Li Ka-shing

Li Ka-shing. He is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Asia. Through his flagship conglomerates Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, he built a vast global empire spanning ports, retail, infrastructure, and telecommunications. His philanthropic foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, has donated billions to education and medical causes worldwide, cementing his legacy beyond commerce.

Early life and education

He was born on 13 July 1928 in the city of Chaozhou within Guangdong province. To escape the escalating Second Sino-Japanese War, his family fled to the then-British colony of Hong Kong in 1940. His father, a school principal, died of tuberculosis when he was 15, forcing him to leave school to support his mother and siblings. He found work in a plastics trading company, where he labored 16 hours a day, gaining crucial early insights into manufacturing and commerce in the bustling port city.

Business career

He founded Cheung Kong Industries in 1950, named after the Yangtze River, initially manufacturing plastic flowers. The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. A pivotal move was the 1979 acquisition of a controlling stake in the historic British *hong* Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC, marking a symbolic shift in Hong Kong's economic landscape. His empire, restructured as CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings in 2015, had vast interests in ports through Hutchison Port Holdings, retail via AS Watson Group, and utilities like Hongkong Electric. Major international investments included Orange S.A. in telecommunications, Husky Energy in Canada, and significant stakes in Facebook and Spotify.

Philanthropy

He established the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 1980, to which he has donated over one-third of his wealth, focusing on education and medical research. Major donations include a HK$1 billion gift to the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty, renamed the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, and a US$40 million donation to the University of California, Berkeley for a biomedical and health sciences building. In mainland China, he funded the establishment of Shantou University and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. His "Love Ideas, Love HK" project also provided seed funding for social enterprises across Hong Kong.

Personal life

He married his cousin, Chong Yuet Ming, in 1963; she died in 1990. They had two sons: Victor Li, who succeeded him as chairman of CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Holdings, and Richard Li, the founder of Pacific Century Group and PCCW. Known for his modest personal habits, he was famously photographed wearing a simple Seiko watch and was an avid reader of classical Chinese texts. He holds Canadian citizenship and has significant property and business investments in Vancouver and other global cities.

Honours and recognition

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 and is a Grand Bauhinia Medal recipient, the highest award in the Hong Kong honours system. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Cambridge and an honorary Doctor of Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong. He was consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people by Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and was named Asia's most powerful person by *Forbes Asia* in 2005. The Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong also bears his name.

Category:Hong Kong businesspeople Category:Hong Kong philanthropists Category:1928 births