The investment firm founded by Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, just bought the biggest pub and brewery chain group in the UK — here's his incredible rags-to-riches life story (2024)

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Li Ka-shing was saddled with financial responsibility from a young age. After his family fled to Hong Kong from southern China during WWII, his father died of tuberculosis. He had to leave school before the age of 16 to work in a plastics factory.

Source: Business Insider

For almost four years during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he sent 90% of his pay to his mother. Li worked hard from a young age, often working 16 hours a day, seven days a week, a pace that he says he continues to keep up even at 89 years old.

Source: Forbes

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Li eventually became the factory's top salesman and was promoted to be the factory manager at 18.

Source: Forbes

Li showed promise as a leader and visionary when he opened his first factory in 1950, at the age of 22. The factory, Cheung Kong Industries, manufactured all kinds of plastic, but was particularly popular for its plastic flowers. He anticipated that plastics would become a booming industry, and he was right.

Source: Business Insider

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Li attributes the success of Cheung Kong, which he started with only about $50,000, to a willingness to learn the latest industry trends. “The correlation between knowledge and business as the key to success is closer than ever," he said.

Source: The Telegraph,Evan Carmichael

Though Li dropped out of school at a young age and never received a university degree, he has always been a voracious reader and attributes much of his success to his ability to learn independently. For instance, he completed Cheung Kong's accounting books in the company's first year himself with no accounting experience — he simply taught himself from textbooks.

Source: Forbes

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Though he has many holdings, the thriftiness that was necessary during Li’s childhood has carried over into his current career. His no-debt policy means that his companies operate using as little debt as possible, and Li himself purchases all of his real estate using capital, in order to maintain zero personal debt.

Source: Forbes

Along with knowledge and industry insight, Li considers loyalty and reputation to be keys to success. In a 2006 interview with Forbes, he said, “Anytime I say ‘yes’ to someone, it is a contract.”

Source: Forbes

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In 1956, he once turned down an offer that would have given him an extra 30% profit on a sale (and allowed him to expand his factory) because he had already made a verbal agreement with another buyer. He still carries this principle of loyalty today, even when it means losing money.

Source: Forbes

Like many famous investors, Li often bought when others sold. When riots inspired by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution broke out in Hong Kong in 1967, Li invested in the city's property as prices tanked.

Source: Bloomberg

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In 1969, Hasbro commissioned Li Ka-shing's Hong Kong plastics factory to make G.I. Joe dolls for export to the United States.

Source: Forbes

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Though he is known mainly as a property developer, Li’s companies control 70% of port traffic and most electric utilities and telecommunications in Hong Kong. He also owns a majority stake in Husky Energy, a Canadian company. Li distributes his wealth and power across different industries and geographic areas, showing that he is unafraid to learn and experiment in new arenas.

Source: Business Insider

Li enjoys spending his "mad money" on these investments rather than on material things. He consciously makes an effort to be perceived as materially modest. He wore a $50 Citizen electric wristwatch for years before moving to an equally cheap Seiko. In recent years, he upgraded to a $400 Citizen Eco Watch due to its battery life and durability.

Source: Business Insider

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Li suffered a personal tragedy when his wife, Chong Yuet-ming, died of an aneurysm at the age of 55 on January 1, 1990. Her grave was later vandalized by tomb raiders.

Source: Forbes

In 1996, his eldest son Victor was kidnapped by infamous Chinese mobster "Big Spender" Cheung Tze-keung. Li reportedly paid a $127.5 million ransom. Chinese authorities eventually caught and executed Cheung.

Source: Bloomberg

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One of Li's biggest successes came in 1999 when he sold mobile phone company Orange to German conglomerate Mannesmann AG for a $15 billion profit.

Li arranges his holdings strategically to ensure his security despite the state of the economy. He anticipates economic highs and lows. “I do not get overly optimistic when the market is good, nor overly pessimistic when the market is down,” he said.

Source: Forbes

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Li’s good financial habits have given him the freedom to treat investment in technology as a "high-stakes hobby," through Horizons Ventures Ltd. His longtime friend, Solina Chau, runs the tech fund.

Source: Forbes

But Li isn't entirely frugal. He owns a palatial residence in Hong Kong's Deep Water Bay — where even a four-bedroom family house can set you back £13 million (more than $16 million).

Source: South China Morning Post

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Li was one of the first big investors in Facebook and Spotify and also invested in a startup that aims to replace eggs with a plant substitute. Li only invests in technology that he sees as "disruptive" and will make his holdings more cutting-edge. This is consistent with his constant innovation in his businesses.

Source: Business Insider, Forbes

Perhaps one of the most important factors that has contributed to Li's success is the passion he feels for his work. In 2010, he told Forbes, "The most important enjoyment for me is to work hard and make more profit."

Source: Business Insider, Forbes

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In 2012, Li announced that he would hand off Cheung Kong to his eldest son Victor Li, while providing cash to help his second son Richard develop his own businesses. He did not announce when he would retire at the time.

Source: Reuters

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Li's company. It was embroiled in a dock strike in 2013 and has been vilified by unions. In this picture, the characters on this protester's mask mean "monster" or "evil."

Source: Reuters

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But in 2018, Li announced that he would be retiring to focus on his charitable foundation, which he has called his "third son." He has said that he hopes that as Asia becomes more wealthy, others will follow his lead in philanthropy. He has pledged to give away one-third of his $27.8 billion fortune.

Source: Business Insider, Forbes

In June 2019, The Li Ka Shing Foundation announced that it will cover the tuition of Shantou University's incoming class for up to five years as a part of an ongoing initiative to make higher education more accessible in China.

Source: The Li Ka Shing Foundation

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As of mid-August, protests have disrupted life in Hong Kong for 10 weeks, closing streets, disrupting flights at its airport, and causing volatility in the stock market. Li alone lost $3 billion between July and August.

Source: Business Insider

On August 15, Li took out advertisem*nts in local Hong Kong newspapers calling for an end to the protests that read "stop anger and violence in the name of love."

Source: Business Insider

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The losses have not stopped the Li family from making major acquisitions, however. CK Asset Holdings, now run by his son Victor, will British pub chain Greene King for £4.6 billion ($5.6 billion) on August 19. Greene King owns 2,700 pubs and restaurants, and hotels.

Source: Reuters, The Guardian