Source: Huashang Taolue

Hong Kong property giant Henderson Land Development announced that the founder Li Ka-shing passed away today in the evening (March 17) surrounded by family, at the age of 97.

Li Ka-shing is the highest-ranked Chinese entrepreneur in the Global Wealth Ranking to date. In the 1995, 1996, and 1997 Forbes Billionaires List, he was the richest Chinese and the richest person in Asia for three consecutive years, ranking fourth in the world. Starting from the age of seven when he was introduced to business, he has been in business for a full 90 years.

Li Ka-shing was born in 1928 in a wealthy family in Shunde, Guangdong, and because he is the fourth child, he is referred to as "Fourth Uncle" by Hong Kong people.

To operate a business, one must understand the key points and master the core of that business, a principle that Li Ka-shing realized and practiced when he was only about ten years old. At that time—

At the age of seven or eight, he was arranged by his father to learn the business in the family's gold shop, where he discovered that the hired alchemist often "stole gold". He then suggested to his father to take action. However, instead of punishing that master, his father asked him to stop discussing the topic.

The reason was: This master grasped the core technology of alchemy, and without him, the alchemical business of the gold shop could not be successful.

Li Ka-shing did not directly refute his father, but took the initiative to take action.

He befriended the alchemist master, secretly learning his skills and quickly mastered the entire set of abilities.

When the alchemist master reached out once again, Li Ka-shing caught him in the act and confidently insisted on taking punitive measures. The other party indeed threatened him by saying that he would quit, to which he generously replied:

That's even better; anyway, I already know everything you do.

In 1948, at the age of 20, Li Ka-shing went to Hong Kong alone with 1,000 dollars amidst the turmoil of war. Starting with gold trading, he gradually expanded his business to foreign currency exchange and trade, and after accumulating his first pot of gold, he fully invested in real estate until now.

"A place to live is everyone's desire, having a roof over one's head is the wish of every family." Currency cannot be relied upon; real estate retains value. This is Li Ka-shing's original intention for developing real estate. He said that his early exposure to business deeply made him realize that currency could turn into worthless paper or significantly depreciate overnight due to changes in political and economic conditions, thus holding tangible assets is the best way to preserve value.

Li Ka-shing is the only one among the four major real estate tycoons in Hong Kong who has founded two top-tier real estate enterprises. One is Sun Hung Kai Properties, which he co-founded and later handed over to the Koo family to manage, and the other is HENDERSON INV, established after he left Sun Hung Kai. Today, Hong Kong's most prominent landmarks — the International Finance Centre and the Global Financial Centre — are the results of cooperation between these two companies.

Visionary insight, thorough planning, accurate calculations, and precise execution are the secrets to Li Ka-shing's success in real estate.

In April 1973, the Hong Kong stock market suddenly plunged, and the property market followed suit. However, Li Ka-shing believed it was the golden period for acquiring land, so he established HENDERSON INV in July of that year and went public by reverse takeover of YongTai, rapidly accelerating property development.

Amid the fears of many bearish about the market, he wrote in the company's publication: Hong Kong is a global trade hub and an international financial center, a key industrial and commercial city, a shopping paradise for tourists, with a multitude of businesses and a dense population. Coupled with the post-war population explosion, the available land for development in urban areas is increasingly scarce, making the property industry undoubtedly brilliant, and building prices should be viewed bullishly in the long term.

With this foresight and confidence, he seized many great opportunities during the downturn.

One of the representative cases is that in 1976, he, along with friends Cheng Yu-tung, Li Ka-shing, and Kwok Tak-seng, invested HKD 20.6 million to acquire the Sha Tin City project. Within less than ten years, the return on investment for this project had exceeded 1,000 times. The four real estate companies involved in this cooperation (Cheung Kong Holdings, Sun Hung Kai Properties, HENDERSON INV, and Shanghai New World) later rose together to become the four kings of Hong Kong's real estate industry, and this was also the first and last time the four kings worked on a single project.

What impressed me even more was that in 2005, Cheng Yu-tung lamented during my exclusive interview with him: At that time, if any company had done this project independently, they would have almost become the richest person in Hong Kong.

Li Ka-shing's insights and precise calculations allowed HENDERSON INV to consistently launch products tailored to local needs, and it became renowned in the market for its good management, low-cost control, and strategies of thin profits and high sales.

Huo Yingdong invented the layered sales and installment payment model for property development, but this approach was perfected by Li Ka-shing, who quickly pushed the previous wave to the shore.

He further subdivided the tiers and installments into a "four dispersals": dispersing, segmenting, timing, and layering, and at one point, he even adopted the principle that smaller unit types should be preferred in residential design. He launched a large number of housing projects loved by ordinary citizens, fulfilling the dreams of many financially limited middle and low-income families, thereby becoming a giant in the real estate market.

In Hong Kong, the most difficult part of real estate is acquiring land.

Li Ka-shing's method of acquiring land is also unique. He rarely participates in government land auctions, yet he always finds a way to buy land, and at a reasonable price for quality land. This is mainly due to his two key strategies.

The first is to buy "Type B land exchange rights."

In the past, the Hong Kong government requisitioned agricultural land in the New Territories for development purposes, initially using land exchange rights to gradually acquire land from farmers, and only swapped it when the government had concentrated plots of land for housing.

This left many farmers who hoped to cash out immediately with no way to act before the government issued the land exchange directive while holding onto the exchange rights.

Li Ka-shing purchased the exchange rights they held with cash, making it popular and affordable.

Once the government announced development plans, the numerous rights he acquired turned into developable land.

The second method of acquiring land is a massive system project – the renovation of old buildings. Purchasing old buildings in prime locations and building new ones on the old sites.

This approach has multiple benefits: developers profit, the cityscape is renewed, old owners cash out, and the government increases tax revenue. However, it is very challenging, as acquiring a single small property (one household) cannot support the development plan of a real estate project. Therefore, HENDERSON INV has developed a unique skill—acquiring properties: buying from multiple owners in a targeted area to piece together land.

In order to procure old buildings, Li Ka-shing often lays extensive traps, looking not only within Hong Kong but also in the places where overseas Chinese who own properties in Hong Kong reside. Acquiring properties is extremely arduous and complex; if one owner does not sell, everything will be lost. However, HENDERSON INV has a particular fondness for this method and has conducted countless acquisitions over the decades, leading to a famous saying:

"Every inch of land must be contested."

After the mainland's reform and opening up, Li Ka-shing promptly invested heavily and sent his eldest son, Li Ka-jie, to command operations for an extended period. Landmark projects of HENDERSON INV include HENDERSON CENTER beside Beijing Railway Station, the Global Financial Center in Chaoyang CBD, Shanghai HENGHUI International Tower, and the International Financial Center in Shenyang.

In the mid-1970s, Li Ka-shing began promoting diversified operations. He successively acquired controlling interests in China Gas, Hong Kong Star Ferry, and MIRAMAR HOTEL Group. At the same time, he expanded his business into international markets such as Singapore and Canada, yielding substantial returns. However, he is more famously known for his ventures in trading bonds and stocks.

In the early 1990s, Li Ka-shing made a fortune trading Japanese bonds, doubling his profits.

During the period when the mainland vigorously promoted the large-scale reform of state-owned enterprises for listing in Hong Kong, he invested heavily in numerous state-owned enterprises such as China Netcom, China Life Insurance, PICC P&C, CHINA POWER, CNPC, China COSCO Shipping, Ping An Insurance, Bank Of Communications, COSCO Holdings, Shenhua Energy, China Construction Bank Corporation, and Bank Of China, garnering returns exceeding 100 billion and earning the nickname "God of Stocks."

However, after 2008, he began to refuse this title. The reason is that the financial tsunami significantly reduced his assets, and he modestly responded to the performance of purchasing state-owned enterprises' stocks at that time: "It almost forced you to make money; you subscribed for a year and couldn't sell for half a year. In that year or two, each share increased several times. Many shares rose tenfold after state-owned enterprises listed in Hong Kong."

When asked about the secret to investing, Li Ka-shing's answer was: listen more, ask more, and think more.

He said he often meets with people in the global financial industry to understand how they invest and to hear their opinions.

If you are smart and have insight, simply asking will help you know more. After collecting opinions from ten or twenty people, use your own judgment to make independent decisions, and perhaps you will understand investing better than they do.

Li Ka-shing believes that cultivating one's abilities is essential for success, along with good preparation and unique insights, allowing one to stay ahead of others. "Act swiftly first and gradually later, seize the opportunity, and then devise a good strategy," is one of his summaries of his working style.

He also outlined four key rules for success: first, work diligently and be hardworking; second, do not marry early during uncertain economic times; third, once you have your first pot of gold, use it to earn more money; fourth, men fear entering the wrong industry, and women fear marrying the wrong person.

Understanding frugality is Li Ka-shing's advice to entrepreneurs. He said, "A little wealth from frugality is a wise saying because the first capital is the most important; with it as the cornerstone, success becomes easier." After acquiring the first pot of money, one should continue to use money to make money.

He also has a famous saying: "Small businesses fear expenses but not debt, while large businesses fear debt but not expenses."

This means that in small businesses, the most important thing is hard work and arduous struggle, and time and money should not be wasted on dining and entertaining.

To do big business, socializing and entertaining do not matter much; the most important thing is precise calculations. Because the business is large, even a bit more or less in interest is very important. Therefore, he also has a well-known nickname — "Abacus": he knows everything about the businesses under the group, as well as the territories, areas, prices, and what side businesses can be developed.

Even after achieving success, Li Zhaoji has always maintained a simple style, focusing his energy on work and having few demands on life. For instance, at the company, he eats takeout in the office for lunch.

Once, his secretary bought him a certain dish, and seeing him happily finish it all, she thought he had a special liking for it, so she continued to buy it for him. It wasn’t until a newcomer introduced a new dish that he couldn’t help but say, “Haha, there’s a new dish.”

Everyone then understood that the boss did not particularly like that dish, but rather did not care about what he ate.

Regarding clothing, Li Zhaoji did not have much preference; as a billionaire, he would just grab any piece of clothing to wear out. It wasn’t until an old friend reminded him, “Fourth Brother, don’t blame me for being blunt, but your attire is somewhat lacking.” After being told that this would affect the group’s image, he instructed his secretary, “I want to order a batch of new suits.”

His office and residence, as well as his daily necessities, are all kept simple. He said he does not like to be bound, which is why he does not wear glasses, rings, or necklaces. When that friend who reminded him to buy some nice suits visited his home, he even took out the razor the friend gave him over ten years ago and said with a smile, “This is what you gave me.”

But there is one area where Li Zhaoji is quite willing to spend money: charity. After the Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake, he donated nearly 0.6 billion yuan in a month’s time and personally went to the disaster area to participate in relief efforts.

Among all the charitable causes, Li Zhaoji is most passionate about education. From Hope Primary Schools to Peking University, Tsinghua University, Hong Kong University, and many other universities, as well as re-education schools for migrant workers, he and his family have made substantial donations.

He said, "I am a businessman. Doing charity also seeks returns and efficiency. Education cultivates talent; one cultivates ten, successful individuals give back to society, and those ten then cultivate one hundred, infinitely and endlessly, maximizing returns and efficiency, therefore it is my favorite."

In addition to school-age education, Li Zhaoji has also extended education to rural areas.

In 2005, he donated 0.33 billion yuan under the name "Li Zhaoji Fund,” combined with the government's support of 0.3 billion yuan, to launch a large-scale farmer training project in the mainland — the "Warm Project for One Million Farmers Training" plan, and sent his eldest son, Li Jiake, to personally supervise the project, training 10 million surplus rural laborers and 0.01 million village doctors across 1,000 counties in the mainland.

Li Zhaoji has three daughters and two sons. His eldest son, Li Jiake, mainly handles the family's mainland business. He is low-key and quiet, a devout Buddhist and practitioner of the tea ceremony, and has never married while having three sons through surrogacy. His second son, Li Jiacheng, has always followed Li Zhaoji to learn and married Hong Kong artist Xu Ziqi, taking over as chairman and managing director of HENDERSON INV under the group in June 2015.

The greatest misfortune in Li Zhaoji's life was undoubtedly his failed marriage, which occurred during a critical period of his entrepreneurial journey when he divorced his wife and has remained single ever since.

The reason was that his wife had a strong desire for control, was keenly involved in company affairs, and was very assertive, making decisions impulsively, which created a tense atmosphere within the company. Li Zhaoji tried to persuade her to step back, but she insisted on her way, ultimately leading to a strained marital relationship and emotional distance.

In desperation, Li Zhaoji democratically communicated the issues in his marriage to his children. After a family meeting and intervention from several relatives and friends, when his wife still could not change her mind, Li Zhaoji parted ways with her.

The failure of his marriage dealt Li Zhaoji a heavy blow and left him disillusioned with relationships.

As a super-rich individual, Li Ka-shing has publicly stated multiple times that being a billionaire is not easy and not worth envying. He mentioned that being a tycoon comes with constraints, responsibilities, and burdens, leading to a lack of freedom, much like living in a fishbowl.

In his view, the happiest people are those with tens of millions who do what they excel at while also enjoying a warm and happy family life. In essence, they have enough money to spend, but do not bear too many responsibilities or worries.

Even so, he still hopes that his descendants will be able to continue being tycoons for generations to come.

"Of course I hope he becomes a tycoon! His grandfather gave him that; he is already a wealthy person. If he becomes even more outstanding, rising above expectations, that would be even better. Become a tycoon, a particularly large tycoon, a super tycoon, and reach even higher levels of wealth!"

Early on, Li Ka-shing revealed an unrealistic idea that if possible, he would be willing to exchange 99% of his wealth, which exceeds one hundred billion yuan, for thirty years of youth.

He stated that leaving 1 billion is already enough to enjoy everything; if he could exchange over 100 billion for 30 years of youth, it would be worth it.

Unfortunately, time cannot be bought with money, even with 100 billion.

Editor/rice