Li Ka-shing

Chairman of Hutchinson Whampoa, Ltd.



With a $13 billion fortune (and counting), Li Ka-shing is Hong Kong's richest man and arguably the most powerful man in Asia. His multibillion-dollar conglomerate, Hutchinson Whampoa, is the world's largest port operator and employs over 150,000 people worldwide in telecommunications, hotels, infrastructure, and retail.



Li Ka-shing is in command of both sides of the Panama Canal, the vital waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Also, some of his closest associates are members of the Chinese communist government. Understandably, he is a source of agitation for Western governments as his expansion is commonly seen as a front for Chinese Communist expansion. As an example of his global influence, he offered to buy the bankrupt U.S. telecom firm Global Crossing and make a fiber optic network connecting Singapore with hundreds of businesses in world. The American government deliberated on it for so long (precisely because of his international clout and high-powered Chinese connections), that he gave up.



Quote: "We have investments and operations in 41 countries, and the last time I counted, our group employs over 150,000 people internationally. I am sure more people in other countries will understand me now."