Li Ka-shing: Is there a single family office?

Where does the fortune of Li Ka-shing come from?

Li Ka-shing is a Hong Kong business tycoon, investor and philanthropist, and the former chairman of CK Hutchinson Holdings. The company operates as a multinational conglomerate with five core businesses: ports and related services, retail, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications. The conglomerate has operations in more than 50 countries. Li is also one of Asia’s most influential entrepreneurs, presiding over a business empire with a diverse portfolio of companies in a wide range of industries, including transportation, property, financial services, retail, and energy and utilities. His conglomerate, Cheung Kong Holdings, is influential in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and accounts for 4% of the total market capitalisation.

Update 2024: As of today the  conglomerate lead by his son Victor. Still Li Ka-shing is ranked as Hong Kong’s richest person with an estimated net worth of US$37.3 billion in 2024.

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How did Li Ka-shing’s career develop?

In 1950, after learning how to run a factory, Li set up a plastic manufacturing company in Hong Kong with personal savings and money borrowed from relatives. He produced high-quality plastic flowers at low prices. A few years later, Li became the largest supplier of plastic flowers in Asia and made a fortune selling them. In 1958, Li decided to get into property and bought a lot of land and property in Hong Kong: Cheung Kong Holdings was born. The company went public in 1972. Over the next few years, Li Ka-shing expanded his business activities through the holding conglomerate into retail (A.S. Watson Group), asset trading (CK Hutchinson Group) and internet/technology. He was able to make some very successful venture capital investments (e.g. Facebook, Spotify and zoom). In 2018, Li announced his retirement and handed over the $100 billion company to his son, Victor Li.

Is there a Li Ka-shing family office?

Yes, there is. Horizons Ventures Limited, based in Hong Kong, serves as the private single family office of Li Ka-shing and his family. It was founded in 1999 and since then, over 250 active investments in companies have been made.

How does the Li Ka-shing family office invest?

Horizons Ventures Limited, as its name suggests, has a strong focus on venture capital investments in the Asia Pacific region. Companies of interest have a disruptive and technology-focused business model in media, telecommunications, healthcare, internet, platforms and fintech. Through his foundation, Li Ka-shing has given away more than $3.3 billion, over 80% of which has gone to Greater China.

Update 2024: Latest investments of Horizons Ventures Limited went into companies such as CellVoyant, Kimia, Chemify or BioLoomics.

This article is part of our detailed report “The Single Family Offices of Asian Billionaires and HNWIs“.

Picture source: Celvin Purnama