Mining tycoon Nathan Tinkler is Australia's 26th richest man.Aussie tycoon keeps low profile here
Singapore - Mining tycoon Nathan Tinkler, who was named Australia's 26th richest man in February, is among the rich expats who have picked Singapore to live in.
These expats have propelled Singapore to number one in the world for expat wealth, according to a recent HSBC survey.
In the survey, expats ranked Singapore first out of 30countries based on economic factors such as earning power, disposable incomeand ability to accumulate luxuries.
Thailand came in second, followed by Cayman Islands in third place.
At his peak, Mr Tinkler, 36, was reportedly worth A$1.1billion (S$1.38 billion) with interests in coal, property, a rugby team and horse racing.
In June, he announced his move here.
Mr Tinkler chose to move to be "closer to the markets, and to Asia," said his spokesman Tim Allerton.
The New Paper found Mr Tinkler and his family, which includes his wife and four children, in an exclusive neighbourhood on Swettenham Road, off Dempsey Road.
They rent not one, but two adjacent homes, Australian newspaper The Courier- Mail reported last week.
One of them, a gated three-storey bungalow, is guarded by high brown gates. It sits on a 1,404.5 sqm plot of land, about one fifth the size of a standard football pitch. There are only about 2,400 such houses in Singapore and they are found in 39 gazetted areas like Nassim, Dalvey andTanglin.
The asking prices for a bungalow on Swettenham Road rangesbetween $28 million and $32 million, according to property sites such as STProperty and Propertyguru. Renting a place in the prime neighbourhood costs ahefty $18,000 to $20,000 a month.
When we visited the home of the Tinklers on a Tuesday evening a month ago, a woman who identified herself as "Rebecca", MrTinkler's wife, answered the door.
Dressed casually in a T-shirt and shorts, the blonde-hairedwoman, who looked to be in her 30s, said "it was not a good time" foran interview with Mr Tinkler. She said he does not usually grant interviews,but would contact TNP if he is open to one.
The three-storey bungalow is owned by Indian-bornSingaporean Satinder Garcha, checks with the Singapore Land Authority revealed.
Mr Garcha, whose property firm, Elevation Developments, specialises in developing luxury properties and renting it to rich expatriates,is the 37th richest man in Singapore, according to a list of Singapore's 40Richest compiled by Forbes. ( See report below.)
Although Mr Tinkler was spotted at the Swettenham Road home,requests to interview the electrician-turned-miner, made through his lawyer, MrBrian Gordon, were turned down.
Besides his rags-to-riches mining success story, the tycoonis also famous in Australia for his passion for horses. A check with the Malayan Racing Association, which includes the Singapore Turf Club under itspurview, revealed that Mr Tinkler first joined the association in 2010. Then,he owned 11 horses. The number has since dipped to five, said the association.
Away from the races, the high-flying entrepreneur also appears to have taken a hit from falling commodity prices.
Two weeks ago, the BBC reported that the coal baron slippedto second place from his top spot on leading business magazine BRW's young richlist.
A pair of technology entrepreneurs, Mr Mike Cannon-Brookesand Mr Scott Farquhar, took over his spot.
Checks reveal that Mr Tinkler is registered as director ofprivate limited companies here - Bentley Resources and Cayenne Coal.
A Singaporean was also listed as the director of Bentley Resources, along with another Singaporean and permanent resident, who were both listed as secretaries, but no information was available on their operationshere.
Mr Tinkler continues to maintain a low profile here, although he and his businesses regularly make the headlines in Australia.
Super rich who choose to live here
Singapore came up tops for rich expatriates to work and livein, according to a new survey carried out by HSBC bank.
In the survey, 30 countries were ranked based on economic factors such as earning power, disposable income and ability to accumulate luxuries. It involved more than 5,000 expats in 100 countries.
The survey showed that 54 per cent of expats here earnedmore than US$200,000 (S$246,000) a year.
Singapore was also ranked fourth globally and second in Asia for quality of life, especially because of the safe environment to bring up children in.
Expat integration raised a worrying flag: Only 19 per cent here strongly agreed that they have integrated well into the local community,while another 41 per cent strongly agreed that they tend to socialise withother expats rather than locals.
Bhupendra Kumar Modi, 63:
Indian telecom tycoon who moved here in 2008 and is a newSingapore citizen. He made the headlines when he bought a penthouse at The Sail@ Marina Bay for $15.46 million in 2008.
Net worth: US$755 million
Satinder Garcha, 41:
The Indian-born co-founder of people.com who left the rumble and tumble of Silicon Valley to become a polo player and a property developerhere. The new Singaporean captained the republic's polo team to a SEA Gamessilver medal in 2007.
Net worth: US$315 million
Eduardo Saverin, 30:
Brazil-born Facebook co-founder who moved here in 2009 andis a permanent resident. He has several investments here and ranks No. 8 inForbes Singapore's richest men's list.
Net worth: US$2.2 billion
Jim Rogers, 69:
Renowned commodities trader who sold his New York mansionand moved to Singapore in 2007 for his daughter to be in a Mandarin-speakingenvironment.
The investment guru now runs the Singapore-based RogersHoldings.
Net worth: Unknown
Richard Chandler, 53:
New Zealand-born social entrepreneur who has been apermanent resident since 2008. He heads Richard Chandler Corp, a fund aimed atemerging markets that he founded. He's No. 5 on Forbes' Singapore list.
Net worth: US$2.9 billion
Click here to view the gallery.
Photos: AFP, Bloomberg, BT, Forbes, Internet, Jim Rogers,NUS, Spice Global, ST, TNP
