The wife of tech billionaire Forrest Li is set to acquire a mansion in one of Singapore’s most coveted residential areas, even as the luxury property market remains in a lull.
Ma Liqian filed an option in April to buy a so-called good class bungalow on Gallop Road for $42.5 million, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The house sits on a 1,552 sqm (16,706 sq ft) plot of land.
Li owns a 1,403 sqm land parcel next to the mansion, near the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a World Heritage Site. That was acquired in 2019, property records show.
A Sea spokesperson declined to comment.
While nearly 80% of Singaporeans live in government-subsidized apartments, the upper echelons vie for good class bungalows, which are valued for their rarity and size. The sector has cooled down after the city-state’s biggest money laundering scandal and high interest rates weighed on the market.
The sale, by a family surnamed Ku, adds to a handful of transactions recently. This includes a $36 million sale at Cornwall Gardens and a separate mansion at Ford Avenue being bought for $39.5 million by a scion of the Wee family, Singapore’s richest banking dynasty.
China-born Li’s fortune is primarily derived from his stake in Sea Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest internet company. His wealth took a dive during a recent tech downturn, but recovered slightly after his company recorded its first full-year profit since listing.
Once Singapore’s richest person, Li now has a net worth of US$3.8 billion ($5.18 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
