4 lessons to learn from Singapore self-made billionaire Peter Lim’s wealth-building journey

The publicity-shy tycoon, once known as the "remisier king" of Singapore, returned to the spotlight in late August when his Thomson Medical Group announced its $4.3 billion Johor Bay project within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, which will include a hospital and five-star hotel.

Earlier that same month, RSP, an architecture and design firm he owns, was commissioned by Johor’s Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, son of Malaysia’s King Ibrahim Iskandar, to design a $200 million royal estate in Desaru.

Peter Lim (R) and his wife Cherie Lim (L) before spanish La Liga match between Valencia CF v Sevilla FC at Mestalla Stadium on December 8, 2018. Photo by NurPhoto via AFP

Drawn from Lim's rise to one of Singapore’s richest people, as ranked by Forbes, here are some lessons on wealth.

Hard work is important, but so is luck

Peter Lim, the son of a fishmonger, grew up in Singapore in a cramped two-bedroom public flat with seven siblings and supported himself through university in Australia by working multiple odd jobs, including taxi driver, cook and waiter.

He returned to Singapore with a finance and accounting degree and briefly worked as an accountant before moving on to stockbroking. He quickly excelled as a remisier, a commission-based trading agent, and amassed millions from serving wealthy Indonesian clients.

"If today I have $10 million, I’d say over 90% is due to my hard work," Lim once shared.

But building a seven-figure fortune, he said, is a matter of destiny.

"It's not possible for someone to go make a billion dollars--it's when things just fall into place," he told Forbes. "So I think it's fate."

Composure and bold bets

Lim is known for his composure and near-nonchalant approach to money and investing. He focuses on long-term investments, guided by meticulous research, and refuses to let short-term market swings dictate his decisions.

He shrugged off an over $100 million decline in his portfolio when Singapore’s stock market plunged in 2007 as a "paper loss."

"When you are holding stocks, if it goes up, don’t be too happy; when it goes down, don’t be too sad," Weekender quoted him as saying.

"Otherwise, how? Your life will also be fluctuating and you’ll die of a heart attack. If you really lose sleep over it, maybe the best way is to keep the money in the bank."

Lim’s willingness to take risks has been a major factor in building his wealth.

One of his most notable bets was a $10 million investment in Wilmar, an Indonesian palm oil startup, during the late 1990s. Indonesia was facing political and social unrest at the time and the rupiah had tumbled from 2,500 to 16,000 against the U.S. dollar, making the venture appear precarious.

Yet Wilmar eventually thrived, bringing Lim $1.5 billion when he sold his shares in 2010.

The firm was started by Kuok Khoon Hong, the nephew of Malaysia’s wealthiest billionaire Robert Kuok, whom Lim befriended.

"From the moment I first spoke to him, I thought: 'This man is really very clever. I'd better follow him because he can make a lot of money for me,'" Lim said.

"At the end of the day the key component is the person. You may target the right company, but if you've chosen the wrong person, you'll get a headache."

The cost of wealth

"Money is a funny thing. When you don’t have it, you want it. But when you have it, you have a lot of problems," Lim said, as quoted by Vulcan Post.

The tycoon went through a highly publicized divorce, including a custody dispute and a settlement reportedly worth S$50 million, with his first wife Venus Teo Geok Fong in the 1990s.

"I believe that if I’d had no money, I wouldn’t have had my divorce. Things wouldn’t be good, but it wouldn’t end up in a divorce," he noted.

Though he is known to lead a life of luxury with his wealth, he has said that after a certain point, having more money does not make much difference.

"It’s no different from what it was before I had the money. It makes no difference after a point. Like what they say, you can only talk louder. You can only eat so much and fly so many trips. Money lets you enjoy a lot of things, but I don’t think I’ll die without money."

Paying it forward

Lim has made giving back one of his key missions. He has supported young athletes and students in multiple ways, starting with a six-figure donation to the mini rugby academy at his alma mater, Raffles Institution.

In June 2010, he contributed S$10 million to the Singapore Olympic Foundation to set up the SOF-Peter Lim Scholarship and, in 2019, he pledged another S$10 million to continue the program from 2021 to 2030.

Between 2011 and 2024, the foundation awarded 4,923 scholarships worth S$11.57 million (US$9 million) to student-athletes across 55 sports, according to its website.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he funded S$1 million worth of meals for hospital staff. He also donated S$3 million to the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies to create a professorship in peace studies in 2014, per The Business Times.