Wealth
Sir Ernest was, in his time, Sri Lanka's richest man and one of the wealthiest Sri Lankans of the twentieth century. He inherited and purchased thousands of acres of tea, rubber and coconut estates as well as land in the prominent areas of Colombo. One such estate was the famed 1200 acre (5 km²) Salawa estate which was used as a rubber plantation. He owned 46 acres (7360 perches) of land mostly in the Cinnamon Gardens (Colombo 7) which, being one of the most expensive areas in Sri Lanka, would be worth approximately $500 million in the economy of the 2000s. His company dealt in every description of Ceylonese produce, principally plumbago (graphite), desiccated coconut, fibre, cacao, rubber, cinnamon and tea. The main export business was done with the United Kingdom and the continent, through the firm's agents in London, Hamburg and other European ports. His residence, the "Sirimathipaya Mansion", equipped then with horse stables and tennis courts, now serves as the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's office.
Read more about this topic: Ernest De Silva
Famous quotes containing the word wealth:
“That wealth and greatness are often regarded with the respect and admiration which are due only to wisdom and virtue; and that the contempt, of which vice and folly are the only proper objects, is often unjustly bestowed upon poverty and weakness, has been the complaint of moralists in all ages.”
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“Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
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