Li Ka-shing

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Li Ka-shing bigraphy, stories - Generals

Li Ka-shing : biography

29 July 1928 –

Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE, JP (born 13 June 1928 in Chaozhou, China) is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is considered to be the richest person in Asia. As of March 2013, according to Forbes, he is the eighth richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of US $31 billion. He is the Chairman of the Board of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings as of 2008; through them, he is the world’s largest operator of container terminals and the world’s largest health and beauty retailer.

Considered one of the most powerful figures in Asia, Li was named "Asia’s Most Powerful Man, Li Ka-Ching" by Asiaweek in 2001. His companies make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever "Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award" on 5 September 2006, in Singapore. In spite of his wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch, which is at odds with the house he owns in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive precincts, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is also regarded as one of Asia’s most generous philanthropists, donating over US $1.41 billion to date to charity and other various philanthropic causes. Li is often referred to as "Superman" in Hong Kong because of his business prowess.

Li Ka-shing was born in Chaozhou in Guangdong province, China, in 1928 to Teochew descendants. Due to his father’s death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he laboured 16 hours a day. By 1950 he was able to start his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. From manufacturing plastics, Li led and developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Cheung Kong expanded by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985 respectively.

Personal life

His two sons, Victor Li and Richard Li, are also prominent figures in the Hong Kong business scene. Victor Li works directly with his father as managing director and vice-chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, while Richard Li is the head of PCCW, the largest telecom company in Hong Kong. They are both Canadian citizens.

Li is famously plainly dressed for a Hong Kong tycoon. In the 1990s he wore a $50 timepiece from Citizen Watch Co. and plain ties. He now wears a Seiko.

Even at his age, Li remains physically fit, and says that no matter what time he sleeps at night, he gets up before 6 am each morning to play golf for about an hour and a half. His golfing partner is Hong Kong movie mogul Raymond Chow. Li says that during that time, ‘…the ninety minutes that I have are mine.’ His preferable amount of time for sleep is eight hours. It is also said that he walks on the treadmill for fifteen minutes a day at noon.

Awards and honours

  • Grand Bauhinia Medal
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
  • Commandeur, Légion d’honneur

Politics

On 4 August 2011 at the interim results announcement for Hutchison Whampoa, Li endorsed Tang for the forthcoming chief executive election and praised him for five full minutes. Then Li let slip and said "You all can be just like me, one-person-one-vote (一人一票)." The media then looked at Li in disbelief, and pointed out that regular citizens do not get one-person-one-vote. Li then tried to laugh it off and said "maybe in 2017 they will have one-person-one-vote to choose the chief executive, I probably just said it a little early."

  • His donation in 1981 resulted in the founding of Shantou University, near his hometown of Chaozhou.
  • Li was invited by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to become a member of the board of directors of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) to support the economic reform initiatives that Deng was attempting to develop. CITIC is China’s largest conglomerate and is 42 percent owned by the government of China. It serves as the chief investment arm of China’s central government and holds ministry status on the Chinese State Council. Li served only one year on CITIC’s board before resigning his directorship. He was the non-executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation since 1980 and became Deputy Chairman of the bank in 1985. He was also Deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings in 1991–1992.