1. Li Ka-shing
Age: 78
Citizenship: Hong Kong
Net Worth: $23 billion
A high-school dropout, Li got his start selling plastic flowers in Hong Kong in the 1950s. He is now considered one of the most powerful figures in Asia and is the largest operator of container terminals, a major electricity and cell-phone supplier, a retailer and real-estate developer. Named 'Asia's Most Powerful Man' by Asiaweek in 2001, Li recently announced a plan eventually to donate a third of his wealth to charities.
2. Makesh and Anil Ambani
Ages: 49 and 47, respectively
Citizenship: India
Net Worth: $20.1 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively
The feuding sons of Reliance Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh and Anil split up the family fortune after the death of their father in 2005. Mukesh took over Reliance Industries and the oil-refining subsidiary, Reliance Petroleum, while Anil heads the family's telecom, finance and power interests.
3. Lee Shau Kee
Age: 79
Citizenship: Hong Kong
Net Worth: $17 billion
The real-estate mogul is the second wealthiest person in Hong Kong and the 22nd richest person in the world, according to Forbes. He made his fortune as the founder of Henderson Land Development.
4. Stanley Ho
Age: 85
Citizenship: Hong Kong
Net Worth: $7 billion
Stanley Ho's casino empire in Macau dominated the local gambling industry for decades. Ever since the market opened to outsiders seven years ago, Ho's interests have faced heavy competition from some of the biggest Las Vegas players. Outsiders now control 54 percent of the market.
5. Robert Kuok
Age: 83
Citizenship: Malaysia
Net Worth: $7 billion
Kuok got his start trading rice, sugar and wheat flour in Malaysia and Singapore in the early 1950s. He now heads the Kuok Group, a multinational conglomerate with interests ranging from shipping and real estate to media. Kuok also owns sugar and oil plantations and controls a hotel empire that includes the famous Shangri-La.
6. Wang Yung-ching
Age: 90
Citizenship: Taiwan
Net Worth: $5.1 billion
With only an elementary-school education, Wang has built Formosa Plastics into one of Asia's biggest petrochemical producers. He's the oldest Asian billionaire on the latest Forbes list.
7. Lim Goh Tong
Age 89
Citizenship: Malaysia
Net Worth: $4.2 billion
The Genting Group founder is a former public-works contractor who turned an idea for a hilltop resort into one of the world's most successful casinos. In 2006, his company won a project to develop a high-end gaming and entertainment resort on the Singaporean island of Sentosa.
8. Nina Wang
Age: Died in April at 69
Citizenship: Hong Kong
Net Worth: $4.2 billion
After winning a long legal battle against her father-in-law for control of her late husband's estate in 2005, Wang's fortune made her Asia's richest woman. When she died in April, she left that fortune to her longtime feng shui master, paving the way for a likely legal battle with her family.
9. Lee Kun Hee
Age: 65
Citizenship: South Korea
Net worth: $2.9 billion
The mastermind of Samsung's emergence as Asia's most valuable listed electronics company, Lee has landed in legal jeopardy for attempting to pass control to his son without fully paying inheritance tax. (The complex transaction, in which 39-year-old Jay Lee paid just $2 million for shares worth a hundred times as much at today’s valuation, is still being litigated.) Even if judges rule in Samsung’s favor, the Lees look certain to lose half their empire when its financial flagship, Samsung Life, eventually goes public, because new regulations bar a single entity from controlling listed companies.
10. Chung Mong-koo
Age: 69
Citizenship: South Korea
Net Worth: $2.2 billion
In 1999, Chung took over Hyundai Motors from his late father, founder Chung Ju-yung, and helped the company triple sales. Now he and the company are caught in scandal: Chung was sentenced in February to three years in prison for embezzling corporate funds. He is appealing that conviction.
* All net-worth figures from Forbes. Newsweek International Editionhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19746875/site/newsweek/
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