Sensible succession plan

Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, has laid out a succession plan to split his business empire between his two sons, which once again shows his wisdom, says an article in the Guangzhou Daily. Excerpts:

Li Ka-shing is worth $25.5 billion and is the world's ninth-richest person and Asia's richest.

Li was born into a poor family and received little formal education; his success comes from his hard work, integrity and adaptability. He has officially anointed his elder son Victor to take the helm of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa and will financially support his younger son Richard 's companies.

More importantly, Li abides by his commitment to donate one-third of his fortune to society and he has established the Li Ka-shing Foundation, whose funds have already exceeded the target he set himself. Learning from the modern concept of charity, the Li Ka-shing Foundation is using the leverage of wealth to maximize the benefits of charity. His two sons will jointly manage the foundation.

This is an ideal allocation of his assets. That Victor Li was anointed heir to his father's business empire is in line with Chinese tradition. Moreover, Victor has long been carefully groomed by his father to take over his business, and has gained increasingly solid position within the enterprises.

Richard Li, on the other hand, has a pioneering spirit, and has been successful in business in his own right.

His father said he will give Richard, who controls the dominant Hong Kong telecommunications company, PCCW, the money to invest in businesses "several times" more than the value of Richard's current businesses.

The well-designed succession plan can ensure no conflict between the two sons.

(China Daily 06/01/2012 page9)