Zoom’s 400 per cent surge propels ‘Superman’ Li Ka-shing back to the top of Hong Kong’s rich list
- Li Ka-shing’s net worth jumped 20 per cent to US$35.4 billion, making him Hong Kong’s richest person, according Forbes’s latest ranking
- The city’s wealthiest grew their fortunes by 7.5 per cent to US$331 billion, but more than half of them lost money because of the pandemic
Li has benefited from his stake in the US-listed videoconference provider Zoom, whose shares surged nearly 400 per cent last year, shielding him from the 27 per cent drop in the share price of CK Asset Holdings, the property arm of his business empire.
Henderson Land’s Lee, who stepped down as chairman of the property developer in May 2019 and handed over responsibilities to his two sons Peter Lee Ka-kit and Martin Lee Ka-shing, saw his wealth remain relatively unchanged at US$30.5 billion. The only other time Lee topped the Forbes list was in 1998.
Although the city’s economy contracted by 6.1 per cent last year, the biggest on record, the city’s wealthiest grew their fortunes by 7.5 per cent to US$331 billion. However, more than half on the 2021 Forbes Hong Kong Rich List saw a pandemic-induced drop in their net worth.
While the city’s real estate sector, the world’s most expensive, has long minted the fortunes of property tycoons, the coronavirus pandemic hit the sector badly, dealing a blow to their fortunes.
