9 Hong Kong billionaires who made their money in real estate
Li Ka-shing, Lee Shau-kee and Lui Che-woo are among the tycoons who made their wealth from property development
When anyone thinks of Hong Kong, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the sky-high property prices.
Many tycoons in the city have built their fortune in real estate. Let’s take a look at the nine richest.
Lee Shau-kee
Founder and largest shareholder of property developer Henderson Land Development
Age: 90
Estimated net worth: US$19.7 billion
Conglomerate Henderson Land has interests in residential properties, hotels and department stores. Last year, it reported revenues of US$3 billion.
But Henderson Land isn’t the first successful business Lee established. In 1963, when he was 35 years old, he founded Sun Hung Kai Properties, now a property developer giant in Hong Kong, with seven partners including Kwok Tak Seng, who is the father to three other prominent billionaires in the city today (Raymond Kwok, Thomas Kwok and Walter Kwok in this list). Lee left Sun Hung Kai in 1973 and founded Henderson Land Development in 1976.
Lee grew up in a poor family and moved to Hong Kong when the communists took power in China. Today, he is a generous philanthropist who donates much of his fortune to the education sector.