Sir Ka-shing Li is a Hong Kong business magnate and philanthropist who is the richest person of Asian descent in the world. He founded Cheung Kong Industries in 1950 which he grew into a massive conglomerate, Cheung Kong Holdings, with interests in real estate, infrastructure, retail, and more. Through his flagship company Hutchison Whampoa, Li controls significant global port infrastructure and retail operations across Asia and Europe. Even in his 90s, Li maintains an active lifestyle and continues to lead his business empire which makes up a large portion of the Hong Kong economy.

1. ASSIGNMENT 1
SUBMITTED TO: KAREN HOWELLS
SUBMITTED BY: ONUR CAN DURSUN

2. Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM,KBE,JP (born 13 June 19 Sir Ka-shing
Li, GBM,KBF,JP (born 13 June 1928 in Chaozhon,China) is a Hong Kong
business magnate and philanthropist. He is the richest person of Asian
descent in the world and the ninth richest person in the world with an
estimated wealth of US $25.5 billion as of 2012. Presently, he is the chairman
of Hutchison Whampoa Limitted (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings;
through them, he is the world's largest operator of container terminals and
the world's largest health and beauty retailer
Considered one of the most powerful figures in Asia, Li was named "Asia's
Most Powerful Man, Li Ka-Ching" by Asiaweek in 2001. His companies
make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

3. Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever "Malcolm
S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award" on 5 September 2006, in Singapore In spite of his
wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear
simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch, which is at odds with the
house he owns in one of Hong Kong's most expensive precincts, Deep Water Bay in Hong
Kong Island. Li is also regarded as one of Asia's most generous philanthropists, donating
over US $1.41 billion to date to charity and other various philanthropic causes.
Li is often referred to as «Superman" in Hong Kong because of his business prowess. Li
Ka-shing was born in Chaozhon in Guangdong province, China, in 1928
of Tenchew descents.
Li's father died in Hong Kong. Shouldering the responsibility of looking after the family's
livelihood, Li was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics
trading company where he labored 16 hours a day. By 1950 he was able to start his own
company, Cheung Kong Industries.

4. A Harvard Business School article summarises Li's career in the following way:
From his humble beginnings in China as a teacher’s son, a refugee, and later as a salesman,
Li provides a lesson in integrity and adaptability. Through hard work, and a reputation for
remaining true to his internal moral compass, he was able to build a business empire that
includes: banking, construction, real estate, plastics, cellular phones, satellite television,
cement production, retail outlets (pharmacies and supermarkets), hotels, domestic
transportation (sky train), airports, electric power, steel production, ports, and shipping.
Li's businesses cover almost every facet of life in Hong Kong, from electricity to
telecommunications, from real estate to retail, from shipping to the Internet. The Cheung
Kong Group's market capitalisation is HK $647 billion (US $82.9 billion) as of December
2009. (This includes some double counting of the Group’s controlling stake in 12 listed
companies around the world.) The group operates in 55 countries and employs over
260,000 staff worldwide.

5. In 1950, after learning how to operate a plant, Li founded a plastics
manufacturing company in Hong Kong with funds borrowed from family and
friends and contacts he cultivated as a salesman. Li avidly read trade publications
and business news before deciding to supply the world with high quality plastic
flowers at low prices. Li learned the technique of mixing colour with plastics that
resemble real flowers. After retooling his shop and hiring the best technicians he
could find, he prepared for weeks for the plant visit of a large foreign buyer.
Impressed with the quality of Li's plant, the buyer placed a large order. A few
years later, Li grew to be the largest supplier of plastic flowers in Asia and made
a fortune selling them.

6. In 1958, unable to renew the lease for his company, Li was forced to purchase
and develop a site by himself. An opportunity to acquire land arrived after
the 1967 riols were in full swing when many people fled Hong Kong. As a result,
property prices plummeted. Li, believing the political crisis would be temporary,
and property prices would eventually rise, bought parcels of land at low prices.
By 1971, Li officially named his real estate development company Cheune
KONG , named after Cheung Kong, the longest river in China. Cheung Kong
Holdings was publicly listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. During
board meetings, Li stated on a number of occasions his goal of surpassing the
Jardines-owned Hongkong Land as a leading developer.

7. The successful bid by Cheung Kong for development sites above the Central
and Admiralty MTR stations in 1977 was the key to challenging Hongkong Land
as the premier property developer in Hong Kong. Despite its size, Jardines
decided in the 1980s to protect itself from hostile takeover by Li or other outside
investors. The company implemented a cross-shareholding structure that was
designed to place control in the hands of Britain's Keswick family despite their
less than 10% holdings in the group. In 1984, the company also moved its legal
domicile from Hong Kong to another British overseas territory - Bernmuda, in
anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to Communist China in
1997

8. In 1979, Li closed a unique transaction and acquired his current flagship
company Hutchson Whampoa Limited from HSBC. The purchase created a
massive conglomerate with business interests in multiple industries. The most
notable branch of his business is the investment in container port facilities around
the world, including in Hong Kong, Canada. China, the United
Kingdom, Rotterdam, Panama, Bahamas and many developing countries. In total,
Li's businesses control 13% of all container port capacity in the world

9. A subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, the A.S. Watson Group is a leading retail
operator with over 7,800 stores. Its portfolio encompasses popular retail brands
in Europe such as Superdrug (UK), Marionnaud (France), Kruidvat (Benelux
countries), and in Asia including health & beauty specialist Watson’s Your
Personal Store, PARKnSHOP supermarkets, Great Food Hall, TASTE food
galleria, gourmet boutique style fine food hall, Fortress electrical appliance
stores, Watson’s Wine Cellars and Nuance-Watson airport duty free shops. ASW
is also a major producer and distributor of water products and beverages in the
region with Watsons Water the top selling brand in Hong Kong

10. His two sons, Victor Li and Richard Li, are also prominent
figures in the Hong Kong business scene. Victor Li works directly
with his father as managing director and deputy chairman
of Cheung Kong, while Richard Li is the head of PCCW, the largest
telecom company in Hong Kong. They are both Canadian citizens.
Li is famously plainly dressed for a Hong Kong tycoon. In the
1990s he wore a $50 timepiece from Citizen Watch Co. and plain
ties. He now wears a Seiko.
Even at his age, Li remains physically fit, and says that no matter
what time he sleeps at night, he gets up before 6 am each morning
to play golf for about an hour and a half. His golfing partner is
Hong Kong movie mogul Raymond Chow. Li says that during that
time, '...the ninety minutes that I have are mine.' His preferable
amount of time for sleep is eight hours. It is also said that he walks
on the treadmill for fifteen minutes a day at noon.

11. www.forbes.com/profile/ka-shing-li/
www.lksf.org/
www.stmichaelshospital.com/knowledgeins