insight
工程技術，地產投資，信仰家園，時尚生活
這看起來似乎有些不合乎常理，但隻要你是邁克爾•奧爾特，那麽開一家跳舞夜總會就不一定非得要有舞池。奧爾特這位曼哈頓夜生活老手是社會名流之後──他的父親是梵克雅寶(Van Cleef & Arpels)珠寶家族中的一員，繼父則是赫赫有名的華爾街大佬迪安•威特(Dean Witter)。拋開這些不談，現年49歲的奧爾特有一樁本事最讓他自豪：他有能力辦一場最棒的派對。多年來，他一直在做的就是這件事，從紐約到邁阿密海灘(Miami Beach)，從聖保羅到倫敦，他經營的夜總會超過了25家。據稱，上世紀90年代，在那家具有傳奇色彩的紐約Spy Bar，他是第一位將整瓶銷售的服務模式──如今這種模式在全球酒吧裏很常見──引入夜總會的老板，而那家Spy Bar在客滿時，據說連凱特•摩斯(Kate Moss)也被拒之門外。
他說，Pangaea營造的是一種家庭派對的感覺，隻不過這個家庭派對還提供奧爾特私人收藏的非洲部落麵具、節奏感十足的音樂、和裏麵放著一顆鑽石、由身著黑色禮服裙的女侍者奉上的、價值2.6萬美元的雞尾酒。另外一點不同之處在於，你知道周圍這些人都是身家數以十億計。
Pangaea雖然開業僅有一年多，但已經被視為全球最賺錢的夜總會，據奧爾特說，最近幾個月裏每晚的收入都超過10萬美元。這裏也是全球最為昂貴的俱樂部之一，一張桌子的花費高達1.5萬美元，超級富豪們在這裏揮金如土，動輒就是六位數的賬單。奧爾特原本可以將這種奢華帶至全球其他任何一個地方。比如倫敦，那裏聚集著眾多皇室成員，那裏的派對吸引著歐洲的上層人士。迪拜也行，那片土地上的富人們想要個小島的話就馬上可以打造一個出來。當然還有他的家鄉、他昔日的遊樂之地──曼哈頓。
然而三年前搬來新加坡的奧爾特說，他在曼哈頓“再也找不到那種美好奇妙的感覺了”，金融危機留下的傷痕猶在，這場危機讓曼哈頓最為奢華的派對文化元氣大傷。他說，新加坡則是另一番情形，在這裏，富人們感覺很富有，而且還能找到不同尋常的安全感。此外，在這裏，富人們似乎隻知道一種共同語言，揮霍無度的語言──所有這一切都在他的夜總會裏被毫不遮掩地展現了出來。
在某個周四上午的另外一次會麵中，奧爾特穿著一雙亮藍色繡有粉色骷髏頭的毛絨拖鞋，歪在他夜總會裏的一個皮沙發上回憶道：“一天晚上，有一些孩子來這裏──的確是孩子，也就二十來歲──他們每個人都有自己的私人飛機。而且都是價格不菲的飛機。其中一架A380內部被重新改造過，修了一個遊泳池和一個籃球場──這簡直可笑。”
他說：“我在這裏看到的一切，與我想象中在19世紀80年代美國人的財富首次超過英國時的那個鍍金時代(Gilded Age)所發生的情形一樣。這裏人們的富裕程度──以及他們花錢的願望之強烈，的確讓人驚訝。”
歡迎來到全球最新版的摩納哥，一個超級富豪的天堂，一個就在不久前還被人嘲笑為全球最古板、最無趣城市之一的地方。大多數人在想到新加坡時──當然很多人根本不會想起這個國家──他們想到的是一個秩序井然的華爾街或是倫敦金絲雀碼頭(Canary Wharf)的亞洲翻版，隻不過這裏的街道幹淨、整潔得不可思議，而且沒有犯罪。這個人口隻有500萬的東南亞城市國家，最著名的大概就是禁止出售口香糖，以及這裏有鞭刑，1994年美國人邁克爾•費伊(Michael Fay)因在他人的汽車上塗鴉就嚐到過鞭刑的滋味。在這個國家，販賣毒品要被判死罪，就連奧爾特也抱怨，新加坡政府不允許他把自己收藏的心愛槍支帶進來，那些槍支收藏品如今還留在他在棕櫚灘(Palm Beach)和曼哈頓的家裏。
然而，過去10年裏，新加坡經曆了翻天覆地的變化，亞洲乃至全球其他各地的富豪名流們來到這裏尋找一個絕妙的新家──這裏也是他們放置財產的最保險的地方之一。Facebook的聯合創始人愛德華多•薩維林(Eduardo Saverin)為能成為新加坡永久居民而放棄了他的美國國籍，他更願意住在這個島國，從這裏投資，同時開著他的賓利(Bentley)車去四處兜風。澳大利亞礦業巨頭、在澳大利亞40歲以下的富豪中財富排在第二位的內森•丁克勒(Nathan Tinkler)去年也選擇將家安在了新加坡，根據《福布斯》(Forbes)雜誌，丁克勒的身家大約是8.25億美元。這之前，印度電信業巨頭之一布蓬德拉•庫瑪•穆迪(Bhupendra Kumar Modi)在2011年就得到了新加坡國籍，新西蘭的億萬富豪理查德•錢德勒(Richard Chandler)於2008年搬來這裏，著名的美國投資家吉姆•羅傑斯(Jim Rogers)則在2007年舉家移民新加坡。去年，全球最富有的女性之一吉娜•萊因哈特(Gina Rinehart)一擲千金，花費4,630萬美元在新加坡購置了兩套共管公寓。
接下來當然還有那些普通的百萬富豪們──新加坡居民中百萬富豪的比例比全球其他任何地方都要高。根據波士頓谘詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)的數據，2011年，新加坡收入達百萬美元的家庭總計18.8萬戶──在新加坡全部家庭中所占比例略高於17%──這實際上意味著，每六戶家庭中就有一戶的可自由支配財富達到至少100萬美元，這其中不包括房地產、企業和奢侈品。如果把房地產包括在內，鑒於新加坡位居全球最昂貴房地產市場之列，那麽這個數字還會更高。根據萊坊(Knight Frank)和花旗私人銀行(Citi Private Bank)於2012年發布的一份財富報告，目前新加坡的人均國內生產總值也是全球最高的，達到了56,532美元，超過了挪威、美國、香港和瑞士。
這些百萬富豪和億萬富豪們的玩物在這個城市國家中隨處可見。在這個麵積差不多相當於舊金山大小的國家裏，如今有449輛法拉利，遠遠多於2001年的142輛，瑪莎拉蒂(Maserati)車的數量則從24輛增至469輛。各種遊艇俱樂部和超豪華商店如雨後春筍，層出不窮，比如奢侈品牌路易威登(Louis Vuitton)建在水麵上的旗艦店──Louis Vuitton Island Maison。諸如Pangaea和Filter這樣的夜總會已經成為富豪們交際的天堂之所，在這些地方，經常能見到年輕的薩維林和他那班身家百萬的朋友們的身影。富裕的外來遊客則在新加坡兩家流光溢彩的新賭場酒店找樂子，這兩家賭場酒店於2010年開業，濱海灣金沙娛樂城是其中一家，娛樂城的名廚餐廳享譽盛名，57層無邊際遊泳池旁的棕櫚樹俯瞰著這座城市的天際線。2007年，伯尼•埃克萊斯頓(Bernie Ecclestone)決定將這個城市國家加入著名的一級方程式世界錦標賽(Formula One World Championship)日程之中。新加坡的F1賽事──是全球唯一個在夜間進行的F1比賽，而且計劃至少在2017年之前每年舉辦一屆──已經成為最吸引人的F1賽事之一，向全球數百萬人展示了新加坡令人難忘的夜間天際線。
新加坡長久以來一直吸引著富裕的外來定居者和跨國企業的高管們。吸引他們的是這個城市國家的低稅賦、犯罪率幾乎為零的街道、適合企業發展的政策以及穩定的政府──新加坡自1965年獨立建國以來一直由一個政黨掌權。然而，這個昔日大英帝國的貿易站能夠於近幾年裏成功躋身全球超級富豪城市之列，這反映出全球經濟的一個重大轉變，在新興市場蓬勃發展十多年後，財富開始在亞洲落地安家。根據谘詢公司凱捷(Capgemini)和加拿大皇家銀行財富管理部門(RBC Wealth Management)的數據，如今亞洲的百萬富豪人數已經超出了全球其他任何地方。就在歐洲和北美的富豪們還在舔舐昨日傷口之際，在中國和印尼等國家，個人淨身家正在以每年6-7%的速度增長著。
根據倫敦政治經濟學院(London School of Economics)經濟學與國際發展教授丹尼•柯爾(Danny Quah)的計算，全球經濟重心（根據全球700多個地方的平均收入計算得出）在過去30年間已經東移，從跨大西洋軸心，轉向了阿拉伯半島附近。如果目前的增長趨勢能夠持續下去，那麽再過30年，這個中心將轉移到印度和中國之間的某地──大概就是新加坡這裏，這意味著，新加坡作為全球經濟中心的潛力甚至可能尚未完全發掘出來。
不過，和西方、甚至中東等地區不同，大多數在亞洲被創造出來的新財富都來自那些富人們缺乏安全感的國家，在這些國家裏，富人們的擔心要麽源自於政府的不可靠，要麽則來自這些國家的仇富者們。據報道，僅中國一個國家，就有數十億美元的財富被轉移，中國人說他們不再信任政府，希望把錢放在別處。印度人和印尼人同樣也在尋找一個理想之所來藏匿家財：既能規避高稅負、又有國際一流理財專家幫助打理、同時還能躲開他們那個亂糟糟──據有些人說還很腐敗──的民主政府難以預測的政策調整所帶來的風險。許多美國人和歐洲人則隻是希望找到一個地方讓他們的投資能夠持續增長──這對於地處迅速增長的亞洲之中的新加坡而言幾乎不在話下。
柯爾說：“這類（全球經濟的）巨變催生了一批需要安全和穩定的超級富豪們，還帶來了對理財、投資和谘詢領域金融服務的迫切需求。像新加坡這樣的地方，在這些領域的每一個方麵都已打造出了聲譽和專長。”
不過真正讓全球許多超級富豪心動的是新加坡對於秩序、可預見性以及可控性的超級關注，這一切都讓那些近來財富在全球許多地方打了水漂的人們感到安慰。新加坡的一些稅率在全球是最低的，包括沒有資本利得稅，對大部分的境外投資股息也不征稅，這一點更是錦上添花。而且，新加坡的私人銀行法律相對隱秘，同時還沒有狗仔隊或是示威遊行者的騷擾，這類活動被當局嚴格禁止了，這讓新加坡有序、穩定的光環更加奪目。倫敦城市大學(City University in London)的國際政治經濟學教授、專門研究境外財富和避稅場所領域的羅尼•帕蘭(Ronen Palan)認為，雖然瑞士的私人理財行業“顯然承受著”來自歐盟和美國的壓力，但新加坡是一個“非常隱秘的場所”，許多人──特別是亞洲人──相信他們的財富在這裏不會受到西方監管者的監督。
在本月的新加坡高級時裝周(Haute Couture Week)上，在印尼出生的百萬富豪弗蘭克•辛塔瑪尼(Frank Cintamani)身著灰色的三件套浪凡(Lanvin)西裝，足蹬一雙布洛克鞋，坐在一排金色裝飾的高級裙裝前說道：“盡管禁售口香糖以及執行鞭刑給新加坡帶來了各種批評，但這顯示出，這裏一切都有秩序。公司治理井然有序，執政黨穩定而且這種狀況不會改變，一切真的能夠發揮職能──每個領域都在有效運轉。”自從將時裝周從巴黎引至新加坡後，辛塔瑪尼一直是這項活動的組織者。這位經常佩戴鑽石胸針的新加坡公民，很多時間都是在酒店裏度過的，他也是新加坡男士時裝周(Men's Fashion Week)和女士時裝周(Women's Fashion Week)的組織者，同時還有其他許多興趣和投資，包括出版領域。
他說：“富人們在哪裏都能找到樂子。”一輛法拉利呼嘯而過的聲音分散了他的注意力，此刻，他正帶著一些模特、設計師和時尚記者穿過緊挨著濱海灣金沙娛樂城的一處帳篷，那裏正在進行他的時裝展。落座後，他還是不得不經常站起來同那些認出他來的超級富豪時裝迷們打招呼。他說：“不過在這裏，他們知道自己永遠將是安全的，他們的隱私會得到妥善保護，他們的投資很穩定。”
今年36歲的辛塔瑪尼打住了對於新加坡經濟環境的談話，把我的視線引向兩位男士──其中一位身穿三件套黑色西裝，另一位穿著領口有銀色裝飾的未來主義風格白色上衣，腿上是一條貼身白色過膝褲，腳上一雙厚底鞋──和一位身穿兩件套寬身套裝、足蹬銀色高跟鞋的女士。
他說：“看見那邊的那幾個人了嗎？角落裏的那三個人？他們加起來的身家在60億到70億美元──這一點我敢保證是真的。這就是為什麽我們需要在這裏做這個。”他指的是他的時裝展。之後，他又指給我看了一位來自蒙古國的富豪，這位富豪對房地產有著廣泛的興趣，十分熱衷於投資新加坡的房地產市場。名片上印有從雜誌出版到時裝展在內數個頭銜的辛塔瑪尼拒絕透露他的家族財富來自哪裏，他說這太“敏感”。（他的發言人稱，很多是來自石油和天然氣業務。）
具有諷刺意味的是，就像其他那些早期的繁華城市一樣，給新加坡帶來成功的這些因素或許最終會顯出其破壞性。近年來，現金的大量湧入已經讓新加坡遊資泛濫，給房價帶來了持續不斷的上行壓力，私有住宅價格自2009年第二季度以來飆升59%，而同期全球其他很多地方的房價在大跌，或是原地踏步。新加坡總理李顯龍在最近接受采訪時稱，新加坡房地產市場的繁榮“幾乎是個泡沫”，一些分析師表示，這一評價隻是在承認一個顯而易見的事實。
新加坡的“基尼係數”──衡量收入差距的最知名經濟指標──在全球發達國家中排名第二。據提供全球超級富豪相關信息的私營谘詢企業Wealth-X估計，在新加坡，大約1,400位超高淨值人士擁有總值超過1,600億美元的財富。就連新加坡本地的上層中產階級都發現，自己根本買不起這個城市國家中某些地區的住房，比如聖淘沙灣(Sentosa Cove)，那裏超過60%的住房都被非新加坡人買走了。有些新加坡人則對那些被華麗麗展現出來的財富很是反感，特別是當這些財富屬於那些外來者的時候。
與此同時，那些眩目的派對場麵也給新加坡帶來一種隨心所欲的全新文化，這種文化對新加坡的秩序感造成了衝擊，而秩序感正是外來者最初被這個國家所吸引的原因之一。其中一個令人不安的例子發生在2012年5月，當時，一位來自中國大陸的人士開著法拉利在新加坡街頭以每小時超過110英裏的速度行駛，在闖紅燈後撞上了一輛出租車，結果法拉利司機本人、出租車司機和出租車上的一位乘客均在車禍中死亡。這起車禍在互聯網上掀起軒然大波，新加坡人開始發泄他們反對外來者的情緒，一些Facebook用戶為死在車禍中的法拉利司機創建了一份虛假簡介，其中包括針對中國大陸人的譏諷言論。雖然在防止出現類似賭城拉斯維加斯和澳門常見的犯罪行為方麵，新加坡政府做得基本上還算成功，但在當地媒體上也不乏有關新加坡兩家新賭場裏所出現各種問題的報道。有一次，有媒體報道稱，一位在企業任中層管理職位的新加坡人在一次下注中一舉輸掉了40萬美元。最近一個周六的晚上，在Pangaea附近，人們看到七名警察逮捕了一個未著上裝的白人男子，因這名男子涉嫌醉酒後有不當行為。
對於新加坡的種種變化，人們公開表達憤怒或是不滿的機會很有限，因為大部分抗議行為都被禁止。不過，人們內心不快的表現卻越來越多。2011年，新加坡執政黨雖然在大選中獲勝，但支持率是新加坡建國以來最低的，而且人們通過日漸繁榮的博客文化敦促新加坡官員們考慮對該國的經濟模式進行調整，包括為窮人創建一張更大的社會安全網，而實現這一點可能會需要加稅。實際上，新加坡有幾位領導人──他們幾十年來一直在堅定維護經濟增長優先於個人自由和個人福利的長期政策──似乎都在或多或少地進行著反省。新加坡總理李顯龍在他的新年致辭中號召國民在物質目標與理想和價值觀之間取得平衡，他說，“我們不是沒有人情味、沒有頭腦的機器人，隻知一味數數、一味追求經濟增長和物質財富。”
默多克大學(Murdoch University)亞洲研究中心的研究員加裏•羅丹(Garry Rodan)稱，在新加坡，富人們如今發現自己有了“新的炫富場所”，而與此同時，“卻能在街頭看到年邁、且積蓄非常少的新加坡人撿塑料瓶子去回收賣錢”。他說，沿著社會階梯向上爬的機會在減少。
在房地產方麵，立法者們一直在想方設法對付堪比天高的房價，他們針對境外購房者購買私有住宅的交易推出了15%的印花稅。去年，新加坡政府還取消了一項允許富有的非新加坡居民通過將至少810萬美元資產留在新加坡境內五年即可“快速”獲得永久居留權的規定，不過，投資者若有意拿出幾百萬來幫助新加坡企業發展，則仍然是受歡迎的。政府一再收緊新加坡原本就很嚴格的賭場相關法規──新加坡這方麵的法律已經是全球最嚴格之列了──禁止一些新加坡本國人進場賭博，並對那些未能將有問題的賭客拒之門外的賭場采取懲罰措施。
樂觀者表示，長期而言，這些措施或許能夠防止新加坡走上早先那些新興城市的老路，避免諸如迪拜那樣曇花一現的悲劇重演。房地產開發商克裏斯•康默(Chris Comer)說：“2007年時，迪拜的厄運如同來自上帝的啟示一般寫在 上──我們賺到錢了，是時候離開了。”康默正準備將獨具風格的尼基海灘(Nikki Beach)連鎖度假酒店引入新加坡，如今這家全球性的海灘派對俱樂部在聖特羅佩(St. Tropez)、邁阿密和聖巴特斯島(St. Barts)上建有連鎖，那裏有身穿精美比基尼的女郎，還有顧客會穿著加勒比海盜服、或是在身上繪上斑馬紋彩繪來參加派對。康默在新加坡時走時留地過了17年，如今他住在聖淘沙灣的一套臨海公寓裏，那棟公寓樓建在一個小島上，距離新加坡市中心20分鍾的路程，儼然是新加坡為超級富豪們居住所開辟出來的一塊封閉式的飛地。康默說，他經營的這家海灘俱樂部──康默堅稱這類俱樂部“有抗經濟衰退的能力”──特別適合這個城市國家。康默邊說邊指給我看汽車類網站上長達七頁的二手蘭博基尼(Lamborghini)轉讓廣告。
康默坐在他位於安詳山(Ann Siang Hill)一帶的辦公室的頂層說道：“新加坡是我的家，這裏是我的基地，讓我感覺踏實。”安詳山是緊挨著牛車水(Chinatown)的一處保存完整的曆史街區，康默的辦公室建在一處傳統店屋內，一共有四層。
其他人則對未來沒有那麽大的把握。他們看到年輕一代揮霍無度，富人們根本不了解他們的先輩是做出了怎樣的犧牲才幫助新加坡在短短幾十年裏從第三世界一步一步走向第一世界的。奧爾特說：“你經常能看到這種現象，一代人創造財富，而之後第二代、第三代人會將這些財富揮霍掉。”而且，奧爾特補充道，從數學角度而言，經濟海嘯有朝一日肯定會爆發。奧爾特早先在牛津大學(Oxford)和倫敦政治經濟學院取得過經濟學相關學位，在成為夜總會老板之前，他還在華爾街工作過。
還有人擔心，新加坡相對隱秘的私人理財環境可能無法持續下去。這個城市國家並不喜歡“避稅天堂”這個標簽，政府已經開始采取措施修改稅法條約，以保障監管機構能夠得到有關避稅者的更多信息，最近新加坡與德國簽署的雙重征稅協議即為顯示新加坡政府決心的最新例證。（新加坡金融管理局(Monetary Authority of Singapore)一位發言人表示，他們會努力將任何“可疑交易”報告出來。）新加坡還被迫去遵守一些新的金融監管規定──比如美國的《外國賬戶稅收遵從法案》(Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)，此法案是美國用以保證美國納稅人不會通過境外持有資產來避稅的一種手段。倫敦城市大學教授帕蘭說，這對私人理財行業而言是遊戲規則的徹底顛覆，將會被其他國家當作範本。
不過，在夜總會這個行業──這裏總會有一個接一個的良宵，總會有更多的美腿模特和富家子弟在門外排隊，等著參與一個很難進入的派對──樂觀點兒是值得的。至少奧爾特這位Pangaea的成功老板這麽看。他認為，即便未來的發展出了岔子，“亞洲也更有優勢”。奧爾特說，新加坡這個他所選擇的城市“為留在頂峰提供了所需的一切”。
SHIBANI MAHTANI， 《華爾街日報》 ，2013年 03月 22日
Wealth Over the Edge: Singapore
$26,000 cocktails. Traffic jams freckled with Ferraris. The world's sternest city is now the richest. Why?
By SHIBANI MAHTANI
The infinity pool at the Marina Bay Sands resort
It's midnight on a Saturday night at the Marina Bay Sands resort near the sparkling Singapore River, and all the boutiques are shut. But past a cosmetic-surgery clinic and a Ferrari accessories store close by, a large crowd is getting increasingly agitated. Dozens of hopefuls are clamoring to get in to what is billed as the world's most expensive club, Pangaea.
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When most people think of Singapore, an order-obsessed Asian version of Wall Street comes to mind. But lately, Singapore has become a haven for the ultra-rich. WSJ Senior Editor Jonathan Dahl joins Lunch Break. Photo: Darren Soh/Redux Pictures.
Tight-fitting Herve Leger bandage dresses are practically a uniform here, often paired with Christian Louboutin heels and Chanel 2.55 bags, as women try to befriend club goers who are lucky enough to get past the red-velvet barrier and bouncers. It is frequently the leggy models, part of the club's core demographic, who succeed. Out-of-town visitors who negotiated their way onto the guest list weeks earlier are turned away, even after offering to pay more than $3,000 for a table. The nightclub is completely full.
Past the bouncers, a walk through a long tunnel with blue ultraviolet lights and a ride up an elevator reveal one of the world's most exclusive parties. Michael Ault, Pangaea's founder, sits at the club's most prestigious table by the bar, on cushions covered in exotic African ostrich skins. His table is covered with bottles of Belvedere vodka, Cristal champagne, buckets of ice and dozens of glasses for his friends. His wife, Sabrina Ault, a former fashion model and now his business partner, wears a fake shark's head and wields a plastic gun while dancing on a table top. At Pangaea, all surfaces are made for dancing—even tables made from the trunks of 1,000-year-old trees and the crocodile-skinned couches.
It may seem counterintuitive, but a dance club does not need a dance floor if you are Michael Ault. A veteran of Manhattan nightlife and descendant of blue-blooded socialites—he is the son of a Van Cleef from the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry family and the stepson of Wall Street's famed Dean Witter—Ault, 49, prides himself on one thing above all others: the ability to throw a good party. And he has done just that over the years at more than 25 clubs from New York to Miami Beach and São Paulo to London. He is credited with being one of the first nightclub impresarios to introduce bottle service—now commonplace globally—at the legendary New York Spy Bar in the 1990s, where even Kate Moss was turned away on exceptionally packed nights.
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The Pangaea experience, he says, replicates the feeling of being at a house party—one that just happens to offer African tribal masks from Ault's personal collection, throbbing music, a $26,000 cocktail that contains a diamond inside and is served by waitresses in black dresses, and the knowledge that many of the people around you are worth billions.
Pangaea, though just over a year old, is now considered the most profitable club in the world with revenues of more than $100,000 per night in recent months, Ault says. It's also one of the most expensive clubs, with tables costing as much as $15,000, and the uber-rich regularly chalking up six-figure bills. He could have brought this extravagance to just about anywhere in the world. London, with its collection of royals and a party scene that attracts Europe's glitterati. Dubai, too, the land of if-you-want-an-island-you-just-build-one. And of course, his hometown and former playground, Manhattan.
But Ault, who moved to Singapore three years ago, says he "no longer feels the magic" in Gotham, which still bears the scars of a financial crisis that knocked the wind out of much of its most extravagant party culture. Singapore, he says, is another matter. This is where he says the rich feel, well, rich, and unusually secure. And where they seem to know only one common language, the language of excess—all too shamelessly displayed in his club.
"One night, there were these kids here—literally kids in their 20s—who all had their own private jets," Ault recalls during another meeting, on a Thursday morning, leaning back on a leather couch in his club wearing bright-blue fuzzy slippers embroidered with a pink skull. "Serious jets, too. There was an A380 which was converted to include a pool and basketball court—it was ridiculous."
"What I see here is what I imagined must have happened in the U.S. in the 1880s, in the Gilded Age, when it first took over England in terms of wealth," he says. "It is truly shocking how much wealth there is—and how willing people are to spend it."
Welcome to the world's newest Monaco, a haven for the ultra-rich in what until recently was mocked as one of the most straight-laced, boring cities in the world. When most people think of Singapore, if they do at all, they think of an order-obsessed Asian version of Wall Street or London's Canary Wharf, only with implausibly clean, sterile streets and no crime. The southeast Asian city-state of five million people is perhaps best known for banning the sale of chewing gum or caning vandals, including American Michael Fay in 1994 for spray-painting cars. Drug traffickers face the death penalty, and even Ault complains the authorities won't let him import his prized gun collection, which now sits in his other homes in Palm Beach and Manhattan.
But over the past decade, Singapore has undergone a dramatic makeover, as the rich and famous from Asia and beyond debark on its shores in search of a glamorous new home—and one of the safest places to park their wealth. Facebook FB -0.04% co-founder Eduardo Saverin gave up his American citizenship in favor of permanent residence there, choosing to live on and invest from the island while squiring around town in a Bentley. Australian mining tycoon Nathan Tinkler, that country's second wealthiest man under 40, whose fortune is pegged at $825 million by Forbes, also chose to move to Singapore last year. They join Bhupendra Kumar Modi, one of India's biggest telecom tycoons who gained Singapore citizenship in 2011, as well as New Zealand billionaire Richard Chandler, who relocated in 2008, and famed U.S. investor Jim Rogers, who set up shop there in 2007. Gina Rinehart, one of the world's richest women, slapped down $46.3 million for a pair of Singapore condominium units last year.
And then there are, of course, your average millionaires—more of whom can be found among Singapore's resident population than anywhere in the world. According to Boston Consulting Group, the island had 188,000 millionaire households in 2011—slightly more than 17 percent of its resident households—which effectively means one in six homes has disposable private wealth of at least $1 million, excluding property, business and luxury goods. Add in property, with Singapore real estate among the most expensive in the world, and this number would be even higher. Singapore also now has the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world at $56,532, having overtaken Norway, the U.S., Hong Kong and Switzerland, according to a 2012 wealth report by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank.
“But what really checks all the right boxes for many of the world's ultra-rich is Singapore's obsession with order.”
The toys of all these millionaires and billionaires are visible across the city-state. A country roughly the size of San Francisco, it now has 449 Ferraris, up from 142 in 2001, while its Maserati fleet has grown from 24 to 469. Yacht clubs are popping up along with super-luxurious shops, like the Louis Vuitton Island Maison, a flagship boutique of the ubiquitous luxury brand housed in its own floating pavilion. Nightclubs like Pangaea and Filter, which are frequented by the young Saverin and his crew of millionaire party boys, have turned into havens for the wealthy to mingle. Rich out-of-towners play at Singapore's two glamorous new casino resorts, opened in 2010, including the Marina Bay Sands complex with its celebrity chef restaurants and an infinity pool on the 57th floor with palm trees overlooking the skyline. In 2007, Bernie Ecclestone decided that the city-state would be added to the illustrious Formula One World Championship calendar. The race—which is the only Formula One night race in the world and is set to continue annually until at least 2017—has emerged as one of the most glamorous Formula One events, broadcasting the impressive Singapore night skyline to millions globally.
Singapore has long been a magnet for rich expatriates and multinational corporate executives. They are attracted to the city-state's low taxes, virtually crime-free streets, pro-business policies and predictable government, with one political party in power since it gained independence in 1965. But the onetime British trading post's ascent into the stratosphere of the world's ultra-wealthy cities in recent years reflects a momentous shift in the global economy, as wealth settles in Asia after more than a decade of booming emerging-market growth. Asia now has more millionaires than anywhere else, according to consultancy CapgeminiCAP.FR -0.49% and RBC Wealth Management. While the rich lick their wounds in Europe and North America, the net worth of individuals in countries like China and Indonesia are up 6 percent to 7 percent annually.
Danny Quah, professor of economics and international development at the London School of Economics, has calculated that the world's economic center of gravity—measured by looking at income averages across more than 700 places worldwide—has shifted east over the past 30 years, from the Transatlantic Axis to somewhere across the Arabian Peninsula. If current growth trends continue, this center will move in another three decades to a resting point between India and China—just about where Singapore is, meaning its potential as the world's economic center may not even be fully realized.
Unlike the West or even places like the Middle East, though, much of the new wealth being created in Asia is emerging in countries where rich people see their assets at risk, either because of unreliable governments or unloved ones. The Chinese alone are reportedly exporting billions of dollars, saying they no longer trust their government and want to put their money elsewhere. Indians and Indonesians have likewise been looking for a place where they can stash cash to avoid high taxes or work with international-class wealth managers, while steering clear of the unpredictable policy shifts in their rambunctious—and some say, corrupt—democracies. Many Americans and Europeans just want a place where their investments can keep growing—hardly a problem in Singapore, smack in the middle of the fast-growing Asia.
"This kind of sharp change [in the global economy] brings with it an emergence of the very rich, who seek security and stability and a pronounced need for financial services in wealth management, investment, and facilitating and guiding decisions," Quah says. "A place like Singapore has developed both the reputation and the expertise along every single one of these dimensions."
But what really checks all the right boxes for many of the world's ultra-rich is Singapore's obsession with order, predictability and control, all of which give comfort to individuals whose fortunes have recently gone down the drain in many parts of the world. It doesn't hurt that Singapore has some of the lowest taxes in the world, including none on capital gains and most foreign dividends. But it also has relatively secretive private banking laws and zero harassment from paparazzi or protesters, whose activities are narrowly proscribed by Singaporean authorities, further creating an aura of order and stability. Ronen Palan, a professor of international political economy and an expert on offshore wealth and tax havens at City University in London, believes that while Switzerland is "clearly suffering" from the pressure put on its private-wealth sector from the European Union and the U.S., Singapore is a "very secretive location" where many—Asians in particular—believe their wealth will be spared scrutiny from Western regulators.
"For all the flack that Singapore has gotten for chewing gum and caning, it shows that things are orderly here. Corporate governance is in order, the ruling party is stable and is not going anywhere, things actually function—everything works," says Indonesian-born millionaire Frank Cintamani, as he sits in front of gold-embellished couture dresses, wearing a three-piece gray Lanvin suit paired with black brogue shoes. It is Haute Couture Week in Singapore, an event he leads after luring it away from Paris. A Singaporean citizen who has spent a large part of his life living in hotels and who frequently dons diamond brooches, he also leads Men's Fashion Week and Women's Fashion Week, and has a host of other interests and investments, including in publishing.
"Rich people can have fun anywhere," he says, as the sound of a Ferrari zooming past distracts his train of thought, while he directs a stream of models, designers and fashion writers coursing through a tent next to the Marina Bay Sands, where his fashion show is being held. Though sitting down, he constantly has to stand up briefly to greet the ultra-wealthy fashion aficionados who recognize him. "But over here they know they will always be safe, their privacy respected and their investments solid," he says.
Cintamani, 36, interrupts the discussion on Singapore's economic environment, drawing attention to two men—one in a three-piece black suit, and another in a futuristic-looking white top embellished with silver at its collar and reaching past his knees over skinny white pants with platform shoes—and a woman in a white two-piece, loose-fitting suit with silver heels.
"See those guys over there? The three people in the corner? Their combined worth is between six to seven billion U.S. dollars—and I know this for a fact," he says. "This is why we need to do this here," referring to his fashion ventures. He then points out that one of Mongolia's richest men, with wide interests in property and a keen investor in Singapore's real estate, is also in attendance at the couture show. Cintamani, whose business card carries several logos from ventures in magazine publishing to fashion shows, declines to say where his family's wealth comes from, describing it as "sensitive." (His spokesperson says much of it comes from the oil and gas business.)
The irony, as with other earlier boomtowns, is that the very sources of Singapore's success may ultimately prove its undoing. The gushers of cash that have flooded Singapore in recent years have put relentless upward pressure on property prices, with private-home prices rocketing 59 percent higher since the second quarter of 2009, even as real-estate prices have tumbled or gone sideways in much of the rest of the world. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was only admitting the obvious, some analysts say, when in a recent interview he said that the country's property boom is "almost a bubble."
Singapore's "Gini coefficient"—the best-known economic measure of income disparity—is the second highest in the developed world. Wealth-X, a private consultancy that provides intelligence on the world's uber-rich, estimates some 1,400 ultra-high-net-worth individuals now hold more than $160 billion of wealth in Singapore. Even upper-middle-class natives find themselves unable to afford houses in some parts of the city-state, such as Sentosa Cove, where more than 60 percent of the houses are owned by foreigners. Some are put off by flashy displays of wealth, particularly when it is the wealth of foreign nationals.
The dazzling party scene, meanwhile, has brought a new kind of anything-goes culture to Singapore that is threatening the sense of order that helped make it so alluring in the first place. One of the more disturbing examples came in May 2011, when a Ferrari driver from mainland China, traveling at more than 110 miles per hour, crashed into a taxi after running a red light and killed himself, the taxi driver and a passenger. The accident triggered an outburst of anti-foreigner sentiment online, with some Facebook users creating a fake profile for the dead Ferrari driver with derisive comments against mainland Chinese. Although authorities have largely succeeded in keeping out the kinds of criminal elements that populate the shadows of casino capitals like Las Vegas and Macau, local papers don't shy away from reports of problem gambling in Singapore's two new casinos, with one local middle manager reportedly losing $400,000 in a single bet. On a recent Saturday night near Pangaea, seven police officers were seen arresting a topless Caucasian male for alleged drunken and disorderly behavior.
“The irony, as with earlier boomtowns, is that the very sources of Singapore's success may ultimately prove its undoing.”
Public expressions of anger or dissatisfaction with Singapore's transformations are limited, since protests for the most part are prohibited. Yet signs of unhappiness are multiplying. The city-state's ruling party retained power with its lowest percentage of votes in Singaporean history in 2011, and a thriving blog culture is prodding officials to consider some changes to the country's economic model, including the creation of a bigger social safety net for the poor, which likely would require higher taxes. Indeed, several of the country's leaders—who for decades staunchly defended long-standing policies of prioritizing economic growth above personal freedoms and welfare—seem to be doing some soul-searching. In his New Year's Day message, Prime Minister Lee called on the nation to balance material goals with its "ideals and values. We are not impersonal, calculating robots, mindlessly pursuing economic growth and material wealth," he said.
The rich in Singapore now find themselves with "new avenues to display their wealth," according to Garry Rodan, a fellow at the Asia Research Center at Murdoch University, while "aged Singaporeans with grossly inadequate savings can be seen on the streets collecting plastic bottles for recycling." Opportunities to move up the ladder, he says, are shrinking.
On the real-estate front, meanwhile, lawmakers have tried to deal with sky-high prices by introducing a 15 percent stamp duty on foreign purchases of private residential homes. Last year, the government also removed a program that allowed wealthy foreigners to "fast track" their permanent residency if they kept at least $8.1 million in assets in the city-state for five years, though investors who plan to dedicate a few million to help companies in Singapore grow are still welcomed. Authorities have repeatedly tightened the city-state's tight casino-control laws, already among the strictest in the world, to restrict some locals from patronizing gaming floors and to punish casinos if they fail to keep problem gamblers away.
Optimists say those steps may, in the long run, prevent Singapore from going down the same road as earlier cities-of-the-moment that burned bright and then flamed out, like Dubai. "The writing was on the wall in Dubai in 2007—we had made our money and it was time to move on," says Chris Comer, a property developer who is bringing the exclusive Nikki Beach franchise—a global chain of beach party clubs in St. Tropez, Miami and St. Barts, with girls in elaborate bikinis and patrons who show up in Caribbean pirate outfits or zebra body paint—to Singapore. Having lived in and out of Singapore for 17 years, Comer now resides in an oceanfront condominium in Sentosa Cove, a gated enclave of ultra-wealthy residents on an island 20 minutes from Singapore's city-center. His beach club venture—one that he insists is "recession-proof"—is particularly well-matched for the city-state, he says, nodding at the seven pages of used Lamborghini listings in the online auto classifieds.
"Singapore is my home, this is my base, this is where I feel safe," says Comer, speaking in the loft of his four-story office in a shophouse on Singapore's Ann Siang Hill precinct, a preserved historic area just off Chinatown.
Others aren't so sure about the future. They see youths burning through cash, and rich people who are totally oblivious to the sacrifices made by earlier generations that helped places like Singapore climb from Third World to First World status in just a few decades. "You see this happening often, one generation would make the wealth, and the next two or three will lose it," Ault says. Moreover, "there is a mathematical certainty that there is going to be an economic tsunami" at some point, adds Ault, who trained as an economist with degrees from Oxford and the London School of Economics and worked on Wall Street before becoming a nightclub owner.
Others are worried secretive Singapore won't be able to stay that way. The city-state, defiant against the label "tax haven," has taken steps to ensure its tax treaties allow for more information exchange on tax dodgers, most recently firming a double-taxation agreement with Germany. (A spokesperson from the Monetary Authority of Singapore says it works hard to report any "suspicious transactions.") Singapore is also forced to comply with new financial regulations—including the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a way for the U.S. to ensure its taxpayers do not shirk payments through offshore holdings. This, Palan says, is a "game changer" for the private-wealth industry and will be used as a model by other countries.
Still, in the nightclub business—in which there's always another night, and more models and rich kids waiting in line for an exclusive party—it pays to be positive. At least that's how Ault, the highflying owner of Pangaea sees it. He figures that even if things do go awry, "Asia is better positioned." Singapore, his city of choice, he says, is "doing all the right stuff to stay on top."
