'Casino King' Lim Goh Tong, who turned a jungle hilltop into one of the world's most successful casino resorts, died on today, his son said. He was 89.

"It is with great sadness, I announce that ... founder and honorary life chairman of Genting, Lim Goh Tong has passed away peacefully at 11:20am today," his son, Kok Thay, said in a statement.

Lim developed the hilltop Genting Highlands casino resort in the 1960s and founded the Genting group, which grew into a conglomerate comprising listed companies on the Malaysian, Singaporean and Hong Kong bourses.

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that the success of Lim, a Chinese immigrant who had nothing when he came to Malaysia in his late teens, set a shining example for the country's business community.

"If there were more entrepreneurs like him, Malaysia would have achieved more in its economic development," said Mahathir. "His struggle can be considered part and parcel of Malaysian development."

Lim was ranked 204th on the Forbes 2007 list of billionaires worldwide, with his family's assets valued at U$4.2 billion (RM14.2 billion).

He was Malaysia's third richest man, after 'Sugar King' Robert Kuok and telecommunication tycoon Ananda Krishnan.

"Lim's life is a story of rags to riches and it is hard to find a similar success story in this country," Housing Minister Ong Ka Ting said at a traditional Chinese celebration of Lim's birthday in April 2007.

Besides gaming operations in Malaysia and Britain, as well as one planned for Singapore, Genting has interests in the leisure, power, oil and gas, property and plantation sectors.

Its Hong Kong-listed unit, Star Cruises, is the third-largest cruise operator in the world. Another subsidiary, Genting International, owns Stanley Leisure, the United Kingdom's largest casino operator.

Born in China's Fujian

Born in 1918 in China's Fujian province, Lim was 19 when he moved as a poor immigrant to Malaya, as Malaysia was then known.

Lim made his first fortune in heavy machinery trading after the Second World War.

He was almost 50 and a prosperous contractor when the idea to develop a hilltop resort in Pahang, close to Kuala Lumpur, came to him.

His vision for developing Genting Highlands hinged on building a road to the resort site 1,800m above sea level. He began work in 1965.

Recounting a landslide that almost swept him away, he wrote in his 2004 autobiography: "Back home that night, I said to my wife that I had gone to hell but was told to turn back and continue with my work."

Lim completed the road and opened the casino in 1971.

It became the flagship of his Genting group that took its name from the resort, which attracts more than 15 million visitors each year.

His second son, Kok Thay, who now heads Genting, has lauded his father's work ethic.

"My father has often reminded me that there is no shortcut to success," Kok Thay said at Lim's 2007 birthday celebrations.

Lim was married to Lee Kim Hua, with whom he had six children.