From Malaysian roadside snack seller to billionaire: inside Lee Thiam Wah’s meteoric rise

From Malaysian roadside snack seller to billionaire: inside Lee Thiam Wah’s meteoric rise

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Lee Thiam Wah’s first retail venture was selling snacks from a roadside stall in Malaysia. Several decades later, the entrepreneur has transformed that humble beginning into a sprawling retail empire of more than 2,600 convenience stores across the nation.

On Monday, the 60-year-old will be newly minted as a billionaire after his company 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd goes public in Kuala Lumpur.

The US$531 million initial public offering is Malaysia’s largest in seven years. At the IPO price of 1.65 ringgit (US$0.38) per share, Lee’s fortune is about US$3.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The listing cements Kuala Lumpur as the busiest location for market debuts in Southeast Asia this year and shows investor optimism in the nation’s growth potential. The firm’s shares are seen as a way to build exposure to the consumer sector in an economy that’s projected to expand as much as 5 per cent this year.

“It comes at a crucial moment for both Malaysia’s IPO landscape and Southeast Asia’s capital markets,” said Mohit Mirpuri, a senior partner and fund manager at Singapore-based SGMC Capital Pte Ltd. “This could boost market sentiment and position Malaysia as a key player,” in regional listings, he said.



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