Li Ka-shing

Li Ka-shing
▪ 2001

      Topping Asiaweek magazine's 2000 list of Asia's 50 most powerful people was Li Ka-shing, a billionaire who took “old economy” money and parlayed it into a “new economy” juggernaut. Nicknamed “Superman” by the regional media because of his uncanny ability to pull off a succession of profitable deals, Li inspired loyalty among stockholders, who had come to expect every Li-inspired venture to be a sure thing. Although he began building his fortune in Hong Kong, Li had substantial holdings worldwide, and his ties with top leaders in his native China gave him an inside track in gaining a foothold in that country's burgeoning markets.

      Li was born into a poor family on June 13, 1928, in Chaozhou, Guangdong province, China. Japanese invasions forced the family to leave the mainland for Hong Kong in 1940. Without much formal education, Li began his career in Hong Kong as a salesman and eventually formed a company, Cheung Kong, that manufactured plastics. Business boomed throughout the 1950s when Cheung Kong began making artificial flowers and exporting them to the U.S. As the firm prospered, Li began to acquire property at a rate that, by the late 1970s, made him Hong Kong's leading private developer.

      In 1979 he became the first Chinese businessman to buy one of the large British-owned local trading companies when he purchased a controlling interest in Hutchison Whampoa. Under his leadership, Hutchison emerged as the world's largest independent operator of ports; the company also bought out Husky Oil in Canada and set up mobile-phone operations in Australia, Europe, and the U.S. Among Li's other ventures was an Internet service, Tom.com, that proved highly popular in China.

      Characteristic of Li's approach to business was the way Hutchison made money in the mobile-phone business in the U.K. After getting a foot in the door by investing in a money-losing phone operation called Rabbit, Hutchison launched a service called Orange that it later sold for $14.6 billion. Shortly thereafter, Hutchison jumped back into the telecom business in the U.K., acquiring a license for a wireless Internet service. For Li, making money involved identifying lucrative technologies before they became lucrative, investing in them, and then selling when the properties hit peak value.

      Li's ties with high-ranking officials in China and Hong Kong benefitted his business but prompted criticism. After his son was kidnapped in 1996, the culprit was caught by mainland police and executed, which led many to speculate that Li had gone above local Hong Kong police and sought help at the highest levels of China's government. Li's attempt to influence the political climate in Hong Kong by threatening to cancel a major development also resulted in a backlash. In the U.S. some members of Congress worried that Li's ties to Chinese leaders made his ownership of ports at both ends of the Panama Canal a security risk.

Anthony G. Craine

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Shing-Tung Yau — at Harvard Law School dining hall Born …   Wikipedia

  • Shing Mun River — Shing Mun River, or Shing Mun River Channel, is a river in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China.HistoryThe original Shing Mun River began at Needle Hill, and flowed into the former Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi), a shallow bay. In the 1970s, Tide Cove was drained… …   Wikipedia

  • Shing Mun — (zh t|t=城門) is an area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is formerly, as suggested by its Chinese characters, a gate between the two areas separated by a range of hills. The Shing Mun Valley carries water to… …   Wikipedia

  • Shing-Tung Yau — an der Harvard University Shing Tung Yau (kant. 丘成桐, Yale: Yau1 Sing4 Tung4; Pinyin: Qīu Chéngtóng; * 4. April 1949 in Shantou, Guangdong) ist ein …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Shing-tung yau — à Harvard Shing Tung Yau, né le 4 avril 1949, est un mathématicien connu pour ses travaux en géométrie différentielle, et est aussi à l origine de la théorie des variétés de Calabi Yau. Il est né à Shantou dans la province de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Shing Mun Tunnels — (zh tspcy|t=城門隧道|s=城门隧道|p=Chéngmén Suìdào|cy=sing4 mun4 seui6 dou6) connects the new towns of Tsuen Wan to the west and Sha Tin in the eastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is part of Route 9. Opened in 1990, it is made up of two sections,… …   Wikipedia

  • Shing-Tung Yau — à Harvard Shing Tung Yau, né le 4 avril 1949, est un mathématicien chinois[1] connu pour ses travaux en géométrie différentielle, et est aussi à l origine de la théorie des variétés de Calabi Yau. Il est né à Shantou dans la province de Guangdong …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Shing Wong Street — (Chinese: 城皇街) is a street on the hill slope of Sheung Wan and Mid levels, Hong Kong. The street from Gough Street at its lowest to Caine Road highest. The street is one of ladder streets in Hong Kong, comprised of stone steps, in the section… …   Wikipedia

  • Shing-Tung Yau — (Shantou, 4 de abril de 1949) es un matemático estadounidense nacido en China, conocido por sus trabajos en la geometría diferencial y en la variedad de Calabi Yau. Estudió matemáticas en la Universidad de Hong Kong de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Shing Tai Road — (Chinese: 盛泰道) is an orbital road encircling Heng Fa Chuen and Hong Kong Institution of Vocational Education (Chai Wan) at the northern Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. The northernmost and southernmost reaches of the road are entrances and exits… …   Wikipedia

  • Shing Fui-On — This is a Chinese name; the family name is Shing. Shing Fui On Chinese name 成奎安 (Traditional) Jyutping sing4 fui1 on1 (Cantonese) Ancestry Bao an, Guangdo …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”