Thailand's new king crowned! Owns a $16 billion cement conglomerate

On May 4, King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, 66, was officially crowned with a crown weighing 7.3 kilograms. Foreign media estimate that he is the richest king in the world with a net worth of $30 billion. Born on July 28, 1952

, Vajiralongkorn is the only son of King Rama IX Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. After the death of Bhumibol in October 2016, Vajiralongkorn accepted the invitation of the President of the Legislative Assembly in December of that year to succeed him as King Rama X of Thailand. The coronation ceremony has been postponed to this day due to a year-long national mourning period.

It is reported that Vajiralongkorn is the richest king in the world with a net worth of $30 billion. He owns more assets than Saudi Arabia or the British royal family. Its royal wealth is managed by the Royal Assets Authority of Thailand.

In 1932, after the Thai military ended the monarchy, the Thai Royal Assets Authority was established to make the royal family self-sufficient. But the Thai government still pays some of the royal family's expenses, especially for security maintenance. Reported that the Thai Royal Assets Authority has huge investments in large Thai enterprises, including the Siam Commercial Bank worth $84 billion and the Siam Cement Group worth $16 billion. The Authority also has a large real estate investment, and its land ownership includes a large number of the most valuable real estate in Bangkok, including the prime land along the Chao Phraya River, which is equivalent to Central Park in New York. In 2012, Forbes, an American magazine, estimated that it had managed more than $30 billion in real estate and other investments.

It is reported that Thailand Siam Cement Group (SCG) was founded in 1913, the group has five core businesses: chemical, paper, cement, building materials and trade. In 1992, the Khao Wong plant of the Siam Cement Group in Saraburi province was put into operation to produce cement, and its kiln was the largest kiln in the world at that time. In 1971, Siam Cement Co., Ltd. was reorganized and upgraded to Siam Cement Group. Siam Cement Group of Thailand began to reorganize in the 21st century and is the main force of Thailand's building materials industry. At present, the business scope of Siam Cement Group of Thailand includes paper, packaging, petrochemical products, cement, construction products, ceramics, and sales companies including international trade and more than two owned and held operating companies, and focusing on the introduction of new technologies and new skills to continue to develop Siam Cement Group of Thailand.