Robert Ng
| Robert Ng Chee Siong 黄志祥 |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 (age 65) Singapore |
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Employer | Sino Group |
| Known for | 1987 Hong Kong Futures Exchange collapse |
| Net worth |
 $10.3 billion (July 2016, jointly with brother Philip Ng) |
| Title | Chairman |
| Spouse(s) | Yeoh Saw Kheng |
| Children | Daryl, Nikki, David, Alexander |
| Parent(s) | Ng Teng Fong (deceased) |
| Relatives | Yeoh Ghim Seng (father-in-law) |
Robert Ng Chee Siong (Chinese: 黄志祥; Jyutping: wong4 zi3 coeng4, born 1952) is the chairman of Hong Kong property development conglomerate Sino Group, a position he has held since 1981.
He is the eldest son of the late Ng Teng Fong, the Singaporean real estate billionaire. Forbes listed the two as the 30th richest people in the world in 1997. As of January 2015, together with his brother, Philip Ng, he has an estimated net worth of $11.5 billion.
Ng was speculating in futures contracts on the Hong Kong Futures Exchange through two Panamanian-registered companies when the October 1987 global stock market crash began; his paper losses reportedly reached HK$1 billion. At first, Ng refused to pay, claiming to be protected by the limited liability of the companies through which he had traded. This led to the collapse of the futures exchange; trading was also halted on the for four days. An investigation by the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Royal Hong Kong Police revealed that Ng had avoided required margin calls through collusion with one of his brokers. However, in the end, no charges were laid against Ng because the colonial government of Hong Kong felt that prosecuting him would pose a risk to overall market stability. Instead, a deal was worked out which saw Ng repay HK$500 million, with Hong Kong taxpayers providing the rest of the funds needed by the Exchange through a government bailout. Ng reportedly lost a total of US$250 million in his various investment holdings as a result of the crash.
In June 1995, Ng took over as chairman of Yeo Hiap Seng (YHS), a Singapore-listed food and beverages company which had lost US$3.2 million in its previous year of operation. His chairmanship came at the same time as his family increased its stake in the company to 24.9%, just short of the 25% threshold above which they would be required by law to make an offer to buy out all other shareholders. This marked a step forward in his fight with Malaysian billionaire investor Quek Leng Chan for control of YHS and its land holdings in Singapore's Bukit Timah district, which could be worth billions of dollars were they redeveloped into residential real estate. In the end, Ng and his father were able to successfully take advantage of squabbles within the Yeo family to buy up 86% of YHS' stock. Their battle to gain control of the company was later described as "one of the most colourful take-over struggles in Singapore history" and led to YHS' transformation from a food company to a luxury real estate developer.
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