Besties with Johor’s royals, owner of Spain’s Valencia CF: Things to know about Peter Lim
The Singapore billionaire has just unveiled an RM18 billion mega project in the JS-SEZ, and his firm is designing a US$200 million home for the royals
[SINGAPORE] Former remisier turned billionaire Peter Lim is in the news this week in a big way: His Singapore-listed Thomson Medical Group (TMG) announced an RM18 billion (S$5.5 billion) project in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) featuring healthcare, luxury, commercial and lifestyle offerings.
RSP, an architectural and design firm also owned by Lim, tapped his family’s close ties with the Johor royal family to bag a US$200 million job to design and develop their Desaru home.
The self-made tycoon is also known in the sporting world and society columns, through his ownership of the Spanish football club Valencia and his socialite and influencer daughter Kim Lim.
The Business Times takes a look at Peter Lim’s business moves through the years that have placed him on Forbes’ list of Singapore’s richest.
Drive and resilience
Peter Lim was born in 1953 and came from humble origins. The son of a fishmonger, he grew up with seven siblings in a two-bedroom HDB flat in the Bukit Merah area.
He attended secondary school at Raffles Institution, before graduating with a degree in finance and accounting from the University of Western Australia in Perth.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
To put himself through school, Peter Lim juggled multiple odd jobs while studying; he worked as a cab driver, cook and a waiter at a fast-food chain, he told The New Paper in 2007.
Remisier king
After graduating from university, he worked briefly in accounting and tax consultancy before entering the world of stockbroking as a remisier – a self-employed agent earning commissions on trades.
Success did not come instantly; in fact, Peter Lim initially lost money, he told The New Paper.
He soon learnt the ropes and quickly built a reputation for himself. Serving Indonesian clients, he earned millions in commissions and made a name for himself in the 1980s as the “remisier king” of Singapore.
The New York Times noted in March that his clients reportedly included sons of former Indonesian president Suharto and former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Fortune building
In the 1990s, Peter Lim invested US$10 million in the Indonesian palm oil company co-founded by Kuok Khoon Hong, the nephew of Malaysia’s richest man Robert Kuok. The younger Kuok, Wilmar International’s current chair and chief executive, is a former client and friend of Peter Lim.
Peter Lim’s timing was shrewd, as the Indonesian economy and rupiah were weak then.
He made his first billion dollars cashing out Wilmar International shares in 2010, reaping a US$1.5 billion windfall.
In 2011, he acquired a specialist maternity and paediatric hospital known as Thomson Medical for around US$396 million, according to Forbes. He also bought a stake in Kuala Lumpur-based healthcare company TMC Life Sciences that year.
In 2022, he joined British public school Wellington College in a venture to set up high-end international schools across Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Today, Peter Lim’s fortune spans healthcare, property, education and sports.
Thomson Medical Group
In 2017, he injected his healthcare businesses in Singapore and Malaysia into his listed investment holding company, Rowsley, via a reverse takeover.
Rowsley acquired a 100 per cent stake in Thomson Medical, then a private business, and a 70.4 per cent stake in Bursa Malaysia-listed TMC Life Sciences.
Following the acquisition, Rowsley was renamed TMG in 2018.
In 2023, TMG entered the Vietnamese market with a US$381.4 million acquisition of the country’s largest private healthcare group, Far East Medical Vietnam.
Peter Lim has a 12.2 per cent direct interest in TMG and a deemed interest of 77.5 per cent, according to TMG’s 2024 annual report.
Personal life and family
The twice-married tycoon has two children from his first marriage to Teo Geok Fong.
The pair split in the 1990s, in a high-profile divorce involving a publicised custody battle and a S$50 million settlement, according to the Vulcan Post.
In 2003, Peter Lim married former actress and model Cherie Lim.
While Peter Lim is said to be media-shy, his socialite and beauty entrepreneur daughter, Kim Lim, 33, is frequently featured in the media over events in her personal and social life.
His son, Kiat Lim, 32, is the current executive vice-chairman of TMG, having been appointed to the role in September 2022. The younger Lim was in 2023 named chair of RSP, which his father bought in 2013 through Rowsley.
Royal connection
Peter Lim’s family is said to have close ties with the Johor royal family, which recently commissioned RSP to design and develop their private residence.
The private residence for the Johor royals will be built on a 27-hectare site on the Desaru waterfront in the JS-SEZ. It is expected to take four years to build.
The residence will comprise a royal villa, guest houses, a children’s club and sports facilities. It will also include a secure underground complex containing a shooting range and armoury, with the capacity to house 100 soldiers.
Owner of a football club
Beyond familial ties, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and Kiat Lim share a passion for football, Forbes reported. Tunku Ismail – who owns the Johor Darul Ta’zim football club – is involved in developing the sport through digital engagement and sports ventures.
Peter Lim, meanwhile, owns Spanish football club Valencia, which he bought in 2014. The move followed an earlier bid to acquire Liverpool, which fell through even after he raised his offer to £320 million (S$664 million at the time).
In 2010, he withdrew his offer for Liverpool and said then that its board intended to sell it to New England Sports Ventures – which later bought the club at £300 million, below Peter Lim’s offer.
His ownership of Valencia has had some controversy. The New York Times reported that he is unpopular with many of the club’s fans and that his stewardship of it has been criticised.
Talk of Peter Lim selling Valencia surfaced earlier this year. Spanish radio broadcaster COPE claimed he was seeking 400 million euros (S$562 million) for his majority stake in the club, but the tycoon’s private investment company Meriton Holdings shut down the rumours.
In March 2025, Kiat Lim became president of Valencia.
Peter Lim is also said to have friendships with football celebrities such as Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Gary Neville.
Giving back
Peter Lim is involved in several philanthropic efforts and has supported causes across education, healthcare and athletics.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he sponsored S$1 million worth of meals for hospital staff. He has also donated S$20 million to the Singapore Olympic Foundation.
In 2014, he matched a government grant and gifted S$3 million to the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies to establish a professorship in peace studies.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
