HONG KONG – Hong Kong mourned one of its richest and most influential men, property magnate and philanthropist Lee Shau Kee, who died on March 17.
Mr Lee, founder of Henderson Land Group, died peacefully surrounded by family, his company said. He was 97. Two sons and three daughters survive him.
The date of his funeral will be announced after his family finalises the arrangements, the company added.
Officials expressed sorrow over the tycoon’s passing.
“(Mr) Lee was an outstanding business leader and entrepreneur who had made significant contributions to Hong Kong’s economic development, as well as the city’s prosperity and stability,” Chief Executive John Lee said in a statement of condolence late on March 17.
The city’s No. 2 official, Financial Secretary Paul Chan, called Mr Lee “a model for the Hong Kong business world”.
“(Mr Lee) lived simply and worked hard,” Mr Chan wrote in a Facebook post just before midnight. “He was humble, courteous, humorous, enjoyed doing good and cared for the society. He was not only respected and loved by his employees but was also widely affirmed by the whole society.”
Other officials remembered his contributions to the city’s property and education sectors, donating land and homes for the underprivileged, as well as funds to build schools and offer scholarships across Hong Kong and mainland China.
Henderson vice-chairman Colin Lam, who worked with Mr Lee for decades, described him as a “patriot who loved the country and the city, kind, compassionate, charitable and virtuous”.
A self-made man in Hong Kong real estate, Mr Lee was among the city’s richest people and firmly in the top 100 list of the world’s wealthiest billionaires and had a net worth of more than US$29 billion (S$39 billion) as of February, according to Forbes.
At the peak of his wealth, he was ranked fourth on Forbes’ list of the world’s top billionaires in 1996, Henderson said in the obituary for Mr Lee.
“Success isn’t just about making money, but in knowing how to spend,” he had said, a motto which has been widely quoted.
Born in 1928 to a middle-class merchant family in Shunde in China’s Guangdong province, the tycoon was the fourth oldest among his siblings and eventually became known as “Uncle Four” in Hong Kong, where he settled after the end of World War II around the age of 20.
Mr Lee started building his property empire at a time when Hong Kong’s economy and population were booming in the post-war era.
He started trading in gold and currencies but soon switched to real estate, setting up Sun Hung Kai Properties in 1963 with the late tycoons Kwok Tak Seng and Fung King Hey.
Together, the trio – called “The Three Swordsmen” at that time – bought many homes at low prices during a period of unrest in Hong Kong as the Cultural Revolution in mainland China briefly spread to the city.
About 10 years later, Mr Lee left Sun Hung Kai to found Henderson Land, where he continued to amass real estate, buying up farmland and old buildings for redevelopment.
(FILES) A view of the Henderson, one of Hong Kong’s newest skyscrapers built on some of the most expensive land in the world, in Central business district of Hong Kong on October 5, 2023. Hong Kong's second-richest man Lee Shau-kee has died aged 97, the property tycoon's firm Henderson Land Development announced March 17, 2025. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)
A view of the Henderson, one of Hong Kong’s newest skyscrapers built on some of the most expensive land in the world, in Central business district of Hong Kong on Oct 5, 2023.PHOTO: AFP
Henderson and Sun Hung Kai went on to become two of Hong Kong’s four biggest property developers. The other two are Cheung Kong Holdings and New World Development, respectively controlled by the families of tycoons Li Ka Shing, aged 96, and the late Cheng Yu Tung.
“Where there are people, there has to be land,” Mr Lee said in his biography published in 1997. “Every family needs a roof over its head. Housing provides the most steadfast security to people.”
He added: “I hope everyone (in Hong Kong) can become a small homeowner in the future. When everyone has a flat, everyone will be happy.”
Today, Henderson has a land bank totalling some 20 million square feet. The conglomerate’s businesses also include holdings in companies in the energy, transport and retail sectors.
Mr Lee handed over Henderson’s reins to his two sons, Peter and Martin Lee, in 2019.
He was proud of them, praising them for “working well together and achieving perfection” despite their personality differences, he told local media at the time.
“In the days (of heading Henderson), I fought a lonely battle. I always told my sons they were lucky because they could discuss and give each other advice,” he said. “Two heads are better than one.”
Tycoon Lee Shau Kee (centre) with son Martin Lee and daughter-in-law Cathy Chui at their wedding in 2006. Billionaire Lee Shau Kee is the chairman of leading property group Henderson Land Development
Tycoon Lee Shau Kee (centre) with son Martin Lee and daughter-in-law Cathy Chui at their wedding in 2006.PHOTO: ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS
Mr Lee was also a philanthropist who funded many educational initiatives, housing projects and charitable organisations through his Lee Shau Kee Foundation.
Most notable among his donations are a HK$500 million gift to the University of Hong Kong, HK$400 million to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a plot of land in Yuen Long to build the city’s biggest youth hostel.
“I have been lucky my whole life,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg in 2019.
“I am grateful for the universe that offers me opportunities to develop my businesses. I do not have any expertise apart from working hard. Because the universe has treated me well, I (feel) that I must pay back to society.”
Magdalene Fung is The Straits Times’ Hong Kong correspondent. She is a Singaporean who has spent about a decade living and working in Hong Kong.
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