Lee Thiam Wah is known as the King of Mini Markets after the success of his brand 99 Speedmart, which you can find basically anywhere around Malaysia. Despite being born with a physical disability, he has shown tremendous dedication and resilience to create and maintain his business ever since it was founded back in the 90s.
After decades of hard work and support from customers nationwide, the entrepreneur has now solidified his status as a billionaire after his company made its debut on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market yesterday (Monday, 9th September). Prior to this listing, the businessman’s net worth was already USD$2.8 billion (RM12.1 billion), according to Forbes.
99 Speedmart being listed on the Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market marks the biggest IPO (Initial Public Offering) in 7 years and puts Lee Thiam Wah as one of the richest businessmen in Malaysia, just behind Sunway Group founder Jeffrey Cheah who has a net worth of USD$3 billion (RM12.9 billion). According to FreeMalaysiaToday, the company will have a market capitalisation of RM13.86 billion based on its increased issued share capital of 8.4 billion shares and at the IPO price of RM1.65 per share.
Without going into too much detail about the numbers and business aspect of this news, basically, with this new milestone, the sale of more than a billion shares during the IPO is expected to bring in a whopping RM1.7 billion for Lee and his wife, Ng Lee Tieng. As of right now, 99 Speedmart has over 2.6k branches nationwide and has a target of reaching 3k by 2025.
So what’s next for Lee Thiam Wah and his business? According to NST, two new distribution centres will be opened in Sarawak and Selangor by the end of this year and next year respectively. The founder added that the company is currently making efforts to open up a store in Kelantan soon but did not give a date on when that will be.
We have nothing to say but congratulations to Lee Thiam Wah for his amazing achievements! May his business continue to grow and prosper.
