Is Victor Li the next Superman, and can he outdo his father Li Ka-shing as he leads CK Asset into a new era?
- Victor Li, who took over from his father Li Ka-shing last May, has been busy announcing one property project after another
- Projects being undertaken by Victor Li include the redevelopment of Hutchison House in Central and Harbour Plaza Resort City in Tin Shui Wai
After 35 years in the shadow of his illustrious father Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man and fondly called “Superman” for his extraordinary entrepreneurial achievement, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi is finally coming into his own.
Victor, who took over as chairman of CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison from his father last May, is turning the focus of Hong Kong’s second largest developer by market capitalisation back to the city’s property market after the elder Li indicated in 2016 that the group would spread its net globally because of the challenges it faced in identifying investments with reasonable returns in the local property market.
“The group will also pursue other global investments to extend our reach to new business areas,” Li said during the interim results announcement in 2016.
To reflect its global expansion in non-property interests, in August 2017 the group even changed its name to CK Asset Holdings from Cheung Kong Property Holdings.
It has since invested HK$64 billion (US$8.1 billion) in aircraft leasing, infrastructure and utility assets in Europe, Australia, Canada and the UK, while steadily selling down assets in the city.
