Koon Poh Ming
Source of wealth: aluminum
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Koon Poh Ming's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Koon Poh Ming could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 0.8 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Koon Poh Ming could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.3 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Koon Poh Ming could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 0.5 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 Koon Poh Ming could pay for it entirely for 0.7 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Koon Poh Ming could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 2.9 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Koon Poh Ming 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.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Koon Poh Ming's fortune is equivalent to 12 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.
Koon Poh Ming could buy 3,099,251 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 Koon Poh Ming will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Koon Poh Ming is the executive vice chairman of aluminum company Press Metal while his brother Koon Poh Keong is group CEO.
They started Press Metal with their three brothers--Poh Tat, Poh Weng and Poh Kong--in the mid-1980s.
The brothers pooled $50,000 to start the aluminum-extruding company, at a time when Malaysia was in a recession.
Press Metal is Southeast Asia's largest integrated aluminum producer and competes with Rio Tinto, Russia's RUSAL and the Aluminum Corp of China.
Poh Ming and Poh Keong, the two biggest shareholders, made the list of Malaysia's richest for the first time in 2017. Poh Weng joined them in 2019.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison