90岁李嘉诚宣告退休 香港'超人'时代结束
Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest man, has announced his retirement, formally passing the reins of his $100bn retail, infrastructure and property empire to his elder son Victor Li after a decades-long apprenticeship. The 89-year-old tycoon built his Cheung Kong group from humble beginnings making plastic flowers in the 1950s to a global conglomerate that owns 52 ports around the world, numerous energy and utility companies, the 3 mobile phone network and retail chains including Superdrug and Watsons. Known in Hong Kong as "Superman" for his dealmaking prowess, Mr Li said he would retire as chairman of CK Hutchison, his main holding company, and CK Asset, his property group. He named 53-year-old Victor Li as his replacement. A test of a succession plan that has been decades in the making, Mr Li's resignation is also a symbolic turning point for Hong Kong, where the economy has long been dominated by a coterie of tycoons. "No one can replace Li Ka-shing," said Joseph Fan, a professor of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "It remains to be observed how his retirement will affect the productivity and value of the Li empire." Business associates paid tribute to Mr Li, who has a personal fortune of $34bn, according to Bloomberg, making him Hong Kong's richest man but placing him well behind Chinese internet tycoons Jack Ma of Alibaba and Pony Ma of Tencent. |