Stanley Ho em queda

Nipa Piboontanasawat
Bloomberg
February 5, 2009

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing remained the city’s richest man even after his net worth dropped by half to $16.2 billion as stock prices tumbled, Forbes magazine said.

Macau gaming tycoon Stanley Ho slumped to 19th place from fifth in the magazine’s list of Hong Kong’s 40 richest people as his net worth showed the biggest slump, according to Forbes’ 2009 list of the city’s 40 richest people released today.

The number of dollar billionaires in the city slumped to 19 from 40 last year amid the global financial crisis and the total value of assets owned by rich-list members more than halved to $82 billion, Forbes estimated. The Hang Seng Index, the city’s benchmark stock gauge, tumbled 48 percent in 2008.

Stanley Ho’s net worth shrank 89 percent to $1 billion, partly due to the timing of the public offering of casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, the magazine said.

The Kwok family, who control Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., and Lee Shau Kee, chairman of Henderson Land Development Co., remained second and third richest on Forbes’ 2009 list, with fortunes of $10.8 billion and $9 billion respectively, although their net worth also slumped.

The following table shows the list of Hong Kong’s 10 richest according to Forbes Magazine:

1. Li Ka-shing ($16.2 billion)
2. Kwok family ($10.8 billion)
3. Lee Shau-kee ($9 billion)
4. Michael Kadoorie ($4.2 billion)
5. Joseph Lau ($4 billion)
6. Cheng Yu-tung ($3.8 billion)
7. Peter Woo ($2.6 billion)
8. Michael Ying ($2.2 billion)
9. Chen Din Hwa ($1.8 billion)
10. Ronnie Chan and Gerald Chan ($1.7 billion)