Drea Knufken
Li Ka-Shing’s name sounds is almost a homonym for “cha-ching,” the sounds a cash register makes when you open it. Perhaps that’s no coincidence.
The Hong Kong billionaire, Forbes’ 14th wealthiest man in the world, chairs Cheung Kong Holdings, which itself owns conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited—a conglomerate within a conglomerate. That puts Li in charge of one of Hong Kong’s biggest real estate developers, a major global infrastructure developer, Hong Kong’s first electricity company, a major biotech company, one of China’s main media companies, “the world’s biggest operator of container terminals, world’s largest health and beauty retailer by number of outlets” (that’s A.S. Watson company; largest claim by Forbes), a telecom company that owns broadband and 3G networks in Asia, a Canadian oil company, and more.
Not bad for someone who dropped out of school at 15 to support his family (Forbes). “Superman” is also a generous philanthropist—he has donated $1.4 billion of his fortune.
