

Koh Wee Meng's fortune is equivalent to 15 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.

A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.

Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.

Koh Wee Meng could buy 3,927,027 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!

And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 1 trucks to transport them. Although Koh Wee Meng will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.

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Biography

Hotelier and property magnate Koh Wee Meng controls Fragrance Group with interests extending to Australia and the U.K. He took the Singapore-listed company private in 2021.

Son of a jeweler and schoolteacher, Koh broke away from Aspial, his family's jewelry business, to start his own property venture in the 1990s.

He was once known as the Geylang King for Fragrance's beginnings in Singapore's red light district.

His younger sibling Koh Wee Seng runs Aspial and has his own property interests.