Lee Hsien Loong was born on 10 February 1952, in Singapore, of Chinese descent. Lee is a politician, best known now because he is only the third Prime Minister of Singapore, a position he’s held since 2004. He’s also the eldest son of the country’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. All his efforts have helped raise his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Lee Hsien Loong? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is over $20 million, mostly earned through his career in politics. Even with a recent salary downgrade, Hsien Loong’s salary is considered the highest among all prime ministers in the world, at around $1.7 million per year, and as his career continues it is expected that his wealth will increase.
Lee Hsien Loong $20 Million Dollars
At a young age, Lee was already interested in Singaporean affairs, and he often followed his father to various political events such as rallies. He attended Nanyang Primary School, and then went to Catholic High School. After matriculating, he attended National Junior College, on a President’s Scholarship and a Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship. He then went to study at Trinity College, University of Cambridge from where he graduated with a BA in mathematics with first-class honors, and a Diploma in Computer Science. Six years later, he finished his Master of Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the USA.
In 1971, he joined the Singapore Armed Forces and during his 10 year career, he attended the c. He subsequently became Director of the Joint Operations and Plans Directorate. He was promoted quickly through the ranks and became the youngest brigadier-general in Singapore history during 1983. He ultimately served as Chief of Staff of the General Staff. One of his most notable events he participated in was a rescue operation during the Sentosa Cable Car Disaster. A year after his promotion, he left the military with a desire to pursue politics.
He became part of the People’s Action Party at the time when his father, Lee Kuan Yew had declared that he was stepping down as Prime Minister. Hsien became a Member of Parliament in 1984 and has been re-elected several times since. He also became the Minister of State for Trade and Industry, as well as Defence, working under the second Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, and became Deputy Prime Minister in 1990. In 2001, he also became the country’s Minister of Finance, recommending changes to various policies to help reduce business costs and strengthen the Singapore economy.
He served as Deputy Prime Minister alongside Ong Teng Cheong, and he also became the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In 2004, due to various factors such as the SARS outbreak and the Iraq War affecting the budget, he decided to raise the GST to five percent. He also adjusted Singaporean citizenship requirements, making it easier for foreign-born children of Singaporean women to gain citizenship.
In 2004, he succeeded Goh Chok Tong as Prime Minister; he soon declared a five-day working week, set into motion a two-month paid maternity leave, and also helped create Marina Bay and Sentosa. Prior to the 2006 general election, he distributed a S$2.6 billion bonus entitled the “Progress Package” to various Singaporeans; the opposition accused him of trying to buy votes from the people. Afterwards, Lee enacted reforms to the electoral system, and also became the chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He was sworn-in to his second term in 2011, and appointed new ministers after Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong resigned from the Cabinet.
For his personal life, it is known that Lee was married to a doctor, Wong Ming Yang, who died in 1982 due to a heart attack after giving birth to his first son; they also had a daughter. Many years later he would marry Ho Ching, and they would have two sons. During his service he was diagnosed with lymphoma which was successfully treated by chemotherapy during the ’90s. He also underwent a prostatectomy after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015.
