His net worth is $35.4 billion as of today, and is ranked 24th on the list of world’s billionaires, according to forbes.com. His companies have about 310,000 workers in more than 50 nations. Due to his father’s death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he worked 22 hours a day. Later, Li produced high quality plastic flowers at low prices since 1950s.
But he also was one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia, presiding over a business empire with a diverse portfolio of businesses from a wide array of industries, including transportation, real estate, financial services, retail, and energy and utilities. His conglomerate company Cheung Kong Holdings was influential in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and made up 4% of the aggregate market capitalisation of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Li lived in the same house for decades. He donated over US$2.56 billion to charity and other various philanthropic causes. He will be succeeded by his elder son Victor Li Tzar Kuoi.
