‘Superman’ of Hong Kong business anoints successor
LI KA-SHING, Hong Kong’s richest man, has given some clarity on who will succeed him.
Speaking in Hong Kong on Friday, he said he would offer financial support to allow his younger son, Richard Li, to build businesses outside of the family’s Cheung Kong Group of companies.
His elder son, Victor Li, would run Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa in the future, Li Ka-shing said.
But he insisted he had no immediate plans to retire.
Richard Li was in talks with “several sizeable enterprises” for possible acquisitions, the 83-year-old billionaire said, without identifying the targets. He had set aside funding for Richard Li that was “multiple times” the son’s current assets. Li Kashing, with a net worth of $21,7bn, has been nicknamed “Superman” by local media after expanding Cheung Kong Group in industries including property, ports and energy in about 50 countries.
Richard Li acquired a fund management firm from American International Group in 2010 and has pursued an independent business career since quitting as a director at Hutchison in 2000. The elder Mr Li is chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison.
Richard Li’s PCCW, Hong Kong’s biggest phone company, rose in Friday afternoon trading on the city’s stock exchange after his father’s comments, closing up 2,2% at HK$2,82 (36 US cents).
“I will fully support him,” Li Kashing said after shareholders’ meetings of Cheung Kong and Hutchison. Bloomberg