[News Inside] Prescient Investment in Zoom 7 Years Ago... Who Is Asia's 'Warren Buffett'?

Chairman Li Ka-shing of Cheung Kong Hutchison Holdings

▲ Li Ka-shing, Chairman of Cheung Kong Hutchison Holdings

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The COVID-19 pandemic turned 'untact' (contactless) stocks such as Netflix, Amazon, and Alphabet into a lottery ticket. One of them is Zoom, a video conferencing service provider. Who could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic? However, there is a person who made an enormous fortune during the COVID-19 crisis by making a preemptive investment in the value of untact companies with outstanding foresight.

That person is Li Ka-shing, chairman of Cheung Kong Hutchison Holdings. Known as Hong Kong's richest man, Li recognized Zoom's value as early as seven years ago and invested a total of $36.5 million (about 43.3 billion KRW) in two rounds in 2013 and 2015, acquiring an 8.5% stake in Zoom. That investment is now worth $11 billion (about 13.046 trillion KRW), making it a true jackpot.

With his excellent insight and foresight, Li is called the Warren Buffett of Asia. This is not the first time a company he discovered and invested in early has become a huge success. Recently, as COVID-19 disrupted food supply chains including meat, 'alternative meat' gained attention. Li had already invested in artificial meat back in 2014.

Li did not build his wealth through stock investment from the start. He is considered a self-made man who started with nothing and built a vast fortune. Li was born in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, China, and fled to Hong Kong with his family in 1939 as the Japanese army advanced south. After his father died in the war, he gave up his studies and started working at age 14. Beginning as a small watch repairman in Hong Kong, he founded the 'Cheung Kong Plastic Factory' at age 22 in 1950 with $7,000, producing plastic flowers, which became the foundation of the current Cheung Kong Group.

The late 1960s Cultural Revolution in China was a turning point for him to become a real estate tycoon. While the Cultural Revolution spread not only in mainland China but also to Hong Kong, and many hesitated to invest, Li bought Hong Kong real estate. Later, as Hong Kong real estate prices soared, this proved his foresight.

Recently, he has attracted attention for constructing a large-scale Hong Kong Town in southeast London, the UK, capable of housing over 3,500 households including Hong Kong immigrants. As the 'National Security Law' in mainland China accelerated the outflow of Hong Kong capital and residents, he plans to build a large Hong Kong Town to accommodate them. This project was announced just ten days after China implemented the Hong Kong Security Law. According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), the project, costing a total of $1.26 billion (about 1.5 trillion KRW), is being built by Cheung Kong Industries. The total area of Hong Kong Town is about 166,000 square meters (about 50,000 pyeong), similar in size to the main stadium area of Jamsil Sports Complex. It will include three 40-story buildings and a total of 3,500 residential, commercial, and administrative facilities. Some analysts say that the establishment of Hong Kong Town will mark the full-scale start of Hexit (Hong Kong + exit), indicating the outflow of Hong Kong capital and residents.

However, some criticism arose when he expressed support for the Hong Kong Security Law, stating that "every country has the authority to legislate national security laws."

As of the 6th, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Li's net worth is $30.3 billion (about 36.04 trillion KRW), ranking 36th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.