It’s truly the end of an era, though people are not likely to mourn its passing. Lee Shau-kee, often described as Hong Kong’s second-richest man, has announced his retirement as the long-time chairman and managing director of Henderson Land Development, the property giant which he founded and which he is now handing over to his two sons.
This came in the same week as Sun Hung Kai Properties’ mogul Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong was released from maximum-security Stanley Prison after serving most of a five-year jail term for bribing a former chief secretary.
When asked what his plan was, he said he had no intention to return to business. He is happy to have his son Adam Kwok Kai-fai running the family business, alongside Adam’s uncle, Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, who is Thomas’ youngest brother. The three Kwok brothers used to be referred to as the “Iron Triangle”, but had a fallout. The oldest, Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, died in October.
And, of course, last year Hong Kong’s most famous tycoon Li Ka-shing finally retired, having prepared his oldest son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi to take over his business empire for more than a decade.
If people have stopped complaining about “property hegemony”, well, it’s self-evident why. These legendary tycoons dominated the housing market for decades and cultivated close relationships with the top leaders of both the local and mainland governments.
Their offspring, many with MBAs and other advanced degrees from top Western universities, will not again have the same influence, respect and connections the first-generation tycoons enjoyed.
Besides, the real money has been coming from so-called red capital. Between 2015 and 2017, mainland developers won more than half of all land auctions run by the Hong Kong government. Their financial prowess is often buttressed by connections with some of the mainland’s largest banks and financial groups.
Their bidding has cooled off more recently, the result of domestic deleveraging, capital controls and tougher scrutiny of foreign investments imposed by the central government since 2017. But no one doubts that this will only be a temporary retreat, given the importance of the property market in the local economy and Beijing’s demand for closer integration of Hong Kong within the “Greater Bay Area”.
Red capital is here to stay. As the British rock group The Who used to sing, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”