February 4, 2010
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<Forbes’ 40 Richest Men in Hong Kong>
Full list here. Basically, you can expect the list, especially towards the highest rankings (in terms of net worth), is only a shuffling amongst the same group of people. This is not surprising and has little to do with income inequality or equivalent.
These are very conservative people. In terms of wealth accumulation or destruction, they are likely to outperform the market.
Of course, some do have their wealth from inheritance or from speculation. For example, Richard Li from PCCW. But ranking of these people could move up and downs very rapidly. Richard Li ranked very high a couple of years ago; only ranked 26 in 2009.
Other quick observations :
(1) Villain of the city : Amongst the top 10 richest men, 7 are property developers (exception : CLP’s Kadoorie, Li & Fung’s Brothers). Indeed, most are property-related.(2) Most interesting part of this list : The youngest richest man amongst them is Richard Li (again). He is 43, but already the youngest. In today’s terminology (which I hate and refrain from even mentioning), he is “Post-60s”. Similar to the earlier Forbes’ the World’s Most Powerful People
In case you are not aware, Li Ka Shing and some of his counterparts are already over 80s. Yes, Li is already 81.
(3) Only 1 female. No. 34, Pong Hong Siu Chu (龐熊少珠)(4) All married or once married. Doubtful case : Richard Li (he appears so many times)
(5) Impact of stock market : Most have at least 1 list company. If Nina Wang were still here, she would have been the one that is on the list but with no list company.
