Lui is Asia’s richest, Ma rides on Tencent shares
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Macau gambling magnate Lui Che-woo has replaced Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing as Asia’s richest man, while Tencent Chairman Pony Ma edged out Baidu Inc founder Robin Li as the richest man on the Chinese mainland.
Lui, the head of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment, saw his fortune rise US$3.5 billion this month to US$29.6 billion, about US$100 million ahead of Li Ka-shing, whose fortune stood at US$29.5 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Lui’s family fled the war-torn Chinese mainland for Hong Kong in 1934 where he made money selling food on the streets at the age of 13, AFP reported. He made his first fortune after World War II when he imported construction equipment, left by US forces in Okinawa, to Hong Kong.
When he was 26 years old, Lui founded K. Wah Group, whose construction materials have been used in a quarter of all Hong Kong buildings, according to the company’s website. He invested his building profits into residential property development and hotels and casinos.
Lui, 84, entered the Macau gambling market with Galaxy after it opened up in 2002, after a four-decade monopoly held by Hong Kong gambling mogul Stanley Ho ended.
In 2006, Galaxy Entertainment opened the StarWorld Macau, where players can bet as much as US$250,000 a hand, across the street from Ho’s Grand Lisboa. Galaxy Macau, which cost US$1.9 billion to build, opened five years later in Cotai.
Galaxy, which saw its shares rise more than 100 percent in 2013, is one of six firms licensed to operate casinos in Macau, the world’s biggest gaming hub.
According to Forbes magazine’s 2014 rich list, Lui is still behind Li Ka-shing, however, who has held the title since April 2012. It places Lui’s net worth at US$21 billion behind Li’s US$32 billion, AFP said.
Li Ka-shing’s net worth rose US$1.5 billion in 2013 and has dropped about 2.3 percent so far this year.
Li Ka-shing, 85, chairman of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and property developer Cheung Kong Holdings, has been selling assets on China’s mainland and spending heavily on acquisitions in Europe in recent years.
Ma, co-founder and chairman of Tencent Holdings Ltd, became the richest man on the mainland after his company’s shares surged following an acquisition deal, according to the Bloomberg index.
With a net worth of US$13 billion, the 42-year-old Ma ousted Robin Li, founder of Chinese search engine Baidu Inc, who was declared the richest on the mainland only a month ago.
Tencent shares jumped a record high in Hong Kong after the company announced this week that it would invest US$193 million in logistics and warehouse firm China South City Holdings Ltd.
Shenzhen-based Tencent, known for its social network sites such as the WeChat mobile messaging app and QQ instant-messaging service, is expected to use the acquisition to challenge e-commerce group Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Sun Hung Kai Financial analyst Stephen Yang said the deal falls in line with Tencent’s plan to add warehouses and logistics centers across China to support a fast growing e-commerce business, and it looks positive for both Tencent and China South City.
Baidu’s Li edged Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, a real estate developer and movie theater operator, in December as the mainland’s wealthiest person in the Bloomberg ranking.
Wang overtook Zong Qinghou, chairman of beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group in August.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists American Jim Walton, founder of retailer Wal-Mart, as the richest in the world, with a fortune of US$36.5 billion.
He was followed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with a net worth of US$35.7 billion.
The index, which ranks Lui and Li Ka-shing at 21 and 22, is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.
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