Kuala Lumpur: The international magazine *Fortune* has listed 60-year-old disabled Malaysian entrepreneur Li Thiam Wah among the billionaires, estimating his wealth at $2.8 billion.
Li Thiam Wah is the owner of Malaysia’s discount retail chain “99 Speed Mart.” He started his professional life selling small items from a roadside stall and now operates 2,600 retail stores across the country.
When Li decided to transform his company into a public one by selling shares, there was unprecedented public interest, and the shares were quickly sold out. This transition catapulted Li from a millionaire to a billionaire.
Before selling the company’s shares, Li Thiam Wah’s wealth was $531 million, which skyrocketed to $2.8 billion in just one day.
Li Thiam Wah’s journey from hard labor to becoming a billionaire is extraordinary. Born in 1964 into a poor family in the coastal city of Klang, he was one of eleven siblings. His father was a laborer who could only afford six years of school education for Li. During this time, Li contracted polio, leaving him disabled in his legs.
Due to his disability, no one was willing to employ him, but undeterred, Li started selling items from a stall on the street. In 1987, he opened his first grocery store, and gradually the number of stores increased, forming a chain that became a company, “99 Speed Mart,” with 2,600 branches nationwide.
Li Thiam Wah plans to expand his stores to 3,000 over the next three years.
