In 2009, Forbes valued Lim at $225 million. This year, he’s tripled his personal net worth to $605 million (if that seems a little on the low-side for a casino king-pin, his family’s net worth is reportedly $US6 billion). As the head of Genting, 60-year-old Lim is easily the most influential person in Asian gaming, and he has plans to see Genting become one of the world’s leading multinational corporations. Apart from gambling, it also has interests in property development, power and plantations.
Hence the interest in Echo. Genting has $AU5.4 billion in cash, and it’s looking to pick up some bargains. And there’s plenty more where that came from – Genting’s net operating cashflow was $AUS2.1 billion last year. It won’t be investing the baulk of this in Australia by any means. As the global economy worsens, Genting is one of the few winners, convincing governments around the world of its ability to create employment and new revenue streams in the highly-taxed gaming industry. It’s got plenty more projects currently going on in the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Vietnam and the United States, and stands posed to gain from the liberalising of gambling sectors in South-East Asia. Several countries are expected to do so later this year, as they try to emulate Singapore’s boost in international tourism from 2006 when it awarded licences for two casinos.
The man driving all this is Lim, a married father of three who sells his casinos as “family entertainment venues”. Though he professes to a love of hawker food, he has some fine tastes. His home in Singapore has a $1 million original Rodin sculpture which greets guests the moment they enter. Original artworks by Picasso, Botero and Monet hang on his walls.
In recent years Lim has been giving far more interviews as part of his company’s vast expansion plans. This is fortunate, because like Packer, he’s good for quotes.
“Life is full of gambles but I’m not a hard-core gambler,” he quipped to a reporter at Singapore’s Business Times in 2006, before adding that he only takes “calculated risks” in business. When he opened Genting’s casino in Singapore, the first in the country, he was the first to gamble in it, the cameras capturing his game of baccarat.
Genting sometimes engages in practices that can’t help but draw the media’s more critical attention, especially outside of Asia. Like many a casino operator (Packer included), Genting likes lobbyists. It used an army of former staffers of high-ranking politicians to help smooth the way in America. Genting boosted their efforts with $623,320 in donations to both major US political parties , according to the New York Times.
Gambling halls are banned in New York, but Lim wouldn’t let that stop him. The Times also reported earlier this month that Genting spent more than $US2 million lobbying New York governor Andrew Cuomo to build a new convention centre and casino complex in Queens. Unfortunately for Lim, negotiations for that particular project didn’t work out.
Asian sharemarkets haven’t welcomed Genting’s move on Echo, with its shares falling 4% in Singapore when it announced its first take, and a further 0.7% on Tuesday as it increased its holdings. Australia isn’t seen as a glittering star of the gambling world. But by choosing an Australian casino operator in which to invest some of Genting’s riches, Lim might be trying to change that.
But then again, maybe Echo is just a stop on the way to Macau. It was, after all, where the two casino operators chose for their meeting earlier this month. Some have speculated on a possible trade-off between the two moguls, one that could see Genting aid Packer in Echo, in return for an entry into Macau. Crown, through its one-third holding in Melco Crown Entertainment, holds one of six sought-after casino licences in China’s capital of gambling.
It will be fascinating to watch this situation develop and only one thing seems certain – we are going to be hearing a lot more about KT Lim.
This article first appeared on LeadingCompany.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
