Lim Chap Huat

Source of wealth: Property

71 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 Lim Chap Huat's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country

Lim Chap Huat could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 0.7 years.

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

On the other end, Lim Chap Huat could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.3 years.

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Education

Buying the future

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

Lim Chap Huat could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 0.4 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 Lim Chap Huat could pay for it entirely for 0.6 years.

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Research

The monopoly on progress

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

Lim Chap Huat could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 2.5 years.

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

But even if we compare the total wealth of Lim Chap Huat 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

Lim Chap Huat's fortune is equivalent to 10 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.

Lim Chap Huat could buy 2,738,431 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 0 trucks to transport them. Although Lim Chap Huat will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.

Biography

Son of a rickshaw driver, Lim Chap Huat set up a small construction outfit with two partners in 1976 at age 22.

He expanded Soilbuild Group into property development and set up an REIT, eventually buying out his partners. His wife Leo Jee Lin and sons, Lim Han Feng and Lim Han Qin, work with him.

Soilbuild expanded into Myanmar in 2012 where it has multiple contracts, and into Vietnam in 2017.

In 2021, Lim, together with Blackstone Real Estate, privatized Soilbuild Business Space REIT, delisting it from the Singapore stock exchange.

In 2024, Lim and Blackstone sold their office and industrial properties in Singapore to New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Australian developer Lendlease for $1.2 billion.