Lee Shau-kee Net Worth, Achievements & Personal Life

Lee Shau-kee Net Worth $20 Billion

The founder of the top-rated property development company Henderson Land, Mr. Lee Shau-kee has long been the second-wealthiest person in Hong Kong, although there have been times when he has temporarily taken the place of fellow business magnate Li Ka-shing at the top of the chart.

From a modest background in Shunde, Guandong, Lee was around age 20 when he moved to Hong Kong with less than HK$1,000 in his pockets, using it to gradually establish a real estate behemoth that also conducts businesses in retail, construction, hospitality, and infrastructure.

He has also occupied many important positions outside of his own company, including serving as a non-executive director of Hong Kong Ferry Holdings, as vice-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, and as the chairman of The Hong Kong and China Gas Company.

Easily recognized due to his benevolent nature, Mr. Lee is known for his personal generosity. He is a famous philanthropist who likes to pay keen attention to aspects of education and sciences in Hong Kong.

In 2007 he gave HK$500 million to the University of Hong Kong and the sum of HK$400 million to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Two years prior to that he donated HK$50 million to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In 2005, he instituted the Warmth Project in mainland China, an RMB330 million program that has trained one million farmers and thousands of village doctors.

He retired from his roles as chairman and chief executive officer at his company in 2019 due to his age, but still remains an executive director.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Lee Shau-kee was born on 7 March 1928 in Shunde, Guangdong, China. His story is well-documented in Hong Kong as one that serves as an inspiration as well as a story of struggle.

He was the fourth child in his modest family and is also sometimes affectionately called the nickname “Uncle Four”, a term of endearment owing to him being one of the infrequent fourth-born children to be successful.

He completed his elementary education and high school studies in China before moving to Hong Kong in search of greener pastures.

Professional Life: Business Career

At the end of the Second World War, Lee started out wanting to establish a business for himself. He approached a famous billionaire in Hong Kong named Kwok Tak-Seng for initial talks regarding what would be Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, which eventually turned out to be one of the biggest companies in Hong Kong.

He is credited for being responsible for the growth and development of a significant part of Hong Kong’s financial sector in the last four decades.

There’s an endless list of people that have benefited immensely either directly or indirectly from his financial actions and wise business options, especially from several educational institutions within Hong Kong.

Mr. Lee also made a significant contribution to the nation’s science sector by making a substantial contribution to the CUHK-Yale South China Studies Program.

Furthermore, Lee Shau Kee is the Vice-Chairman Independent Non-Executive Director of SHKP. His main business, however, is Henderson Land Development which he single-handedly established and built from the ground.

The company has been a part of a large number of advanced projects that have included 39 Conduit Road, The Grand Promenade, and the International Finance Center, which are all remarkable structures of construction in Asia.

At the peak of his business career, Mr. Lee made several tough but reasonable business acquisitions that eventually paid off, including the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited.

This company owns nearly 85 percent of Hong Kong’s gas supply.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

It is due to his outstanding intellect and business mind that this hardworking investor has been able to find success in the business world for such a long and maintained a decent position for that period of time.

With his interest in learning more despite his age, Lee’s story is a well-known one all over Hong Kong and the world at large.

He moved from mainland China to Hong Kong with a small sum of money and began working in the imports and exports field before finding his way into the real estate business after which there has been no turning back.

With his first real estate agent company, Eternal Enterprise Company, Mr. Lee made his first deals and continually built on his reputation to become what he is today.

It would not be an exaggeration to add that Lee Shau Kee was one of the iconic men who practically laid the foundations of modern Hong Kong.

He has been honored for his contributions to business and philanthropy on a number of occasions. He was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal for Public Service in 2007, many years after receiving an honorary Doctor of Social Sciences award in 1993.

Personal Life: Family, Residence

A recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal, Mr. Lee Shau-kee is the father of two sons named Peter and Martin, who have taken over his businesses following Lee’s retirement in 2009 at the age of 91.

He has three daughters as well. He lives in Hong Kong where all his businesses and most of his assets are based.

Lee Shau Kee Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Investments

The real estate mogul Lee Shau Kee is one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest people. He owns a net worth of $20 billion according to a recent assessment of his wealth.

This iconic Hong-Kong based business tycoon has made his wealth from an empire he built specializing in the real estate business.

He is the majority owner of the successful Henderson Land Development Group which has business interests in internet services, restaurants, hotels, and retail and commercial properties.

Lee mainly benefits from his 72 percent ownership of the publicly traded property development company Henderson Land Development.

He also has a 2 percent stake in Sun Hung Kai Properties in addition to a 23 percent investment in Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust, all of which contribute to his wealth significantly.