Li Ka-shing the richest man in Asia was born in 1928, Chaozhou in China’s Guangdong Province to a school-principal father.
In 1940 With the Japanese invading, his father packs up the family and flees to Hong Kong. Dad died from tuberculosis two years later; at 12 Li starts working in a plastic-watch-strap company to support his family. “The great tug of war and the taste of poverty—they are hardly memories one can forget,” Li says.
In 1950, Li 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.
In 1972 – Li lists his holding company, Cheung Kong Ltd., in Hong Kong. Investors can’t get enough. Really. The IPO is oversubscribed more than 65-fold.
In 1979 – Li becomes the first ethnic Chinese to buy a controlling stake in one of the old British trading houses, the then struggling Hutchison Whampoa.
In 1986 – Acquires a controlling stake in Canada’s Husky Energy. That investment, plus his other assets, earn him a spot on Forbes’ first ranking of the world’s billionaires a year later. “My life has been filled with challenges. But I must say, fortune has indeed bestowed many opportunities.”
In 1999, a Jackpot, Hutchison does its largest deal ever: Selling its stake in telecom Orange Plc. to German Mannesmann for nearly $15 billion.
In 2006, He Pledges to donate one-third of his wealth to the Li Ka Shing Foundation to support education and health care around the world. “We all identifying the right capital investment. Social capital is the key.”
In 2007, he goes with his gut and invests in Facebook within five minutes of hearing the pitch for the fledgling business. The social network scores a big valuation ($15 billion) despite scant revenue. “A person investing in technology will feel younger.”
From 2010 – 2014, Li trims some Chinese and Hong Kong investments and looks to Europe instead. In all, his companies spend more than $28 billion buying assets on that 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.”
In 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.