Li Ka-shing takes a hit but still tops HK's 40 richest list

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, Feb.6 -- Hong Kong's 40 richest people

have lost over half their combined wealth as the global economic meltdown takes

its toll on the free-wheeling billionaires, but kingpin Li Ka-shing still holds

the top spot.

Li, dubbed "Superman," had almost half his wealth

whittled away to leave him with 16.2 billion U.S. dollars, Forbes magazine said

in its "Hong Kong's 40 richest" list for 2009.

The head of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison

Whampoa, Li, 80, built a plastic-flower business into a diversified global

business empire.

The fortunes of Hong Kong's top 40 richest plunged

from 179 billion dollars a year ago to 82 billion dollars, according to Forbes.

The number of billionaires fell from more than 40 to

19.

Number two on the list were the Kwok brothers:

Walter, Raymond and Thomas, who head up Sun Hung Kai Properties with a net worth

of 10.8 billion dollars. Their wealth was eroded by 55 percent amid the

financial crisis.

Eldest son Walter, the firm's long-standing helmsman,

was cut off from the firm last year by his younger siblings in a major boardroom

mutiny, with their octogenarian mother taking over the reins as non-executive

chairman.

Meanwhile tycoon Lee Shau-kee, 81, known as Asia's

Warren Buffett, saw some of his stock-picking prowess tarnished as Hong Kong's

stock market plunged, with a 14 billion dollars fall in wealth. Still third

richest in Hong Kong, he's now worth 9 billion dollars.

Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho, 87, saw his pile of

chips crumble 89 percent to 1 billion dollars in a woeful year, sending his

ranking plunging from fifth to 19th.

Ho, a colorful self-made billionaire of mixed

European-Chinese parentage, has been buffeted by a sharp gambling contraction in

Macao, competition from glitzy Las-Vegas style mega-casinos and an ill-timed

public offering.

Li Ka-shing's son, Richard, popularly known as

"Superboy" and now in the throes of privatizing the city's dominant

telecommunications utility PCCW, was worth 1.1 billion dollars and ranked 16th.

One apparent beneficiary of the downturn is Michael

Chan, owner of budget food chain Cafe De Coral. With diners turning increasingly

to economical dining, Chan, ranked 35, is a new entrant to the list with 560

million dollars.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)