Robert Kuok Net Worth: $14.2B on Forbes' March List, $12.4B Today
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Robert Kuok's net worth was $12.4 billion per Forbes' real-time tracker on 30 October 2026, which put him 256th in the world. Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list, released on 10 March 2026, had him at $14.2 billion, 204th. Both numbers come from Forbes, so the roughly 13% gap is a genuine before-and-after inside one tracker.
Kuok, 103, is a Malaysian citizen who lives in Hong Kong and tops Forbes' ranking of Malaysia's richest. Forbes says he began his career in 1949 in Johor trading rice, sugar and wheat flour, and founded the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts chain in Singapore in 1971. His nephew, Kuok Khoon Hong, runs Wilmar International, the palm oil giant that has its own profile in this series.
| Publisher | Date | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbes, Malaysia's 50 Richest | 17 April 2025 (Malay Mail) | $11.4 billion | 1st in Malaysia |
| Forbes, World's Billionaires 2026 | 10 March 2026 (Free Malaysia Today) | $14.2 billion | 204th in the world |
| Forbes, Malaysia's 50 Richest | 16 April 2026 (Bernama, The Vibes) | $13.6 billion | Up 19%, 1st in Malaysia |
| Forbes, Real-Time Net Worth | 22 October 2026 (Katadata) | $12.5 billion | 1st in Malaysia |
| Forbes, Real-Time Net Worth | 30 October 2026 | $12.4 billion | 256th in the world |
Every row is Forbes. The two Malaysia lists (April 2025 and April 2026) compare directly: his figure rose from $11.4 billion to $13.6 billion, about 19%, matching what Bernama reported. The combined wealth of Malaysia's 50 richest on the same lists rose about 30%, from roughly $90 billion to $116 billion, so Kuok's rise was smaller than his list's.
The March World's Billionaires list ($14.2 billion) and the April Malaysia list ($13.6 billion) are both Forbes and differ, one month apart. In the sources we read, Forbes does not explain the gap, so we print both and do not pick. The latest real-time reading is below both: about 13% under the March figure and about 9% under the April one.
We did not find a Bloomberg Billionaires Index figure for Kuok that we could read and date, so no Bloomberg number appears here. We have not used undated figures from other sites, including one that cites $22 billion.
Forbes says Kuok owns the Kuok Group, with interests in hotels, real estate and commodities, and lists his source of wealth as palm oil, shipping and property. The Forbes page also notes:
Forbes last updated the profile text on 15 April 2026.
Forbes' profile text does not say what moved the figure from $14.2 billion in March to $12.4 billion at the end of October, and we found nothing from Forbes tying a particular company event to the change. What can be said is mechanical: the part of the number held in listed companies is repriced with their share prices on each exchange, while holdings through the privately held Kuok Group have no daily price.
Over a year, the Malaysia list recorded a 19% rise from April 2025 to April 2026. The real-time figure has since moved lower. We do not interpret that direction further.
Partly. The listed companies Forbes links to Kuok have visible share prices, but Forbes does not break out the size of his holdings in them, and we found no published detail on the Kuok Group itself. The result is that two Forbes lists released a month apart show $14.2 billion and $13.6 billion for the same person.
For a nearer comparison, his nephew Kuok Khoon Hong holds a fortune mostly in Singapore-listed Wilmar, at $3.8 billion on Forbes on 30 October 2026. For Wilmar's other cofounder, see Martua Sitorus. For an Asian private fortune where the trackers differ far more, see Sukanto Tanoto. For Malaysia's other long-running group fortune, see Quek Leng Chan.
Check which Forbes list you are quoting. The March world list says $14.2 billion, the April Malaysia list says $13.6 billion, and the live tracker says $12.4 billion. All are accurate readings at their own dates.
A fortune built on a private group is hard to pin to one number. The same person can be 204th in March and 256th in late October without any report that his businesses changed.
Nothing in the public record we reviewed for this article indicates anything other than large, openly reported business holdings, as described by Forbes.