Secret of Li Ka-shing, the wealth champion, in handling big money

Author: Beiye's Wind
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: Li Ka-shing, Chairman of (CK Hutchison), a globally renowned figure in the Chinese community known for his immense wealth and success. His name is synonymous with wealth and achievement. It can be said that wherever there are Chinese people, there is the name Li Ka-shing. In the annual ranking of the world's billionaires by the U.S. magazine Forbes, Li Ka-shing, Chairman of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), remains the richest person in Asia. His estimated net worth is $12 billion.
Every individual has their own season of growth. While generations may share common traits, Li Ka-shing stands out as unparalleled. Among the giants of the Hong Kong market, he is one of the few who rose from humble beginnings, a rare evergreen, and a true master of both markets and management. He created a myth of success through sheer determination. In 1950, at the age of 22, Li Ka-shing started a plastic manufacturing company with the savings he had painstakingly accumulated. After 40 years of hard work, by 1988, he had established five major companies, over 100 subsidiaries, and more than 50 joint ventures, forming a formidable "economic empire" under the Li family name. In 1981, he also took over as Chairman of HSBC, becoming the first Chinese executive to lead a British-owned company in Hong Kong. Under his leadership, the company expanded to include ports worldwide, a global mobile phone business, a major energy company in Canada, supermarkets across Asia, and various other ventures. His workforce exceeded 150,000.
Whether Li Ka-shing identifies himself as a businessman or not, his actions have transcended mere social roles. In today's terms, he is adept at pursuing . Together with other Chinese capitalists, he replaced British interests as the most significant economic force in Hong Kong. He constantly challenges himself and never stops learning, enabling him to excel in numerous fields. By the 1980s and 1990s, Li Ka-shing's development had moved beyond that of a businessman, placing him among the contemporary world's elite. He not only built strong relationships with renowned entrepreneurs and bankers but also made friends with several international politicians. At one point, his family's wealth accounted for a quarter of Hong Kong's total market value. His personal fortune was once equivalent to the combined wealth of hundreds of millions of people in China's central and western regions.
After the political myths of the mainland and Taiwan faded, Li Ka-shing offered another myth—the myth of the golden age. Born in the Year of the Dragon, Li Ka-shing's rise to wealth is often told with a touch of legend. It is said that when he was born, his family dreamed of an old man reciting a folk song to his mother: "Golden rooster, silver hen, let my dragon's son lift; Golden mountains, silver mountains, let my dragon's son move." Since it was the Year of the Dragon, the family predicted that Li Ka-shing would grow up to be a golden dragon, destined for great success. Of course, these are just legends. Li Ka-shing's rise from nothing was the result of step-by-step hard work. His legendary entrepreneurial journey has inspired millions, and everyone wants to know the secrets behind his immense wealth.
Everyone dreams of being wealthy. Some might say, "Money is the root of all evil," and that pursuing wealth is indecent, at least not something to be openly discussed. In reality, this is a mindset. Money itself has no life; it depends on who wields it. While Li Ka-shing accumulated wealth, he also gave back immensely to society. To a great extent, money can help us achieve personal ambitions.
In today's society, how do people measure success? There are many ways to look at it. Successful scholars, educators, medical professionals, social workers, and others can all be considered successful figures. They are not necessarily involved in business and do not achieve fame or status through it. Many successful people are not primarily driven by wealth but by the pursuit of achievement. Yet, because of their accomplishments, wealth naturally follows. The ordinary may judge their success by how much wealth they accumulate, believing that the more wealth one has, the more successful they are. In truth, their success is not solely measured by wealth. Rather, it is their great achievements that lead to unlimited wealth, not the other way around.
Nevertheless, wealth and success are deeply intertwined and inseparable. The more accomplished a person is, the more wealth they typically possess in society, as society often rewards success with wealth. In a sense, the process of pursuing wealth is also the process of pursuing success. This wealth, in fact, marks individual achievement, earned through personal ability, hard work, determination, resilience, and the ability to persevere through setbacks and adversity.
Remember the story of "turning stone into gold"? When the young man saw the immortal's finger turn stones into gold, he no longer wanted the few pieces of gold but the immortal's finger itself. The original story teaches people not to be greedy, but here, I want to say that this young man was smart because gold will eventually run out, while the "art of turning stone into gold" allows gold to be endless.
As a "billionaire," what is Li Ka-shing's "art of turning stone into gold"? This book, The Secrets of Li Ka-shing: The Wealth's Guide to Making Money, will reveal it all. Making money is not difficult, but making more money requires great wisdom.