The richest man in Asia who had to quit school at 15:

LI KA SHING
This Hong Kong business magnate, investor,
and philanthropist is the richest person in Asia,
with a net worth of $31.9 billion, according to
the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of April
16, 2014. He is so rich that his business interest
spans 90 countries and one of his companies
account for 11.5% of Hong Kongs stock market
value. Hes among the richest school dropout
billionaires in the world and one of the worlds
most respected business men in the world.
Li Ka Shing was born in Chaozhou, China in
1928. In 1940 his family fled to Hong Kong as the
Japanese invaded China. When Li Ka-Shing was just 14 years old, his father died
of tuberculosis. In order to earn money for his family, Li was forced to abandon
school and take a job at a plastics factory. The family was so poor that Li actually
had to sell his dead fathers clothes for cash to pay for food. While most of his
piers attended school or played games, Li labored away for 16 hours a day
making plastic watchbands. From there, he became a wholesale salesman at the
age of 17, and moved on to become a general manager at the young age of 19.
He founded a plastics manufacturing company in Hong Kong in 1949 with
borrowed capital from family and friends. He made a small fortune selling plastic
combs and soap boxes. Recalling his experience back then, he said;
The first year, I didnt have much capital so I did everything myself. I had to
keep my overhead low by learning everything about running a business, from
accounting to fixing the gears of my equipment. I really started from scratch.
Li Ka Shing
To keep his business afloat, Li Ka Shing became an avid reader of business
news and publications. He did this to keep up with current events and industrial
trends. He took notice of the growing wealth of the West and this prompted him
to begin manufacturing high quality plastic flowers at cheap prices.
Being an avid learner, he travelled throughout Europe to learn more about
the different techniques for mixing colors with plastics to create life-like flowers.
Upon return from his trip, Li Ka Shing restructured his shop and hired all the best
technicians he could find. Business took off when one foreign buyer placed a
particularly large order.

In a short span of years, Li Ka Shing grew to become the largest supplier of

plastic flowers in Asia. In 1958, his interests moved to real estate and he began
buying up properties. He was often referred to as a diligent developer because
he believes in doing his homework before closing any deal.
It was during the Cultural Revolution of 1967 that Li Ka Shing made one of
his biggest moves. Riots were on and many people fled Hong Kong. Property
prices dropped to rock bottom. While others scrambled to sell what they had left,
Li Ka Shing thought the crisis was just temporary, and started buying land at
bargain prices. He obeyed the rule of one of my mentors that says:
The best time to buy is when blood is flowing in the streets. John D.
Rockefeller
In 1971, Li Ka Shing founded Cheung Kong Real Estate Company. The
Cheung Kong Real Estate Company eventually acquired his current flagship
company, Hutchison Whampoa Limited from HSBC in 1979. This single
investment made Li Ka Shing the largest container terminal operator in the
world.
But beyond real estate, Li Ka-Shing has shown an uncanny perception for
the tech-world. The octogenarian took about five minutes in late 2007 to decide
to invest $120 million in Facebook. Keep in mind that back in 2007, Facebook
barely made any money. It had only recently opened up to membership beyond
college students, and Myspace had just proven to be a disastrous investment for
Rupert Murdochs Newscorp. Today, that 0.8% stake in Facebook is worth $900
million. Li is also invested millions of dollars into Spotify, Waze and HzO.
Li Ka Shing later acquired Hong Kong Electric Holdings Limited in 1985. Li
Ka Shing has business interests spanning many industries in more than 90
countries. Today, Hutchison Whampoa is one of the largest conglomerates in
Hong Kong, with operations that span over fifty countries and more than 220,000
staff worldwide.
The largest branch of his business is in container port facilities, including
ports in China, Hong Kong, Panama, Rotterdam, and Bahamas. His business
controls 12% of all container port capacity in the world. Li Ka Shing also has
extensive investments in telecommunications in Asia-Pacific and Europe. He has
also personally invested in a number of other successful ventures, such as
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Husky Energy in Alberta, Canada.
As one of the most powerful figures in Asia, Li Ka Shing was named Asias
Most Powerful Man by Asia week in 2000. Li Ka Shing has also donated more than
$450 million to educational causes and medical care such as nursing homes and
day-care centers for the elderly. His donations in 1981 resulted in the founding of
Shantou University, and after the Indian Ocean Earthquake disaster in 2004; he

reportedly donated a total of $3 million. Li has reportedly given away more than
$1.4 billion to charity.
Li Ka Shing has a reputation for living a humble lifestyle, and is known as the
billionaire who wears cheap shoes and old watches.

LESSONS LEARNED
From his humble beginnings in China as a teachers son, a refugee, and
later as a salesman, Li provides a lesson in integrity and adaptability. Through
hard work, and a reputation for remaining true to his internal moral compass, he
was able to build a business empire that includes: banking, construction, real
estate, plastics, cellular phones, satellite television, cement production, retail
outlets (pharmacies and supermarkets), hotels, domestic transportation (sky
train), airports, electric power, steel production, ports, and shipping.
And as quoted from Li The first year, I didnt have much capital so I did
everything myself. I had to keep my overhead low by learning everything about
running a business, from accounting to fixing the gears of my equipment. I really
started from scratch, it is evident that before getting into business, one must
able to understand how it operates and how it works. Never be afraid to start
from nothing because someday you may be labeled as one of the business
tycoon from rags to riches.
In addition, each should also be up to date to the current trends and never
be afraid to try new things. From Lis past experience, Lis technology
investments display a particular brilliance with understand not just where the
tech world is, but where it is going. He believes in technology that is a game
changer. Things like Facebook, Waze, Spotify, etc. His investments have been so
savvy, that people began referring to Li-Ka Shing as Superman.
And reading through articles about Li-Ka Shing, I stumbled with these 9 Life
Lessons of him that teaches you how to be the next Li-Ka Shing..
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Buy lunch for people more important than you.

Become a bookworm.
Learn to sell like a wolf.
Dont wear clothes you can barely afford.
Learn from others by offering help to them.
Start planning A.S.A.P.
Dont let your ego rule you.
Dont ever flash your wealth to others
Discipline yourself and stay focused.

Born
Citizenshi
p
Education
Occupatio
n

Net worth
Religion
Spouse(s)
Children
Awards

The Honourable
Sir Ka-shing Li

13 June 1928 (age 86)

Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
Hong Kong
Canada
School drop-out[1]
Chairman of the
Board of Cheung Kong
Holdings, Hutchison
Whampoaand Li Ka Shing
Foundation
US$31.9 billion (2014)
Buddhism
Chong Yuet Ming (Deceased)
Victor Li
Richard Li
Justice of the Peace (1981)
LL.D. (1986)
D. SSc (1995)

University of the East - Manila

College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department

ENTREPRENEUR
SHIP FOR
ENGINEERS
Assignment no.1

Submitted by:
Remoroza, Rustom Jay D.
20100106716
Submitted to:
Prof. Reynaldo Carolino
Date Submitted: November 17, 2014