This article is about the collapse of Cheung Kong Holdings. For the son of Lee Shau Kee, see Martin Lee Ka-shing
Sir Ka-shing Li [ 4 ] ( chinese : 李 嘉 誠 ; born 13 June 1928 ) [ 5 ] [ 6 ] is a Hong Kong business baron, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the thirtieth richest person in the populace, with an calculate net wealth of US $ 29.4 billion. [ 7 ] He is the elder adviser for CK Hutchison Holdings [ 8 ] and CK Asset Holdings, after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May 2018 ; [ 9 ] through it, he is the global ‘s leading port investor, developer, and hustler of the largest health and smasher retailer in Asia and Europe. [ 10 ] Forbes magazine released its Hong Kong fortune league chart in February 2021, which showed that Li Ka-shing had reclaimed his premier position as Hong Kong ‘s richest person, with his net assets topping US $ 35.40 billion. [ 11 ]
Reading: Li Ka-shing – Wikipedia
Li is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia, presiding over a occupation empire with a diverse portfolio of businesses from a broad array of industries, including exile, substantial estate, fiscal services, retail, and energy and utilities. [ 12 ] His pudding stone company Cheung Kong Holdings is influential in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and made up 4 % of the aggregate market capitalization of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. [ 13 ] 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. [ 14 ] In malice of his wealth, Li has cultivated a repute for leading a economical no-frills life style, and is known to wear childlike black full-dress shoes and an cheap Seiko wristwatch. He lived in the lapp house for decades, in what has now become one of the most expensive districts in Hong Kong, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is besides regarded as one of Asia ‘s most generous philanthropists, donating billions of dollars to jacob’s ladder and other versatile beneficent causes, and owning the moment largest private foundation in the populace after Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] In 2019 Forbes put Li in the list of the world ‘s most generous philanthropists outside of the US. [ 17 ] Li is frequently referred to as “ Superman Li ” in Hong Kong because of his business art. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]
early life [edit ]
Li was born in Chao’an, Chaozhou in Guangdong Province in 1928 to Teochew parents named Li Yun-ching ( 1898–1943 ) and Cheung Bik-chin ( 1893–1984 ). Li and his family fled to Hong Kong in 1940 as refugees from the Sino-Japanese war. [ 20 ] Owing to his forefather ‘s death from tuberculosis, he was forced to leave school at the historic period of 15 and found a problem in a plastics trade company where he worked 16 hours a day. [ 21 ] In 1950 he started his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. [ 22 ] From manufacturing plastics, Li developed his company into a lead very 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. [ 23 ]
business career [edit ]
Plastics manufacture [edit ]
In 1950, after learning how to operate a establish, Li founded a formative fabricate company in Hong Kong with personal savings and funds borrowed from relatives. Li avidly read trade publications and business news before deciding to supply the world with high choice formative flowers at low prices. Li learned the proficiency of mixing color with plastics that resemble real flowers. After retooling his shop class and hiring the best technicians he could find, he prepared the plant for a visit from a large alien buyer. Impressed with the quality of Li ‘s plant, the buyer placed a large order. A few years later, Li grew to be the largest supplier of formative flowers in Asia and made a fortune selling them. [ 24 ]
real estate [edit ]
In 1958, believing rents would continue to rise, Li decided to purchase a web site and develop his own factory build. An opportunity to acquire more farming arrived after the 1967 riots when many people fled Hong Kong, and, as a result, property prices plummeted. Li believed the political crisis would be temp and place prices would finally rise, and bought land from the flee residents at low prices. In 1971, Li formally named his real estate growth caller Cheung Kong ( 長江實業 ). Cheung Kong Holdings was publicly listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. During board meetings, Li stated on a count of occasions his goal of surpassing the Jardines -owned Hongkong Land as a leading developer. [ 25 ] The successful invite by Cheung Kong for development sites above the Central and Admiralty MTR stations in 1977 was the key to challenging Hongkong Land as the premier property developer in Hong Kong. Despite its size, Jardines decided in the 1980s to protect itself from hostile takeover by Li or other outside investors. The company implemented a cross-shareholding structure that was designed to place control in the hands of Britain ‘s Keswick family despite their less than 10 % holdings in the group. In 1984, the caller besides moved its legal dwelling from Hong Kong to another british oversea district – Bermuda, in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to People ‘s Republic of China in 1997. [ 26 ] In an feat to drive forward divestitures of assets in Hong Kong and the chinese Mainland, Li agreed to sell The Center, the fifth-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. [ 27 ] With a value of HK $ 40.2 billion ( US $ 5.15 billion ), the deal constitutes the biggest ever position space real estate sale in the Asia-Pacific region. [ 27 ] Li sold the Century Link complex in Shanghai for US $ 2.95 billion, the second largest transaction for a individual build, according to the Financial Times. [ 28 ] In 1979, Li purchased a major stake in Hutchison Whampoa Company Limited from Hong Kong Bank through Cheung Kong. [ 29 ]
retail [edit ]
A subsidiary company of CK Hutchison, the A.S. Watson Group ( ASW ), is a retail operator with over 15,000 stores. Its portfolio encompasses retail brands in Europe such as Superdrug ( UK ), Marionnaud ( France ), Kruidvat ( Benelux countries ), and in Asia including health and beauty retailer Watson ‘s store and wine cellars et al., PARKnSHOP supermarkets ( and spin-off brands ), and Fortress electrical appliance stores. ASW besides produces and distributes water products and beverages in the region .
Asset deal [edit ]
CK Hutchison group has the repute of being an astute asset trader. It builds up new businesses and sells them off when stockholder prize could be created. huge profits were obtained in the sale of its pastime in Orange to Mannesmann Group in 1999, making a profit of $ 15.12 billion. In 2006 Li sold 20 % of Hutchison ‘s ports business to Singapore equal PSA Corp., making a $ 3.12 billion profit on a $ 4 billion deal. [ 30 ] Group subordinate Hutchison Telecommunications sold a controlling stake of 67 % in Hutchison Essar, a joint venture Mobile operator in India, to Vodafone for $ 11.1 billion .
Internet and technology [edit ]
Li has besides made a foray into the technology clientele, where his investment and speculation capital firm Horizons Ventures is specifically allocate towards backing new internet and engineering inauguration firms, and bought a impale in doubleTwist. [ 31 ] His other firm, the Li Ka Shing Foundation bought a 0.8 % impale in social network web site Facebook for $ 120 million in two separate rounds, [ 32 ] [ 33 ] and invested an estimate $ 50 million in the music streaming serve Spotify. [ 31 ] Some time between late 2009 and early 2010, Li Ka-shing led a $ 15.5 million Series B round of financing for Siri Inc. [ 34 ] In 2011, Horizons Ventures invested in Summly, a website-summarizing app. notably, the investment made Nick D’Aloisio, Summly ‘s fall through, the world ‘s youngest person to receive a venture capital investing at just fifteen years honest-to-god. [ 35 ] In 2012, Horizons Ventures invested $ 2.3 million in Wibbitz, a company that provides a text-to-video engineering that can mechanically convert any article post or feed on the web into a video in a count of seconds. In August 2012, Li acquired a venture in Ginger Software Incorporated. [ 36 ] In 2013, Horizons Ventures invested in Bitcoin payment company BitPay. [ 37 ] In February 2015, Horizons Ventures participated in a $ 30 million Series C funding round in Zoom Video Communications. [ 38 ] Later in the class, Li participated in a $ 108 million Series D orotund in impossible Foods. [ 39 ] In 2016, he continued investments in technology companies and Horizons Ventures led a $ 55 million Series A cycle in Blockstream, the leader in blockchain related technologies, [ 40 ] and besides invested in a inauguration incubator fund Expa, that works with the founders to build new companies. [ 41 ] In September 2017, Li worked with Alibaba ‘s Jack Ma to bring AlipayHK, a digital wallet service to Hong Kong. [ 42 ]
australian tax quarrel [edit ]
In 2013 a claim was lodged by the australian Tax Office ( ATO ) against Cheung Kong Infrastructure ( CKI ) to pay approximately A $ 370 million in unpaid tax, penalties and interest associate to tax disputes concerning SA Power Networks and Victoria Power Networks. The dispute was resolved in 2015 when CKI entered into an agreement with the ATO. No penalty was levied against CKI and a kernel of approximately A $ 24 million was refunded from the A $ 64 million previously paid to the ATO by CKI. [ 43 ] [ 44 ]
retirement [edit ]
After his almost-70-year-long reign over CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, Li announced his retirement on 16 March 2018 and the decision to pass his $ 100billion empire on to his son, Victor Li. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] He is still involved in the conglomerate as a senior adviser. [ 47 ] [ 48 ]
Others [edit ]
Besides occupation through his flagship companies CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, Li Ka-shing has besides personally invested extensively in veridical estate in Singapore and Canada. He was the single largest stockholder of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CIBC ), the fifth largest savings bank in Canada, until the sale of his share in 2005 ( with all proceedings donated, see below ). He is besides the majority stockholder of a major energy company, Husky Energy, based in Alberta, Canada. [ 49 ] In January 2005, Li announced plans to sell his $ 1.2 billion CAD impale in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with all proceeds going to private charitable foundations established by Li, including the Li Ka Shing Foundation in Hong Kong and the Li Ka Shing ( Canada ) Foundation based in Toronto, Ontario. [ 50 ] Li was the non-executive film director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation since 1980 and became Deputy Chairman of the deposit in 1985. He was besides Deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings in 1991–1992. According to Bloomberg, he had a net worth of US $ 35.3 Billion in July 2021. [ 51 ]
personal life [edit ]
His two sons, Victor Li and Richard Li, are besides big figures in the Hong Kong clientele scene. Victor Li succeeded his father as Chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings and Chairman of CK Asset Holdings Limited, while Richard Li is Chairman of PCCW, the largest telecommunication ship’s company in Hong Kong. They are both canadian citizens. He has a granddaughter named Michelle Sarah Li Se-de, who studied at the chinese International School in Hong Kong [ 52 ] and he is a follower of Buddhism. [ 53 ] Married to his first cousin, Chong Yuet-ming ( 1933–1990 ), they had a long period of marriage that lasted for 27–28 years from 1962 until her sudden death on New Year ‘s Day 1990 due to a suspected drug overdose or other sources rumoured it as a cardiac check, she was the daughter of his enate uncle ( mother ‘s younger brother ), Cheung Jing-on ( 1908–1996 ) and his wife, Hew Bik-yin ( 1911–2002 ), who were besides from the Chaoshan region, but were both settled in british Hong Kong retentive ahead he migrated to the city, as she was born and bred there to emigrant Teochew parents from that region in Guangdong state of Mainland China. Li is famously obviously dressed for a Hong Kong baron. In the 1990s he wore a $ 50 HKD timepiece from Citizen Watch Co. and obviously ties. He late wore a Seiko. [ 54 ] In 2016, he wore a $ 500 HKD Citizen watch. [ 55 ] His son Victor Li was kidnapped in 1996 on his room home after work by gangster “ big spendthrift ” Cheung Tze-keung. Li Ka-shing paid a ransom of HK $ 1 billion, directly to Cheung who had come to his house. [ 56 ] A report was never filed with Hong Kong police. alternatively the case was pursued by Mainland authorities, leading to Cheung ‘s execution in 1998, an consequence not possible under Hong Kong police. Rumours circulated of a deal between Li and the Mainland. [ 56 ] In interviews, when this rumor was brought up, Li brushed it off and dismissed it wholly .
Awards and honours [edit ]
Politics [edit ]
For many years, he was considered to be a peak pro-Beijing name. however, in recent years, tensions have been growing between Li and the mainland, specially with the advance of current China ‘s overriding leader Xi Jinping. During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, he refused to outright condemn the protesters, alternatively urging for peace and calling on the authorities to respond to the protesters humanely. [ 57 ] On 4 August 2011 at the interim results announcement for Hutchison Whampoa, Li endorsed Henry Tang for the forthcoming headman executive election. [ 23 ] [ 58 ] then Li said “ You all can be barely like me, one-person-one-vote ( 一人一票 ). ” [ 59 ] The media then looked at Li in incredulity, and pointed out that regular citizens do not get one-person-one-vote. [ 60 ] Li then tried to laugh it off and said “ possibly in 2017 they will have one-person-one-vote to choose the chief administrator, I credibly merely said it a little early. ” [ 23 ] [ 61 ] [ 62 ] Li was, however, criticised by chinese official state-run weigh agency Xinhua for being ambiguous in his confrontation to the Umbrella drift protests and his documentation for Leung. [ 63 ] Later, prior to the Legco vote, Li said that the largest threat to Hong Kong ‘s future was if the government failed to ensure passage of the 2014–5 round of political reform. [ 64 ] Li ‘s business empire has presence around the worldly concern, including China. Li came under attack from Global Times in early 2015, when his companies put out password that it was considering selling prime Shanghai and Beijing properties. It became apparent that Li aimed at re-weighting his asset portfolio to more static and crystalline markets in the West. [ 65 ] Concerted attacks ensued and went into a crescendo as China ‘s economy slowed down dramatically in the second half of the year, and the cardinal government sought a way to stem the capital outflows. specific reproaches were that his asset disposals were “ an act of ingratitude ” and “ base at such a medium articulation ”. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] [ 67 ] Security Times, a People’s Daily issue, estimated that Li has sold at least 73.8 billion yuan worth of assets since 2014. [ 65 ] Li ‘s holding companies denied divesting in China, saying that its asset disposals were being undertaken in the ordinary naturally of business. [ 66 ] [ 68 ] The attacks stopped abruptly respective weeks late, when editorials in official publications such as People’s Daily, Beijing Youth Daily took a neutral stance in unison. [ 65 ]
Charities [edit ]
Li Ka Shing Tower of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University