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The View | New generation of Hong Kong property tycoons faces greater expectations
- Victor Li, Adam Kwok and Adrian Cheng are among the inheritors of Hong Kong’s biggest property conglomerates, at a time when Hongkongers are demanding greater corporate social responsibility and better living solutions
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Last week marked the end of one era and the start of another. The retirement of Hong Kong’s second-richest man, Lee Shau-kee, as chairman of Henderson Land Development means that the so-called Big Four property developers have all officially handed over the reins to the second or even third generation of their respective families.
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As the old guard of these powerful companies recede from the stage, the new generation of family tycoons should seize the opportunity to chart their own paths and take the vast conglomerates that they have inherited closer to the people.
Hong Kong’s massive economic take-off in the 1970s provided the genesis for Henderson, Cheung Kong Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties and New World Development – the Big Four – to grow into dominant dynasties. Over time, they have spread their tentacles into all aspects of Hong Kong’s day-to-day life.
Living in Hong Kong, one cannot avoid having one’s money go to one of the Big Four developers. From electricity and gas to public transport and telecommunications, from supermarkets and shopping malls to private homes, estate management companies and new infrastructure projects, this quartet of companies is simply omnipresent.
The Big Four families create a fair share of Hong Kong’s wealth but have also been accused of discouraging competition and maximising profit over consumer interest. While ageing tycoons like Li Ka-shing were once feted as superheroes by the public, Hong Kong’s property magnates gradually came to be labelled as greedy, cheating devils.
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