Rags-to-riches tales in Hong Kong
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 4, 2012
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Editor's note: Despite Hong Kong's well-deserved reputation for business ruthlessness, many people, though of a humble origin, have carved their names as the richest people in China, even the world, by dint of their business acumen and hard work. They overcame some of the toughest odds on their way to building personal wealth. We are highlighting six inspiring rags-to-riches stories, including that of Li Ka-Shing. |
Li Ka-Shing
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Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing.[Photo/Xinhua] |
A consortium led by Li Ka-Shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure bought Electricité de France's British power grid sector for US$nine billion. This is the largest international Mergers and Acquisitions transaction that Cheung Kong has done. Li is the main-holder of Cheung Kong, Hutchison Whampoa and Husky Energy, Petro-Canada. He is also a leading port operator in the world, handling 14 percent of the global container throughput. As the most generous person in Asia, Li has donated $ 1.56 billion to the society, which mainly went to the fields of education and medical care.
In August, 1945, Li started to work in a watch shop, gaining watch assembling and repairing techniques. Unwilling to be a parasite, Li went to a hardware factory as a salesman in 1947. Diligent and smart, Li became the general manager of a plastics manufacturing company in 1948, when he was less than 20 years old. In 1950, Li started his own plastics factory with US$ 7,000 and named it Cheung Kong. In 1958, he invested and constructed a 12-storey building, which marked Li's first foray into the real estate industry. His unique vision and development strategy soon made Cheung Kong a real estate development and investment magnate in Hong Kong.
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