Lim Hock Chee & family
2020 SINGAPORE'S 50 RICHEST NET WORTH $1.2B as of 8/19/20
- Son of a hog farmer, Lim Hock Chee, started with a small stall selling pork in 1985.
- Today Lim and his family own a majority stake in Sheng Siong Group, Singapore's third-largest supermarket chain.
- Sheng Siong sells everything from seafood and vegetables to frozen foods through its chain of 61stores in Singapore.
- While Lim is CEO, his older brother Lim Hock Eng is executive chairman and younger brother Lim Hock Leng is managing director.
- Sheng Siong has two supermarkets in Kunming, China.
Sheng Siong: From pig farmer's sons to supermarket empire bosses
Lim Hock Chee and his wife used to sell chilled pork at a rented stall in a grocery store. Now, after more than 35 years, his family members operate 61 supermarkets across Singapore and have joined the ranks of billionaires.
Shares of their Singapore-listed Sheng Siong Group rose to a record on Wednesday (April 15) as supermarkets have become the preferred place to shop after the Government imposed a partial lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The stock has rallied more than 30 per cent since a March 19 closing low.
The family's combined fortune, based on its 57 per cent stake in the supermarket chain held mainly by Mr Lim and his two brothers, has surged to US$1.1 billion (S$1.57 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
