First Malaysian on Forbes’ Billionaire List

A new entry has made it into the annual Forbes’ Billionaire List issued last Friday. While the top 5 spots remained unchanged with Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Lakshmi Mittal, Martha Stewart and Queen Elizabeth, an insidious tycoon has hit no.6 making him the first Malaysian to enter the annual Forbes listing.

However, unlike successful Asian businessmen like Stanley Ho and Robert Kuok, not much is widely known about Julius Chan Ah Long a.k.a. Brother Dragon (‘Long Kor’) and his business details although rumours and news from underground sources are aplenty. But it is a well known fact that Julius’ net worth stands in the excess of USD 20 billion.

Perhaps it because that it generally viewed that his business ventures are of questionable legality. He has never been seen in public, and does not grant interviews. He is said to be guarded by an army of body guards, defense lawyers and high profile accountants.

According to a reliable source, Julius started in 1988 as a foot soldier for the ‘Gang of 21’ in the Cheras area dealing in extortion rackets, 4D syndicates, money lending and imitation leather goods. However, the first made his name in the mid 90’s when he struck gold – pirated VCDs and DVDs. So successful was Julius that it was rumoured the controlled most the areas in the Klang Valley, including the most lucrative areas – SS2, Kepong, Damansara Utama and Puchong, but only after vicious and bloody battles with rival gangs.

With new found power and fortune (he took over control of the ‘Gang of 21’), he moved into riskier ventures like Indonesian labour trafficking, tow-trucks, imitation auto accessories and seedy massage parlours (his HQ was said to be at the New Kowloon Hotel in Jalan Alor).

Everything he touched turned to gold, and within 2 years, he expanded his operations to include casinos and hotels in Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia and football betting in numerous Eastern European and South American countries. At the moment, the word is that he is trying to break into the US pharmaceutical market and is in negotiations with Don Carbone of the Sicilian crime family.

It is rumoured that he has 2 sons and two daughters. The eldest son, nicknamed ‘Little Dragon’ is in charged of his Hong Kong and Macao operations, while the younger ‘Tiger of Kepong’ oversees Malaysian businesses. Elder daughter Lilian runs a chain of beauty saloons in the Bukit Bintang area while the youngest Candy, works as a system analyst with Microsoft. Candy is rumoured to be estranged from Julius since 1995.