CK Hutchison’s Victor Li and Canning Fok step aside as managing directors, retain key leadership positions
- Li and Fok will stay on as co-executive directors, while Fok will serve as deputy chairman and chairman of its telecoms arm
- The group’s finance director and deputy managing director will take over for the executives after the conglomerate saw profit decline 9 per cent in 2023
The new arrangement is a prelude to Fok’s withdrawal from the front line, and may also mean that there could be some business reshuffling among the entire Cheung Kong Group, according to analysts.
Li will stay on as chairman and co-executive director with Fok, who has now also been appointed deputy chairman. The arrangement will allow Fok, 72, “to spend more time with his family”, Li said.
Fok decided to retire as co-managing director after decades in at the company, with 30 years as group managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, now known as CK Hutchison, and over 44 years with the Cheung Kong Group, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange on Friday night.
Fok will also be appointed executive chairman of CK Hutchison Group Telecom to lead the conglomerate’s operations in the telecommunications sector.
The incoming co-managing directors are 72-year-old Frank Sixt, who is currently the group’s finance director, and Dominic Lai Kai-ming, who is currently deputy managing director. Lai, 70, is also group managing director at AS Watson Group, CK Hutchison’s retailing.
