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Thursday, December 12, 2013
1. Li Ka-shing



Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, has gone on record with a Chinese newspaper in Guangzhou to refute months of speculation about his intention to withdraw investments from Hong Kong and China.
Li spoke from his office in central Hong Kong with reporters fromNanfang Daily, a sister publication to the Southern Metropolis Daily. He described such market speculation as “a big joke” and cited figures to drive home his point.
This year his group companies, through Hong Kong-listed Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings , have invested altogether HK$8 billion ($1.1 billion) in overseas markets, in New Zealand and the Netherlands – just under 2% of their combined net income of HK$430 billion ($55 billion).
By comparison, the group’s investment in a container construction project in Hong Kong has already exceeded HK$4 billion ($516 million). “How could you say this is a withdrawal of our investments from the market? It’s a stretch, a big joke,” Li pointed out.
Li also said that his core real estate business still owns about 3.8 million square meters of commercial property in Hong Kong and as much as 5 million square meters in China, including those in Shanghai and Beijing. He estimates their combined market value to be at least HK$170 billion ($23 billion). “These properties are not for sale,” he said. “By contrast, our overseas properties would be worth only 0.5% as much.”
Speculation was fueled by his recent plan, later aborted, to sell ParknShop, one of two dominant supermarket chains in Hong Kong. At the same time his group was busy unloading several properties in China, as well as selling shares in Chang Yuan Group, the only domestic-listed company in China that Li controls through an affiliate, Concord Investment.

Li acknowledged, however, that “Concentrating our investments in Hong Kong is a stupid thing to do. That’s why we started to diversify into overseas markets many years ago. “
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2. Amancio Ortega


Amancio Ortega a mystery for press and public alike and a publicist's nightmare, is Spain's richest man and one of world's top 10. Ortega is so notoriously publicity shy that before his public appearance in 2001, hardly anyone outside his close circle had seen him. The same level of secrecy was maintained by every family member during his first marriage. He never granted any interviews despite number of mails to his Organisation HQ from all the prestigious publications. His story is a truly inspiring rags to rich story, he was born in abject poverty to a railroad worker and a housemaid.
He started as a delivery boy in a textile firm. He worked hard and learnt the basics of business overtime and eventually found success along with his wife when they co-founded ZARA. But, money never shifted his focus and he continued to work hard. He is a workaholic and likes to do his work himself and doesn't take vacations. Despite being owner of one of biggest fashion brand he likes to dress casually and does't give it too much attention.
He divorced his first wife in 1986 and has two children from that marriage, but his daughter from his second wife is considered to be his successor. He was decorated with "Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit" in 2009 and in 2001 he announced his retirement from position of chairperson of Inditex group. Ortega owns a luxury apartment complex in Miami and has real estate holdings in Madrid, Paris, London and Lisbon. He has a horse-jumping circuit and also has made investments in gas, tourism and banks.
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3. Bill Gates


William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
On June 27, 2008, Gates transitioned out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He shares his thoughts about the foundation and other topics on Gates Notes, a Web site launched in January 2010. Gates continues to serve as Microsoft's chairman and as an advisor on key development projects. In June 2006, Craig Mundie assumed the new title of chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft and is responsible for the company's research and incubation efforts.
Born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.
Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13.
In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.
Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, reflected in its industry-leading investment in research and development each year.
In 1999, Gates wrote "Business @ the Speed of Thought", a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. "Business @ the Speed of Thought" has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller lists of the "New York Times", "USA Today", "The Wall Street Journal" and on Amazon.com. Gates' previous book, "The Road Ahead", published in 1995, was at the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list for seven weeks.
Gates has donated the proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development.
In addition to his love of computers and software, Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe. He is also a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which invests in companies engaged in diverse business activities.
Philanthropy is very important to Gates.  He and his wife, Melinda, started a foundation in 2000 to help reduce inequities in the United States and around the world.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all people.  To learn more about the foundation, visit www.gatesfoundation.org
Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid reader, and enjoys playing golf, tennis and bridge.
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4. Mark Zuckerberg


Born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, Mark Zuckerberg co-founded the social-networking website Facebook out of his college dorm room. He left Harvard after his sophomore year to concentrate on the site, the user base of which has grown to more than 250 million people, making Zuckerberg a billionaire. The birth of Facebook was recently portrayed in the film The Social Network.

 Early Life
Time at Harvard
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, into a comfortable, well-educated family, and raised in the nearby village of Dobbs Ferry. His father, Edward Zuckerberg, ran a dental practice attached to the family's home. His mother, Karen, worked as a psychiatrist before the birth of the couple's four children—Mark, Randi, Donna and Arielle.
Zuckerberg developed an interest in computers at an early age; when he was about 12, he used Atari BASIC to create a messaging program he named "Zucknet." His father used the program in his dental office, so that the receptionist could inform him of a new patient without yelling across the room. The family also used Zucknet to communicate within the house. Together with his friends, he also created computer games just for fun. "I had a bunch of friends who were artists," he said. "They'd come over, draw stuff, and I'd build a game out of it."
To keep up with Mark's burgeoning interest in computers, his parents hired private computer tutor David Newman to come to the house once a week and work with Mark. Newman later told reporters that it was hard to stay ahead of the prodigy, who began taking graduate courses at nearby Mercy College around this same time.
Zuckerberg later studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, an exclusive preparatory school in New Hampshire. There he showed talent in fencing, becoming the captain of the school's team. He also excelled in literature, earning a diploma in classics. Yet Zuckerberg remained fascinated by computers, and continued to work on developing new programs. While still in high school, he created an early version of the music software Pandora, which he called Synapse. Several companies—including AOL and Microsoft—expressed an interest in buying the software, and hiring the teenager before graduation. He declined the offers.
After graduating from Exeter in 2002, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University. By his sophomore year at the ivy league institution, he had developed a reputation as the go-to software developer on campus. It was at that time that he built a program called CourseMatch, which helped students choose their classes based on the course selections of other users. He also invented Facemash, which compared the pictures of two students on campus and allowed users to vote on which one was more attractive. The program became wildly popular, but was later shut down by the school administration after it was deemed inappropriate.
Based on the buzz of his previous projects, three of his fellow students—Divya Narendra, and twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss—sought him out to work on an idea for a social networking site they called Harvard Connection.

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5. Datuk Shahriman Shamsuddin




Datuk Shahriman Shamsuddin gained through his affiliation with Sapura Resources Berhad Group of which he is the Managing Director and Executive Director. At the age of 43, he is considered to be one of the youngest tycoons in Malaysia today where he manages Sapura Group together with his brother Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin.

Shahriman took over the leadership of Sapura Resources in 2007 where he is involved in the major areas of the group that include investment holdings, property investment as well as in education. He started off humbly in the company in 1991 when he held some key senior positions in the group before being appointed to the board in 2005 in a Non-Independent Non-Executive capacity.


Apart from leading the main group, he also sits on the board of its subsidiaries that includeSapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad, Sapura Technology Berhad, Sapura Industrial Berhad and Sapura Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Shahriman holds a Master of Science in Engineering Business Management as well as a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology from Warwick University and Purdue University respectively. As compared to his brother, Shahriman is known to be more low-profile as he is more involved in the diversified businesses of the group while Datuk Shahril speaks more on behalf of the entire group.
Together with his brother, Datuk Shahril, they hold 40.06% of SapuraCrest under the holdings company Sapura Holdings Bhd. In Sapura Holdings, they each hold 48% of shares while the rest is held by Rameli Musa. Sapura Group was formed by Tan Sri Shamsuddin Kadir, their father who firstv ventured into the telecommunications services and hardware back in 1975. He has since let his sons take over and handle the operations of the company.
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6. Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin


Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin is the Executive Vice-Chairman and President of Sapura Group. Datuk Shahril is one of the longest serving leaders in the company where he joined Sapura Group in 1985 and after having been involved in various senior positions in the group, he took over the CEO and President post in 1997.

Today, Sapura Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia where it is involved with various industries that include secured communications technologies, property development management, industrial and automotive component manufacturing as well as in the oil and gas services and education. He runs the group together with his brother Shahriman where they have steered Sapura Group into becoming one of the most significant companies in Malaysia today. This include the major restructuring of the company and its portfolio and has been involved with making some very important decisions in Sapura which led to major acquisitions and strategic disposal of some of Sapura’s businesses and assets which were not performing.


Datuk Shahril was appointed as the Non-Executive Director and Executive Vice-Chairman of Sapura Crest in 2003 and sits in the Company’s Remuneration Committee. Apart from that, he is also the Executive Vice-Chairman & President of the group’s petroleum subsidiary, SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad as well as its other subsidiaries like the Deputy Chairman of Sapura Industrial Berhad, the Non-Executive Director of Sapura Resources Berhad as well as the President and CEO of Sapura Secured Technologies Sdn Bhd. 

He is also very much involved in other areas of the community where he sits in the Board of Trustees of the Perdana Leadership Foundation. On top of that, his remarkable achievements were recognized when he was awarded with the Malaysia Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year in 2009.
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7. Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun



Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun who is a significant leader and a controlling shareholder in Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad. He holds 56% in Gek Poh Holdings Sdn Bhd which have a 53% stake in Hap Seng. On top of that, he also holds shares in Lei Shing Hong Investment Ltd where Gek Poh Group and the Lau family controls some 73% of the shares in the company.

Tan Sri Lau is no longer as active as he was before in the company where today, Hap Seng is run by a group of capable and professionals. The group started off in the timber business before it diversified through the years and today, it has a large portfolio under its wing. The major businesses that Hap Seng is involved today are covered in 6 areas which include quarry and building materials, property, automotive, fertilisers, plantations as well as credit financing.


Tan Sri Lau’s uncle Tan Sri Panglima Lau Gek Poh is the founder of the group where Hap Seng is the largest property developing company in Sabah while it also has various prominent properties in Kuala Lumpur like Menara Hap Seng and Menara Citibank. It is also the second largest quarry operator in the country and has been involved in the automotive industry through its dealer partnership to sell Mercedes-Benz cars.

Tan Sri Lau has a wealth of RM1.72billion where he had moved the company into becoming the third-largest lender in the non-bank sector while it also manufactures aggregates, bricks and asphalt where it has more than 25 years in its reserves. Apart from that, Hap Seng is also the top 3 fertiliser distributors in the country as well as Indonesia while it is the sole distributor of the Mitsubishi Fuso trucks in East Malaysia.
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