It took just a little over three months, but Galaxy Entertainment founder Lui Che-Woo has finally ascended the throne of richest man in Asia. According to Bloomberg, Lui’s fortune has reached $29.6 billion, about $100 million more than Hong Kong real estate mogul Li Ka-Shing, who has held the title since April 9, 2012.
Lui’s rankings has risen meteorically in the past few months. It was only last October when Lui moved his ranking up to second place with a net worth of $22.1 billion.
Apparently, Lui has added $7.5 billion to his net worth since then on the strength of owning 51 percent of Galaxy Entertainment, the third biggest largest casino operator in Macau by way of revenues. But even with what looks like a huge 2013 for Lui and his family, Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen believes that the best is still to come for the family.
“The Luis got in early by investing in Cotai,” Govertsen told Bloomberg. “The boom there ramped up the share price appreciation and wealth creation for the Lui family. They’re the best positioned for long-term growth and are focused on becoming the dominant player in Macau.”
2013 was an especially fabulous year for the family after seeing Galaxy’s shares rise by 129 percent last year thanks to the record-breaking revenue haul in Macau.
With an even rosier outlook ahead for Macau’s casino industry, it’s easy surmise that Lui’s fortunes could still grow one crazy billion after another. Who knows, maybe this time next year, we’re going to be talking about him being one of the world’s richest men.
At the very least, he could still improve on his current standing as third-biggest gainer on Bloomberg’s ranking with a net worth growth of $14.2 billion, putting him behind Bill Gates’ $15.5 billion’s net worth increase and Sheldon Adelson at $14.4 billion.
