Page 19 - Forbes India (December 2015)

29%

Increase in the number of Indian
LeaderBoard 2014-15—the highest jump in six
students in US universities in
decades, according to the
annual Open Doors survey
Path tO SUcceSS 1940
with the Japanese invading, his
Live Long and Prosper father packs up the family and flees
to hong kong. Dad dies from tuber-
culosis two years later; at 12 li starts
working in a plastic-watch-strap
company to support his family. “the
At 87 Li Ka-shing is the richest man in Asia, with great tug of war and the taste of
a net worth of nearly $35 billion, and one of the poverty—they are hardly memories
one can forget,” li says.
most powerful people in the world, but he began
life as a penniless war refugee. -lUISa krOll

1928
Born in chaozhou in china’s guangdong Province
to a school-principal father. 1950
he quits and starts his own business, making plastic toys,
later switching to plastic flowers. more than a decade later,
riots in hong kong depress property values, giving him the
opportunity to buy up commercial real estate on the cheap.

1972
li lists his holding company,
cheung kong ltd., in hong kong.
Investors can’t get enough. really.
1979 the IPO is oversubscribed more
li becomes the first ethnic than 65-fold.
chinese to buy a
controlling stake in one
of the old British trading
houses, the then struggling 1986
hutchison whampoa. acquires a control-
ling stake in canada’s 1999 2006
husky energy. that Jackpot! Pledges to donate one-third
investment, plus his hutchison does of his wealth to the li ka
other assets, earn its largest deal Shing Foundation to support
him a spot on Forbes’ ever: Selling its education and health care
first ranking of the stake in telecom around the world. “we all
world’s billionaires a Orange Plc. know the importance of
year later. “my life has to german identifying the right capital
been filled with challenges. But I must say, fortune mannesmann investment. Social capital
has indeed bestowed many opportunities.” for nearly is the key.”
$15 billion.

2007 2010 to 2014
goes with his gut and invests in Facebook within five minutes li trims some chinese and hong kong investments
of hearing the pitch for the fledgling business. the social net- and looks to europe instead. In all, his companies amanDa eDwarDS / getty ImageS amerIcan newSPaPerS / gaDO / getty ImageS; Bettmann / cOrBIS; chrIS trOtman / getty ImageS
work scores a big valuation ($15 billion) despite scant revenue. spend more than $28 billion buying assets on that
“a person investing in technology will feel younger.” continent, including a water company, utility firms
and two mobile phone operators. “Businesspeople
in general shouldn’t have an overly narrow view
of their industry.”

2015
Perceiving that more of his attention is directed
overseas, the government-controlled media
questions his loyalty to greater china. li issues
a three-page response denying the allegations.

DECEMBER 11, 2015 FORBES INDIA | 19